Don't touch the music!
I'm a patient guy and I can put up with a lot. For instance, I love watching the Red Wings' skill and don't think their Stanley Cup victory will bring us back to the days of the Devils just because they have obstruction techniques down. I've grown to appreciate some of the things -- I said some -- that Versus and NBC have tried to do with their telecasts. I understand that at age 75, it's probably time for venerable Bob Cole to give up the No. 1 seat to Jim Hughson on Hockey Night in Canada.
But I am absolutely floored that it appears the umatched HNIC theme music made its final appearance on CBC for last night's game.
Thanks to the Toronto Sun, I just realized the song has its own Web site. Go there and click on "Important Announcement" on the left (it's a frame site I can't link to) and you'll see the explanation that CBC no longer wants to pay the royalties.
Um, excuse me. Dear CBC: That song IS Hockey Night in Canada, more than even Ron MacLean and Don Cherry. People call it Canada's second national anthem. It's been around since 1968, or two years before the Sabres and three years before I started watching hockey.
I foolishly stay with cable rather than going to DirecTV just so I can watch hockey on CBC. And that means with the song. Listen here. Classic stuff.
Bring it back, CBC.
6:15 p.m. update: CBC says negotiations for a license extension are "ongoing".
---Mike Harrington
