Sportsnet 650 missing from Canucks' broadcast schedule

Sportsnet released its NHL regional broadcast schedule for television and radio today.

Vancouver’s all-sports radio station, Sportsnet 650, was nowhere to be found.

All 82 Vancouver Canucks regular season games will be seen on one of Sportsnet’s many television channels, with 58 regional broadcasts featuring the popular broadcast trio of John Shorthouse, John Garrett, and Dan Murphy. The remaining 24 games will be national broadcasts.

But while Rogers provided radio broadcast details for Calgary Flames games on Sportsnet 960 and Toronto Maple Leafs games on Sportsnet 590, the “Home of the Canucks” was not mentioned.

Sportsnet has released its NHL regional broadcast schedule for TV and radio.

No mention of Sportsnet 650 for #Canucks games on radio. pic.twitter.com/gnep0RhopG

— Rob Williams (@RobTheHockeyGuy) September 15, 2022

The Canucks and Sportsnet 650 still appear to be in a stalemate, with just 10 days left before their first preseason game, and less than a month before the start of the regular season. The radio broadcast rights deal between the Canucks and Sportsnet 650 expired after last season.

“That’s a question better directed to the Canucks,” Daily Hive was told by a Rogers spokesperson, in response a question asking if there was anything new to report.

“We don’t comment on negotiations but we continue to work on finding a solution,” a Canucks spokesperson told Daily Hive.

The Young Stars Classic in Penticton, which Sportsnet 650 has broadcast in the past, can be seen and heard exclusively on Canucks.com this year, the team announced. Brendan Batchelor will call Young Stars games for the Canucks’ online stream, a team spokesperson told Daily Hive, beginning tomorrow.

The Canucks could opt to stream audio of their games exclusively through their own website this season, as some other teams will do, although it could be a scramble to set that up at the 11th hour.

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Sportsnet and the Canucks have been close to reaching a deal multiple times over the past few months, according to Daily Hive sports media insider Tyler Green, but haven’t been able to agree to a price yet.

Sportsnet 650 has held the Canucks radio broadcast rights since the station launched in 2017. Corey Hirsch, who had been Batchelor’s broadcast partner, left the station in June, and thus a new colour commentator would need to be hired.