For the 1984–85 and 1985–86 seasons, CTV aired regular season games on Friday nights as well as partial coverage of the playoffs and Stanley Cup Finals. While Molson continued to present Hockey Night in Canada on Saturday nights on CBC, rival brewery Carling O'Keefe began airing Friday Night Hockey on CTV. This marked the first time since 1974–75 that CBC was not the lone over-the-air network broadcaster of the National Hockey League in Canada. CTV's 1965-75 NHL package consisted of Wednesday night games produced by the McLaren advertising agency, which also produced CBC's Saturday nightHockey Night in Canada telecasts. The deal with CTV was arranged by the Quebec Nordiques and all 14 U.S.-based NHL clubs, who sought to break Molson's monopoly on NHL broadcasting in Canada. All of CTV's regular season telecasts originated from Quebec City or the United States, as Molson shut them out of the other six Canadian buildings. The deal ended following the 1985-86 season. CTV's limited access to Canadian-based teams translated into poor ratings.
''Stanley Cup '87'' and ''Stanley Cup '88''
Despite CTV pulling the plug on their two-year-long venture with the NHL, Carling O'Keefe retained their rights. Things became problematic when the 1987 Stanley Cup playoffs opened with Carling O'Keefe still without a network of some sort. The problems arguably peaked when the Montreal-Quebec second-round playoff series opened without Molson being allowed to broadcast from Quebec City, leaving Games 3 and 4 off of English-language television altogether. This led to a hastily-arranged syndicated package on a chain of channels that would one day form the basis of the Global Television Network. The deal between Carling O'Keefe and the Canwest/Global consortium came just in time for Game 6 of the Montreal-Quebec series on April 30. It must be stressed that Global, technically, didn't become a national network until 1997. During the 1980s, Global consisted of a single station in Toronto with some rebroadcast transmitters through Ontario, CanWest was a chain of independent channels in Western Canada, and the two often combined to carry syndicated programming, such as this NHL package and the Canadian Football Network, which would also begin in 1987. These NHL broadcasts were aired under the names Stanley Cup '87 and Stanley Cup '88, before a merger between Carling O'Keefe and Molson put an end to the competition. In 1987, coverage also included all five games of the Campbell Conference Final between the Edmonton Oilers and Detroit Red Wings, and Games 3–5 of the Finals between the Oilers and Philadelphia Flyers. In 1988, coverage included the Smythe Division Final between the Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames, Game 5 of the Norris Division Final between the DetroitRed Wings and St. Louis Blues, the Campbell Conference Final between the Oilers and Red Wings, and Games 1 and two of the Finals between the Oilers and Boston Bruins. They also had the rights to Games 6 and 7 of the Finals, which were not necessary. Unlike the split CTV/CBC coverage of and, the Canwest-Global telecasts were network exclusive, except forGame 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals if they were necessary. When CBC and Global televised Game 7 of the 1987 Stanley Cup Finals, they used separate production facilities and separate on-air talent.
