In November 2013, Rogers reached a 12-year deal to become the exclusive national television and digital rightsholder for the NHL in Canada, beating out both CBC Sports and TSN.

Rogers hired a number of prominent personalities from CBC Sports to augment its on-television staff, including commentators Jim Hughson, Craig Simpson, Garry Galley, Bob Cole and Greg Millen, Coach's Corner hosts Don Cherry and Ron MacLean, and reporters Elliotte Friedman, and Scott Oake.

Rogers' inaugural season as sole rightsholder was met with mixed reception; while receiving praise—especially among younger viewers, for its "hipper" production and the increased number of games available on a national basis than under previous rights deals, initial criticism centred primarily upon the quality of George Stroumboulopoulos's hosting and his succession of Ron MacLean on Hockey Night (a move which was later reversed for the 2016–17 season), along with its use of elements perceived as being gimmicks.

From 1998–99 until 2001–02, Sportsnet aired Labatt Blue Tuesday Night Hockey weekly during the regular season, and covered first-round playoff series that did not feature Canadian teams.

As of the 2013–14 NHL season, Sportsnet held regional rights to five of the seven Canadian franchises, including the Ottawa Senators, Toronto Maple Leafs (which are jointly owned by Rogers and Bell Canada through a majority stake in MLSE), Edmonton Oilers, Calgary Flames, and Vancouver Canucks.

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman recognized the financial difficulties and budget cuts being faced by the CBC, despite the success of its NHL telecasts (which were responsible for at least half of CBC Television's total advertising revenue),[10] by offering a slightly higher-valued contract that would have preserved a national doubleheader on Saturday nights (as opposed to regional games), along with playoff coverage, allowing the advertising-supported public broadcaster to maintain coverage of marquee games that could attract advertising revenue.

[12] The next day, CBC president Hubert Lacroix, who was in Montreal, was invited to an afternoon conference call with Neil McEneaney, Orridge, deputy commissioner Bill Daly, NHL chief operating officer John Collins, Bettman, and Pelley, in which CBC staff learned of the deal, but also of a proposal by Pelley for them to partner.

Pelley, Moore, and senior vice-president of media sales Jack Tomik met with Orridge, McEneany, and CBC lawyer Jacques Gaboury in Toronto to begin negotiating a sub-licensing arrangement for Saturday night games.

[22][23] As a part of the winning bid success, Rogers decided to host a three-day, pre-season employee seminar at Toronto's exclusive Shangri-La Hotel.

Other all-U.S. games are occasionally shown across the Sportsnet channels, usually simulcast from U.S. regional or national broadcasters (ESPN and TNT, and previously NBC Sports).

[42][43] Sportsnet's coverage also places an emphasis on new technology; referees can be equipped with helmet cams for first-person perspectives, and a Skycam was installed at Air Canada Centre for use in aerial shots.

[49][50] On April 25, 2024, Rogers announced that Monday Night Hockey would move to Amazon Prime Video beginning in the 2024–25 NHL season under a two-year sub-licensing deal.

Ron MacLean and Don Cherry continued to present their traditional Coach's Corner segment during the first intermission of Hockey Night games up until November 9, 2019.

[58] In turn, CBC announced in April 2014 that it would cut a total of 657 jobs across its divisions, and no longer pursue broadcast rights to professional sporting events.

In the case of the Olympics, CBC's coverage is sub-licensed to Rogers and Bell Media networks under a similar time-brokerage and production subsidization arrangement.

[26] Due to its ownership of the national contract, Rogers has a monopoly on all English-language telecasts of teams whose regional rights are exclusively owned by Sportsnet.

In the case of all-Canadian matchups (e.g. Battle of Alberta, Canucks–Flames rivalry), most markets, including the host city, may receive the home team's broadcast.

[66] On January 6, 2021, Rogers announced extended regional rights agreements with both the Edmonton Oilers and the Calgary Flames under the terms of a new multi-year deal.

[77][78] While primarily using existing Sportsnet talent, a number of CBC Sports personalities, including the lead play-by-play crew of Jim Hughson, Craig Simpson and, until 2016, Glenn Healy, veteran play-by-play man Bob Cole, rinkside reporter Scott Oake and studio analyst Elliotte Friedman,[79][80] joined Rogers to participate in Sportsnet's coverage and Hockey Night.

Greg Millen, who like Bartlett was also reassigned to national game duty, was replaced by Craig Simpson on the Maple Leafs' regional broadcasts.

However, MacLean credited the work of his colleagues Bob Cole, Dick Irvin, Jr., and Don Cherry for helping maintain the integrity of Hockey Night in Canada under his tenure as host, and felt that "George will be fine.

Reviews were more positive among younger demographics (such as teens and millennials who gave an average score of 6.5 out of 10), citing the expanded availability of games, the "hipper" feel of the telecasts and how they are produced, but were lower among older viewers.

They argued that Rogers' sub-licensing deal would harm the broadcaster's viability due to its inability to collect further advertising revenue from its most popular program.

The CRTC ruled against these interventions, arguing that the agreement allowed CBC to continue filling a large portion of its schedule with programming that would have been otherwise displaced by the complete loss of NHL content, at little to no cost.

[55][108] On June 19, 2016, the Toronto Star reported that Rogers planned to reinstate Ron MacLean as host of Hockey Night in Canada for the 2016–17 season.

[110] The previous post-game show After Hours (traditionally aired after the late game in the doubleheader) was also revived; Sportsnet vice-president of production Rob Corte explained that these changes were meant to return Hockey Night to a "grassroots" feel.

Moore disputed the accuracy of Numeris's numbers, arguing that they did not properly account for multi-platform viewership, and that its ratings panel did not cover enough sports-oriented demographics.

"[123] In 2018, while only two Canadian teams made the playoffs, they once again included the Maple Leafs, as well as the Winnipeg Jets—who ultimately advanced to the Western Conference final, but were defeated by the Vegas Golden Knights in their inaugural season.

In October 2014, Bell filed a complaint with the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), arguing that the exclusivity of GamePlus to Rogers subscribers was anti-competitive and showed undue preference.

Rogers' CEO Guy Lawrence also accused Bell of attempting to "stifle innovation in hockey", and suggested that its actions were in retaliation for TSN's loss of national cable rights to the NHL.