NHL Network (Canadian TV channel)  NHL Network was a Canadian English language Category B specialty television channel broadcasting ice hockey programming. The channel's primary focus was on the National Hockey League (NHL), although it occasionally aired games from other leagues, such as minor league and international circuits, to fill its schedule. The channel was owned by the NHL Network Inc., a venture consisting of the National Hockey League and two of its Canadian member franchises, CTV Specialty Television Inc. (a division of Bell Media and ESPN Inc.), and Insight Sports Ltd. The network's ownership structure, which gave the league only an 11.6% interest, was due in part to foreign ownership restrictions for Canadian broadcasters, which prevented the NHL (which, during the channel's existence, was owned by 30 member franchises, of which at least 23 were based in the United States) from exercising majority ownership directly. The network's Canadian operations were managed by Bell-owned TSN, the now-former cable rightsholder of the NHL in Canada. Following Rogers Communications' acquisition of sole national media rights to the NHL in Canada, the Bell Media staff members who operated the network were laid off in July 2015, and NHL Network was shut down entirely on September 1, 2015. The network's U.S. version was not affected by the shutdown; its operations were migrated to the Secaucus, New Jersey facilities of MLB Network as part of a wider partnership between the league and MLB Advanced Media. In November 2000, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) granted approval to former NHL executive Jim Gregory on behalf of a corporation to be incorporated (formed later as The NHL Network Inc.) to launch "The Hockey Channel", described as "a national English-language Category 2 specialty television dedicated exclusively to all aspects of the game of hockey". The channel was launched on October 4, 2001 as NHL Network. Its success led the league to create a sister network in the United States in 2007 with many of the same programs. Even as Rogers Media took over as national television rightsholder of the NHL in Canada beginning in the 2014-15 season, NHL Network remained operated from the facilities of TSN and featured some of its talent. League sources reported that due to the preparations needed for its first season as rightsholder, Rogers was unable to immediately take over the channel, but that Rogers would reconsider its role in NHL Network the following season. TSN could have, alternatively, remained the operating partner of NHL Network beyond the 2014-15 season. On June 1, 2015, "The Globe and Mail" columnist David Shoalts reported that NHL Network in Canada would cease operations on September 1, 2015.