No, I don’t think the NHL is well served by being on Versus. The problem is, there really aren’t many networks that have any desire to televise National Hockey League games. For whatever reason, Hockey runs as the fourth most popular major sport in the United States, and that doesn’t seem to be destined to change anytime soon. Versus network serves the simple purpose of allowing someone, anyone to watch a hockey game if they want to. Versus doesn’t get much news or viewers but the NHL does have the bonus that they pretty much dominate the network because there simply aren’t that many other shows that the network has to broadcast. Still, when this contract with Versus is up, the NHL would be smart to try and get a deal with a better, and more well known network, even if it means taking a little less money over the long run in an effort to get itself into more homes.

I hope this answer is what you are looking for. A few years ago when there was a lot going on in the National hockey League, they were having trouble finding not only sponsors, but also television networks that were willing to give them prime time slots. In fact they had trouble coming to contract agreements with most visual media sources. The exception to that rule was Versus, who agreed to take over the broadcasting. In my opinion and I hope this is the case, the NHL has continued to contract with them and I hope will do so in the future. It would be wrong of them to drop the network completely after the network hung with them in the tough times. I do wish that Pierre McGuire was not involved with the broadcasts, and am sure they could find a much better color analyst. So, absolutely it would be better exposure for the NHL to be on ESPN or one of the other major sporting networks as long as the logistics and contracts could be worked out, but I would hate to see Versus left out in the cold, unless it was their choice.