I thought this was a joke when I saw some stories about it this morning, but if the CBC is posting it as news, I presume it’s true:

One of this country’s most familiar tunes may have been heard on CBC-TV for the last time Wednesday night when the Detroit Red Wings defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins and won the 2008 Stanley Cup.

The Toronto agency representing the composer of the theme tune for Hockey Night in Canada says the CBC has declined to enter into a new licensing agreement for the song for next NHL season.

A news release posted on the website of Copyright Music & Visuals quotes company president John Ciccone as saying the CBC’s licence agreement for the hockey theme song ended with the Stanley Cup final.

So they’ll pay Don Cherry $700,000 a year to make bigoted comments for 2 minutes every week, but won’t dish out $500 a night for the most beloved tune in Canada? I hate to sound like a Conservative lackey here, but SHAME ON THE CBC!

If I were running TSN, I’d swoop in right about now…

SOMEWHAT PREDICTABLE UPDATE: Well, that didn’t take long, did it? The Liberals are already attacking the Tories over this one, in what I can only hope is a tongue in cheek press release:

OTTAWA – Conservative Heritage Minister Josée Verner must stand up for one of Canada’s most famous musical traditions and do what she can to ensure the CBC keeps the Hockey Night in Canada musical theme, Liberal Heritage Critic Denis Coderre said today.

“The Hockey Night in Canada theme is a part of Canada’s culture that goes beyond sport,” said M. Coderre. “This is a great opportunity for the Heritage Minister to finally get off the bench by defending an important Canadian tradition.”