I don't doubt that TSN in their ego's likely give off the impression at points over the past months and years, and maybe in negotiations, that the NHL needs them in Canada as much as they need the NHL.
And/or, they wanted to dictate more terms of the next deal, thinking they had the leverage, who knows.
Always been a bit of smugness and arrogance about the way the cover hockey (NHL and otherwise), though maybe that has to do with the personalities they've hired.
I don't know if the NHL picked based on anything like that (likely not), but I wouldn't be surprised if TSN themselves shot themselves in the foot, not thinking that anyone could take the rights away, or that the NHL would go with Rogers without letting them match.
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