A Punjabi-language hockey broadcast that connected generations of South Asian Canadians to the NHL has been cancelled after 18 years.

Hockey Night in Canada: Punjabi Edition will not return when the NHL season gets underway this fall, according to an announcement posted Friday by the OMNI TV production.

“For 18 years, this show brought our community closer to the game we love,” the production said in its social media statement.

“It shared the stories of South Asian players and families and created a space that was truly unique in Canadian sports. We are incredibly proud of what we built together.”

The cancellation is likely to be felt particularly strongly in Brampton, home to one of Canada’s largest Sikh and South Asian communities and a city where hockey has become increasingly intertwined with the community’s cultural identity.

For nearly two decades, the Punjabi edition offered something that traditional English-language hockey broadcasts could not — NHL coverage, interviews and stories delivered in Punjabi and presented through a distinctly South Asian lens.

The Saturday-night program featured NHL games and coverage from around the league, while also highlighting the growing presence of South Asian players, families and fans in Canadian hockey.

The show was historically produced and anchored from a Vancouver studio, but its audience stretched across the country, including the large Punjabi-speaking population in the Greater Toronto Area.

Last season, Randip Janda hosted the broadcast, with Gurp Sian providing colour commentary. Harpreet Pandher served as an analyst, while Mantar Bhandal handled play-by-play and analysis. Taqdeer Thindal also provided analysis and colour commentary, while Avjot Sodhi worked as a feature commentator and producer.

The decision to end the broadcast was attributed to audience levels.

A Sportsnet spokesperson told The Canadian Press that the decision to end the Punjabi-language NHL broadcasts was made because “audience levels aren’t strong enough to sustain the production long-term.”

“We know these broadcasts have meant a lot to many Punjabi-speaking hockey fans,” the spokesperson said, adding that the company was grateful to the on-air team, production staff and viewers who supported the show over the years.

For viewers, however, the program represented more than simply another way to watch an NHL game.

Its arrival nearly two decades ago gave Punjabi-speaking hockey fans an opportunity to hear the sport discussed in their own language while seeing South Asian players, families and hockey communities reflected in the coverage.

The cancellation comes during a period of significant change for Canadian hockey broadcasting.

In June, it was announced that Hockey Night in Canada would no longer air on CBC this fall after the expiration of a sub-licensing agreement between the public broadcaster and Rogers Communications, which owns the NHL’s Canadian broadcast rights.

The Punjabi edition’s final season now also marks the end of an 18-year chapter for a broadcast that helped bring hockey to a new generation of Punjabi-speaking Canadians.

“To our viewers: THANK YOU!” the show’s social media statement said. “Your love, support, and unwavering loyalty meant everything to us.”

 


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