Bell abandons all-sports format in Vancouver
Bell is dumping an all-sports format at three of its radio stations in Canada.
The company says TSN 1040 AM in Vancouver, TSN 1290 AM in Winnipeg and TSN 1150 AM in Hamilton will no longer be all-sports stations.
The Vancouver and Winnipeg websites for the stations do not specify what the new format will be, while the site in Hamilton says 1150 AM will become a BNN Bloomberg station, covering business, innovation and sports.
In Vancouver, the morning show cut away during a commercial break Tuesday before it was announced the station would be “reprogrammed” as of Friday. The news was followed by
Green Day song “Good Riddance” before the airwaves turned to music.
A Corus radio station got the rights to Winnipeg Jets games last year, while a Rogers station has Canucks rights.
The format changes come in the aftermath of layoffs by Bell across multiple platforms last week. TSN’s Dan
O’Toole, Natasha Staniszewski and Brent Wallace wrote on social media they were among those laid off.
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Columbus Blue Jackets centre Mikko Koivu said Tuesday he has decided to retire in the midst of his 16th NHL season.
The 37-year-old Koivu had signed a free-agent contract with Columbus before this season after 15 years in Minnesota as the Blue Jackets sought more depth at centre ice.
He spent the first 10 days of the season on the COVID-19 list and then had a goal and an assist in seven games with the Blue Jackets. He was in the lineup during a loss to Carolina on Sunday but was scratched Monday.
Koivu said in a statement released by the club that "the bottom line is I haven't been able to get to the level of play that I need to be true to myself and fair to my teammates, so the time is right for me to retire from hockey."
Minnesota's first pick, sixth overall, in the 2001 NHL Draft, Koivu recorded 206 goals and 505 assists with 594 penalty minutes in 1,035 career games since making his NHL debut in 2005-06. He added 11 goals and 17 assists in 59 career playoff games.