I commented in this space last month that the NHL needed to find a way to get back on ESPN, and it appears there are early steps to make that happen.

Sports Business Journal reports the NHL is in talks to get some of its games on ESPN possibly as soon as the 2008-09 season.

The trade publication suggests that ESPN might agree to take on the package of nine games now aired by NBC, which broadcasts games as part of a revenue-sharing agreement. Word has it that NBC, unhappy with dismal ratings, would drop hockey after this coming season.

It's unclear, however, what this means for Versus, which currently has the exclusive rights for the NHL on cable. The Comcast-owned network pays the NHL about $70 million per year for the rights, but league officials have faced heavy criticism for the relationship because Versus is unavailable in some key hockey markets. (Versus is available in 71 million homes, compared to 92 homes for ESPN.)

According to SBJ, Versus might be willing to waive the exclusivity requirement if it gets something in return, such as reduction in rights fee, a better schedule or longer contract with the NHL.

If a deal with ESPN happens, it would be a stark reversal from a year ago, when the NHL and the network were like divorced spouses with nothing to say to one another.I asked Capitals owner Ted Leonsis before this season whether there was any push to get back onto ESPN. Not a chance, he told me at the time. When the NHL went into its lockout, it needed all the friends it could get, he said. But it was around that time that ESPN decided to drop the NHL from its programming lineup. To NHL officials, it was a show of disrespect.

From what I have read, however, it appears that changes in ESPN's leadership might make a reconciliation possible. Apparently the folks at ESPN who were most responsible for dropping hockey aren't in charge anymore. And ESPN execs must know that it simply looks bad for the "worldwide leader in sports" to ignore hockey entirely; it has faced criticism from many sources -- including its own ombudsman -- for practically ignoring hockey in its Sportscenter broadcasts.

-- Tim Lemke