Hi Rabbits and Rats! I'm a longtime lurker who recently started to whisper from the sidelines. This is the first time I've jumped into the game, but I do like to get hit, so I hope you welcome me with fraternally planted feet.

This interview with ESPN VP of Communications Mike Soltys touched on hockey coverage. Nothing revelatory, but at least he says all the right things. Well, except for the implication that the SCF might not see ABC...

SMW: Does ESPN have an interest in maybe reacquiring NHL rights down the line? Those are going to be up in 2011.

Soltys: We have been big fans of hockey going way back. As I mentioned earlier, we have agreements with them around the world. It’s got to be a deal that’s going to make financial sense for us, and it has to be something that we can get some of the high-quality telecasts. But we certainly have an interest. And any of those kind of rights that we don’t have, it’s hard to speculate. It depends on many circumstances, when they becomes available, but largely economically, if it makes sense for us, and makes sense for our viewer.

[follow the link for more on the SCF question]