Do not — do not — call it “the Hockey Night In Canada theme.” That’s dunt-da-dunt-da-done.
It’s The Hockey Theme, thank you, and it belongs to CTV.

In what may be the most surprising change of uniform for a Canadian hockey icon since the Edmonton Oilers traded Wayne Gretzky to the Los Angeles Kings, the four-decades-old song so famously associated with CBC’s Saturday night broadcasts was purchased yesterday by rival CTV for use on TSN and French-language RDS.

The song will likely be played during TSN’s 70 2008-09 NHL regular season games involving Canadian teams, its playoff broadcasts, and the hockey games at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, said CTV president Rick Brace.

CBC had licensed the song from Copyright Music & Visuals, which represents song composer Dolores Claman. CTV now owns it forever.

“More than anything, it’s an anthem,” Brace said. “Sure, some people associate it with CBC, but people really associate it with hockey. By bringing it over here, we could save it, because it was going to disappear.

“We’re pretty pumped,” he said.

Brace would not disclose the terms of the deal. CBC Sports executive director Scott Moore said CBC had offered $1 million to Copyright to buy the song outright; the company, Moore said, demanded an “irresponsible” $2.5 million or more.

“We’re probably going to be accused of bungling this,” Moore said. “But I don’t know if a deal was ever possible.”

Claman and Copyright, which did not respond to requests for comment yesterday, sued CBC for breach of contract in 2004. The $2.5-million suit alleged CBC had been improperly selling the song as a ringtone, altering its arrangement, and using it on broadcasts outside Canada.

The ongoing litigation, Moore said, complicated negotiations that “should have been done in two hours.”