The glove has been thrown. Think the programming wars are over? Think again. XM Satellite Radio today announced a 10-year, $100 million dollar, exclusive, agreement with the NHL. XM will begin broadcasting NHL games in the 2005-2006 season, and in 2007 (when NASCAR jumps to Sirius) XM will be the National Hockey League’s exclusive satellite radio provider. Touche!

XM will provide live play-by-play broadcasts of every game from every team (covering over 1,000 games per season), as well as the NHL All-Star Game, the Stanley Cup Playoffs and the Stanley Cup Final. XM Satellite Radio will also produce a dedicated NHL radio channel featuring pretty everything about the sport (think MLB Homeplate for hockey). And of course, Canucks can rest assured that this will all be covered on CSR (ya hosers).

All this is set to debut on Opening Night, on October 5th.