By the very nature of the two sports, hockey and baseball would on the surface appear to make strange bedfellows.
After all, major leaguers hit baseballs, NHLers hit each other.
Yet, on a sweaty Tuesday afternoon in Manhattan, there were commissioners Gary Bettman and Rob Manfred together at the NHL head offices, announcing a six-year media partnership that will see the NHL team up with MLB Advanced Media to create new digital products and platforms.
The deal means MLBAM will now take over the NHL Network TV station and all NHL-based web media, including NHL.com and the individual sites for all 30 NHL teams.