Thank the maker. I was starting to get a little worried there with the playoffs around the corner:

VERSUS will return to the same DIRECTV programming packages it was in at the end of August 2009.

"We are pleased that both sides were able to work out a satisfactory deal to bring this programming back to our customers," said Derek Chang, executive vice president, Content Strategy and Development, DIRECTV.

"We're excited that we were able to come to a fair agreement that puts VERSUS back in millions of homes with DIRECTV in time for our busy spring programming schedule," said Jamie Davis, president of VERSUS.  "We look forward to super-serving these fans with NHL regular-season and playoff coverage, our first live UFC event and much more."

So the rumors about an impending settlement were true. No worries about the later playoff rounds or the Cup final. And I hope a lot of my longtime readers took advantage of the whole free Center Ice thing I blogged about when this first started!