• by Mark Walsh  @markfwal, January 31, 2013

The NHL has renewed its North American media partnership with BlackBerry. Under the agreement, the mobile device maker will continue to support league properties including the NHL Network and NHL.com as well as NHL broadcast partners.

BlackBerry will be the presenting sponsor for the Trade Deadline show airing on April 3 the NHL Network in the U.S., will feature BlackBerry 10 integration in the broadcast. Separately, the leagued is bringing the NHL GameCenter app to the new BlackBerry 10 platform. The app provides live scores, post-game videos, and video on demand along with player profiles, season schedules and standings.

The partnership renewal comes a day after Research in Motion rebranded as BlackBerry and introduced a pair of new smartphones—the Z10 and Q10—built with its new OS. The NHL GameCenter app will be available when the Z10 handset debuts on Feb. 5.

The start of the NHL season was delayed until January following a nearly four-month lock-out, so both the league and BlackBerry are involved in a relaunch of sorts.