Kukla's Korner Hockey
All About ‘My NHL’
by Paul on 09/22/05 at 07:11 PM ET
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I have received a few emails today asking me why the NHL did not use current NHL players in their marketing campaign. Plans do call for use of current players in the print and radio spots of the campaign. The following article from the Toronto Star may also answer other questions you may have about the 'My NHL' promotion.
Meet Will Bryant, the new face of the National Hockey League. A 27-year-old former college player from Albert Lea, Minn. who never made it to pro hockey, Bryant is the centerpiece in what the NHL says is its biggest advertising campaign ever. The five new television ads designed by the NHL's advertising agency are aimed at trumpeting the league's return after its crippling 301-day lockout.
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Fighting An Uphill Battle
by Paul on 09/22/05 at 02:21 PM ET
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from Darren Rovell of ESPN,
The NHL offered a first glimpse of its new ad campaign Wednesday night, and the experience was akin to watching a movie trailer: Lots of flash, lots of drama, lots of promise. But will "The New NHL" will be the kind of entertainment worth shelling out your hard-earned bucks to see in person or if it will be an "I'll wait for the video" experience? And can a Hollywood fantasy help drive a better reality for a league that just endured the first season-long work stoppage in North American pro sports history?
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Special Teams Will Be Key
by Paul on 09/22/05 at 12:03 PM ET
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from the Philadelphia Inquirer,
The Flyers went into the second game of preseason ranked first in the NHL in power-play efficiency at 30 percent and tied with Colorado for first in penalty-killing at 100 percent. It's a good thing they're on top of their special-teams game because the recent rule changes have reduced hockey to endless stoppages of play without flow. Flyers coach Ken Hitchcock predicted that there would be at least a month of adjustment for the players. It could be longer, judging by last night's 2-1 victory over the New York Islanders at the Sovereign Bank Arena. It's virtually impossible to say that one line looks better than another, simply because the majority of the game is spent on special teams. But if that's what it takes to open the game up for the skaters and shooters next month, so be it.
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Good Games and Bad Games
by Paul on 09/22/05 at 10:42 AM ET
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Last night's Wings/Avs game was a well played game, filled with action and both teams seemed to understand and play by the rules. Of course, a few obstruction calls were made but in my mind, all of the calls were correct and kudos to both refs for making the consistent call. The only thing missing was the hitting, but I feel that will come as players adjust to not using the stick as an obstruction tool. On the other hand, the Flyers and Islanders by all accounts, played an ugly game: from the Daily Times,
There is a huge question the NHL needs to begin asking itself: Is this really what we want? That’s because, the game of hockey being presented to the fans this preseason is clumsy, uneven and has no flow. Case in point was the Flyers’ second preseason game Wednesday against the New York Islanders. Consider the following ugly statistics: 12 combined power plays, six hooking penalties, two more for delay of game when players clearing the puck accidentally shot it into the stands. And that was just in the first period. The infractions slowed up a bit as the game progressed, but the sparse crowd at the Sovereign Bank Arena was disinterested by that point. The irrelevant final score was Flyers 2, Islanders 1, but there are graver concerns at this juncture of the exhibition season than wins and losses. Sure, the games don’t count right now and some of the players that are playing won’t be in the NHL, but even games at the AHL level last season weren’t this ugly. Not only is the game a bad product, but the players are full of uncertainty. They seem to be fighting their own instincts to play the game the way they know how. "That’s the new NHL and that’s what they want and that’s what they’re going to get," said a disgruntled Chris Therien. "They’ve gone from one extreme to an absolute other extreme, and that, as a player, is frustrating."
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Zero Tolerance Won’t Work
by Paul on 09/22/05 at 08:57 AM ET
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from Metro West Daily News,
So it is that Harry Sinden, while fully agreeing that a crackdown is necessary on the obstruction fouls that have grown so common and destructive to the NHL game, hopes the league doesn't go too far – to the point that this becomes a nearly unrecognizable pastime. ``Obviously, you've got to have penalty calls, or else you'd have anarchy out there,'' Sinden said. ``But if you just call it to a zero-tolerance level, it won't work. A game without any kind of incidental contact at all, players just allowed to skate around at full speed with no one ever laying a finger on them? It won't work. ``To me, minor penalties can absolutely destroy a game. Because instead of being a significant event in a game – `OK, here we go, a power play' – it becomes a common thing. Everybody gets lots of them. You get a penalty and you don't even worry about it, because you know you're going to be getting one right back.''
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NHL Reaching Out to Generation Y
by Paul on 09/22/05 at 08:47 AM ET
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from the Ottawa Citizen,
Sidney Crosby, shirtless, but still exuding that nice-guy aura, has hit the newsstands in Vanity Fair, generating the kind of buzz that money can't buy. Crosby's beefcake shot is one more sign that the NHL is trying to expand its appeal in the U.S., and among Generation Y fans -- those between the ages of about 16 and 25, said Frank Pons, an assistant professor of sports marketing and consumer behaviour at the University of San Diego who studied hockey marketing as an MBA and PhD student in Quebec City and Montreal. Of course hockey is a tradition, said Pons. But more and more, the NHL seeks to position its brand outside of the sports sphere and into the entertainment sphere. And the kicking ass part is all-American. "A lot of American sports are moving away from selling the sport, they sell the entertainment," he said. "The value of hockey is not in how good the team is."
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Something Is Missing
by Paul on 09/22/05 at 08:43 AM ET
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from the Edmonton Journal,
It's quiet out there in the NHL rinks. Too quiet. Yes, the game is back, with a fan-friendly smile on its face, more skating room in the neutral zone, and new faces on the rosters. But something's missing. There's speed but little snap, even for the pre-season. There's more offensive action, but not much intensity. There's entertainment but little emotion. What's missing may be some good, old-fashioned open-ice hits, and the good news is more than a few insiders figure bodies will soon start to collide with nasty intent, a byproduct of the crackdown on obstruction.
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Rooting For Rem Murray
by Paul on 09/22/05 at 08:07 AM ET
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from Al Strachan of the Toronto Sun,
When you play in the National Hockey League, there are no promises. Any game could be your last. For Rem Murray, that date may have been Jan. 6, 2004. But he's doing everything he can to defy the odds and postpone it. This is not just another story of a worn-out player seeking one more chance. When Rem Murray left the game, there was nothing wrong with him -- as far as his hockey skills were concerned. He had been an excellent defensive forward with the Edmonton Oilers, and was playing for the Nashville Predators in Detroit when he suddenly started having trouble with his neck. His head was trembling and there was nothing he could do about it.
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“My NHL’ Campaign
by Paul on 09/21/05 at 08:56 PM ET
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The NHL unveiled the "My NHL" media campaign Wednesday night in New York and NHL.com has exclusive sneak peeks. Watch the first installment here and get a glimpse at how the spots were made.
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TSN-HD Schedule
by Paul on 09/21/05 at 08:45 PM ET
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The 2005 - 2006 TSN-HD NHL Schedule: 1. 5-Oct - Ottawa @ Toronto - 7:30pm ET 2. 5-Oct - Phoenix @ Vancouver - 10:30pm ET 3. 2-Nov - Ottawa @ Buffalo - 8pm ET 4. 9-Nov - Los Angeles @ Detroit - 10:30pm ET 5. 10-Nov - Montreal @ Pittsburgh - 7:30pm ET 6. 11-Nov - Toronto @ Buffalo - 8:00pm ET 7. 16-Nov - Detroit @ Calgary - 8:30pm ET 8. 23-Nov - Boston @ Toronto - 7:30pm ET 9. 30-Nov - Colorado @ Vancouver - 10:00pm ET 10. 7-Dec - Calgary @ New Jersey - 7:30pm ET 11. 13-Dec - Phoenix @ Montreal - 7:30pm ET 12. 14-Dec - Dallas @ Buffalo - 7:00pm ET 13. 16-Dec - Buffalo @ Pittsburgh - 7:30pm ET 14. 21-Dec - Edmonton @ Vancouver - 10:00pm ET 15. 4-Jan - Montreal @ Colorado - 9:00pm ET 16. 11-Jan - Dallas @ Buffalo - 7:00pm ET 17. 18-Jan - Toronto @ Minnesota - 8:00pm ET 18. 1-Feb - Ottawa @ New Jersey - 7:30pm ET 19. 2-Feb - Montreal @ Boston - 7:00pm ET 20. 5-Feb - Philadelphia @ Montreal - 3:00pm ET 21. 1-Mar - Ottawa @ Pittsburgh - 7:30pm ET 22. 7-Mar - Montreal @ Toronto - 7:30pm ET 23. 23-Mar - Toronto @ Montreal - 7:30pm ET 24. 26-Mar - Toronto @ New Jersey - 7:30pm ET 25. 4-Apr - Boston @ Montreal - 7:30pm ET 26. 5-Apr - NY Islanders @ Toronto - 7:30pm ET 27. 12-Apr - Montreal @ Buffalo - 7:30pm ET
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About Kukla's Korner Hockey
Paul Kukla founded Kukla’s Korner in 2005 and the site has since become the must-read site on the ‘net for all the latest happenings around the NHL.
From breaking news to in-depth stories around the league, KK Hockey is updated with fresh stories all day long and will bring you the latest news as quickly as possible.
Email Paul anytime at pk@kuklaskorner.com
