The NHL rolled out a new playoff ad campaign this year meant to attract the "casual fan," replacing their old, passive voiced "History Will Be Made" campaign of the previous two seasons. This new campaign is titled "Because of the Cup," and it encourages these "casual fans" to watch because...uh, I guess because it's the Cup, which is good enough for me and you, but maybe not for the random dude over at the KC basketball blog (as far as I can tell, no such blog exists...).
Anyway, the NHL has created many team specific spots, but only of most Eastern Conference playoff teams, Detroit, and Vancouver (fix this, NHL). One of the Eastern Conference teams featured in the ads are the upstart Florida Panthers. The Panthers won the Southeast Division this year after free-falling into that position the last month of the season or so. Oh, and don't forget GM Dale Tallon's wild 2011 free agency signing period. Basically, this team wasn't supposed to crack the top ten in the East, let alone win the division, but here we are. That's why they play the games, etc. That being said, here is the NHL's "Because It's the Cup" ad for the Panthers:
The "Tallon Blueprint"? You have to admit, his "blueprint" is an unconventional one, if not entirely different than the one that resembles Brian Burke's ass. But, basing a commercial around free agent acquisitions. Damn, that's really going to attract the casual fan... It's obvious the NHL wants to go away from pointing out specific players that maybe only semi-interested fans might know, but you can't talk about the GM and then show a bunch of the first year Panthers if that's the case. Point out the fact Florida hasn't been to the playoffs in forever. Or, if you will show players, maybe point out Jose Theodore's decent season, or Tomas Fleischmann's strong scoring year, or...or....wow, no one on this team stands out. Really. It's the truth. Go to the League Leaders page on NHL.com. No one leads the league in any scoring category or plus/minus category. Not even near the top. Theodore is the best goalie on the team, which is like mediocre compared to most of the league. How did they make the playoffs?
Dale Tallon, you are a special kind of genius.
