NHL stars film their off-ice lives
Posted March 1, 2012 10:00 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Ever thought to yourself, “Hmmm… I wonder what it would be like to watch Scott Hartnell’s home videos?”
Well, wonder no longer, my friend.
Research in Motion has teamed up with the National Hockey League Players’ Association, providing five NHL stars with shiny new tablets and asking them to film off-ice life for a promotional video series called Players’ Playbook. (See what they did there?)
It’s a great idea. If HBO’s 24/7: Road to the Winter Classic proved anything, besides Ilya Bryzgalov’s wonderfully certifiable nuttiness, it’s that hockey fans love the behind-the-scenes peeks. We crave more personality from our stars; we like to see what happens after the buzzer fires and 110 per cent of the clichés have played their full 60 minutes and have been zipped up in the hockey bag.
In a fun twist, the miniseries, which streams at playbook.nhlpa.com, gives fans the opportunity to vote for the video clip they’d most like to see featured the following week, which gets rolled out each Monday through to season’s end.
Sample poll: Would you rather watch New York Islanders winger Michael Grabner’s post-game routine or hang out with goaltender Martin Biron on the New York Rangers’ team plane?
It’ll be interesting to see how creative the players get with these videos.
So far, we’ve seen Biron show off his special Winter Classic goalie mask and Hartnell (a.k.a. favourite uncle Scotty) chow down on some famous Philly cheesesteaks at Campo’s Deli with his brother Devon Hartnell and his kids. (And, no, the youngsters don’t turn to the tablet camera and say, “Suck it, Phaneuf!”)
Anaheim Ducks scorer Bobby Ryan shoots him and his girlfriend, Danielle, snowmobiling in Idaho during the all-star break; charismatic Toronto Maple Leafs forward Joffrey Lupul teaches kids to skate at the Air Canada Centre; and Grabner helps his hockey club raise $100,000 for the Islanders Children’s Foundation during a casino night.
As the NHL tries to strengthen the connection between its players and its fans, the more behind-the-scenes footage we can get of NHL stars not named Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin, the better.
Just as technology giants constantly need to find fresh ways to market their next big thing, hockey needs to find creative ways to market its characters.
