PR in the Playoffs

While listening to CBC radio this morning, I heard that the ratings for the third round are down from last year. That stat got me thinking. Last year’s third round had Ottawa pushing for the finals. This year, round three had all American teams. This is where my bias will become very clear.

The PR strength of hockey in Canada is an interesting phenomenon to examine. Hockey isn’t a sport in the minds of fans like me. Hockey is a way of life. Our Canadian way of life. The dominance of American teams, which account for about three quarters of all NHL teams, since 1993 is disturbing for fans. Usually, when there is a trend impacting an audience, PR can do a lot for shifting the trend away from the negative. Unfortunately, hockey isn’t a regular business environment. Canadians love watching hockey games when a Canadian team is making the push. Calgary’s run in 2004 started a trend of country-wide support for Canadian teams within reach of the cup. Canadians are a stronger and better hockey audience for the NHL. Although new teams in Canada aren’t allowed for some strange reason, the NHL continues to market an American heavy NHL in Canada.

How does Tampa Bay, Carolina and Anaheim winning the cup do anything for the NHL? These markets are subject to bandwagon fans that are gone as fast as they came if the team goes into a slump. On the other hand, look at Toronto. That arena sells out for no logical reason other than an absolute love of hockey and the team. Hockey PR in Canada, while as challenging as any type of PR, is an easier science than in the States. These playoffs are a perfect example. Most Canadians are cheering for Pittsburgh. Why? A good Nova Scotia kid by the name of Sidney Crosby. We support our own. That dedication is the emotional twist Canadian teams put into their PR work. And we buy into it.

But in the States, hockey is entertainment. Remember, in Canada hockey is a way of life – entertainment is a side benefit. Marketing a hockey team in America is like marketing a circus. Cheerleaders on the ice, overblown intermission shows, etc. Just look at the All-Star game where there are Superbowl style performances by musicians. For a true hockey fan in Canada, these gimmicks take away from the game, which is why we are there. American teams have too continually offer incentives other than the hockey itself to retain and expand their audiences.

This trend in American hockey PR is not a good thing. The more that PR professionals are forced to market hockey as something other than hockey, the less credibility the NHL administration has as a representative for hockey. I suggest everyone who goes to NHL hockey games take the time to go to a University or College level game. These games are about the hockey – skilled players demonstrating the best of the game. If you can’t handle sitting through one of those games, you aren’t a hockey fan. For Canadian hockey PR professionals, keep using our emotional ties to hockey to your advantage. To American PR professionals, good luck finding the hockey spirit needed to find true fans.

Avery Antics

I’ve been gone for awhile. Nothing since Trade Deadline? Unacceptable! I’ve been in the middle of a move to Calgary, so I’ll consider it to be research. This town is full of hockey PR potential. I’ll look to that another time.

Sean Avery. The man in my cross hairs today. Hockey has seen some disgraceful acts since my last post – Jonathan Roy fight. Now we have Sean Avery doing what he does best by showing the worst side of hockey. His little dance in front of Martin Brodeur was some negative PR for hockey and the NHL. Search for Avery and Brodeur in YouTube and I’m sure you’ll find the incident if you haven’t already seen it.

I expect that type of attitude and unsportsmanlike behaviour in some sports, but not hockey. In hockey, you put out a good hit and if someone doesn’t like it, then there is a scrap or fight. When done properly this doesn’t hurt the image of hockey. Avery makes a career out of hurting hockey’s image. Avery wasn’t acting like a hockey player. In hockey, Avery should have been setting a normal screen – back to Brodeur, looking for a tip. That is what people expect when they watch hockey.

A lot of people would think I’m going overboard, but this is all about image. Do PR professionals in the hockey world want to have people think about a player dancing around trying to trick a goalie? No, they don’t. I tried that trick when I was a kid playing pond hockey, but it didn’t last long. “That’s not fair!” is what everyone would say, and they were right. PR professionals want the image of hockey to be that of a tactical, skillful, professional sport that can bind a nation because of spirit of the sport.

Avery has never displayed the spirit of the game, so I guess we couldn’t expect any more. At least the NHL has now made his little dance an unsportsmanlike penalty. Notice that it’s called unsportsmanlike.

Trade Deadline…the week after

I’ve let the action of Trade Deadline 2008 simmer for a whole week. I wish it were a week ago. I never realized how much PR is attached to the exciting announcements of star players going to new teams. So, I want to look at the PR winners and losers from the trades completed.

The Winners

The Washington Capitals, period. The Capitals have been a bottom quarter team for quite a few years. As a hockey fan, I had forgotten the Capitals were even contending. The Capitals came out swinging their PR club this year. I can’t stop myself from watching the Washington results to see how their new teammates are adjusting. Christobal Huet, the biggest steal of the dealing in my opinion, has won both his starts since moving to America’s capital. Huet has sparked a fire under Kolzig, which gives the Capitals a very solid goaltending duo. Nothing creates a solid base for advertisements, marketing and communications like good goaltending (see examples: Mikka Kiprusoff in Calgary (2003-2004), Dwayne Roloson in Edmonton (2005-2006) and Patrick Roy in Colorado (1996 until the end of his career)). Second, the Capitals added a big name player like Sergei Fedorov. Fedorov joins Russian stars Alex Ovechkin and Alex Semin. That is a PR professionals trio from heaven. Lastly, Matt Cooke adds excitement for the fans with his gritty play. The Capitals added on-ice talent and PR material to generate communication pieces to bring hope to a struggling hockey club.

I am actually going to put the Toronto Maple Leafs on the PR winner list. Cliff Fletcher didn’t get his Sundin deal, but he did get a nice handful of draft picks. When Fletcher first joined the Leafs, I posted that he needed to focus on a new youthful team. The season has been forgotten by many Leafs fans, so these draft picks (at the expense of Chad Kilger, Wade Belak and Hal Gill) are going to bring the new youthful faces needed to form a new hockey club. The Leafs won at the deadline because they added the assets needed for a stable PR environment in the future. That’s exactly what the doctor ordered for the club.

The Montreal Canadiens, despite my apprehension when Huet was traded, are winners this year. I thought the team needed to add a big name, big results player after Huet left. Instead, Bob Gainey turned what looked like a misguided, quick decision into a smart GM move. Gainey, rather than whine about Marion Hossa going to the Penguins, took the opportunity to show his faith in Carey Price. I think the added pressure might be exactly what Price needed. At first, I thought the loss of Huet would devastate the goaltending core in Montreal, but after watching the New Jersey vs. Montreal game, I am becoming a believer in Gainey’s decision making. Price has to answer the call to duty or face the consequences – angry Montreal fans. I think the trade has turned into a great PR move because it offers a couple benefits. First, hockey fans have their eyes on the Canadiens. People want to see how the team does with the help of the 20 year old goalie. Second, if Price succeeds and proves Gainey right, what a story. See earlier examples of Kiprusoff and Roloson.

The Pittsburgh Penguins, at the moment, are winners. Listen to these names: Crosby, Malkin and Hossa. That is a deadly sounding trio. Now, they all share the same hockey sweaters. While Hossa suffered a minor injury in his first game, he will be back soon. Crosby is back, and Marc-Andre Fleury has returned. The Penguins now have some of the best forwards in the game and the unexpectedly strong goaltending situation with Conklin and Fleury. However, the team could go from winners to losers. Hossa has to perform. In my opinion, to maintain the PR strength of the deal, Hossa needs to resign with the Penguins too. If Hossa falls flat and doesn’t resign, or even if he plays well but doesn’t resign, the team will have a PR nightmare. The Penguins gave up three young players with unknown potentials and limits and a first round draft pick for Hossa. How does losing what amounts to four young, potentially franchise players, become a good PR story unless Hossa performs well and resigns?

The Dallas Stars. Brad Richards. Enough said.

The Losers

The Ottawa Senators were PR losers in my books. What makes a struggling team look better in PR? Change! The Senators needed to change the status quo. They got Martin Lapointe. Lapointe may add leadership in the dressing room, but he does little for PR strategies. Senators fans expect a lot after last season’s results and the beginning of this season. Firing Coach Paddock isn’t enough to convince fans that change is on the way. Some new faces between the pipes would have helped a lot. Ottawa needed to lose Ray Emery and/or Martin Gerber. I was a big Emery fan last season, but he is starting to look like Dan Cloutier. Inconsistent. Gerber lost a lot of his credibility after his performance last season, but if given the choice as a Senators PR staff member, I would have kept Gerber, if a goalie had to be kept. In the end, the Senators still have Emery and Gerber. The change needed for a fresh new message to fans didn’t happen at the deadline. As a result, the Senators were PR losers.

The Tampa Bay Lightning lost big time. There is very little material left for Lightning PR staff. St. Louis and Lecavalier are the last men standing in Tampa. The club has been on a downward spiral that the communication plan of a lifetime couldn’t save. Now, the Lightning lost Brad Richards and made the Stars into PR winners. The Lightning got Mike Smith, Jussi Jokinen and Jeff Halpern, but those players can’t fill the void left by a Conn Smythe recipient. Poor Mike Smith has been thrown to the wolves as the new #1 goalie in Tampa. The only news left for PR staff to cover will be the score, which isn’t going to be enjoyable to look at. Media and fans want more than scores. They want human interest stories, hope and most importantly, the Stanley Cup. The Lightning, with the loss of Richards at the deadline, don’t offer any of those potential attention grabbers. Even worse, Richards, upon being traded, implied that the Lightning club is having internal problems. Many in the media speculated at that, but to hear it from a soft spoken guy like Richards, the message is delivered. The Lightning were the biggest losers of Trade Deadline 2008.

Honourable Mentions

The Calgary Flames scored PR victory after the deadline when GM Sutter had a wonderful soundbite. Sutter said that they had a good team as is, and there wasn’t any need for change. Before the deadline, Sutter added Jim Vandermeer to the defensive core, and Vandermeer is proving to be a solid defenseman. Sutter showed confidence in his team, and that was great for producing a few stories in local and national papers and NHL.com.

The Colorado Avalanche recreated the 1996 Stanley Cup team this year by bringing in Peter Forsberg and Adam Foote. The move is great for PR because of the championship memories for fans and the warm, fuzzy stories that PR staff can write thanks to the reunion. The problem is that beyond the memories, the Avalanche lost Ryan Smyth and Marek Svatos this week, and could easily lose Forsberg given his recent injury record. For the time being, the Avalanche deserve mention because of the attention the moves have generated. Currently is a PR pillow for Colorado to rest on.

Trade Deadline #2

Christobal Huet traded? This is a huge move. Washington has apparently acquired Huet for only a 2nd round draft pick in 2008. There are reasons for Montreal to move Huet, but to be so close to overtaking Ottawa it seems odd to move their experienced goalie. Carey Price is now the #1 goalie in Montreal, which should be interesting to see. I certainly hope that Montreal has a deal in the works to get Hossa or another big name player. Canadiens fans will probably scratch their head about this one. I know I am. Let’s wait to see how the Canadiens organization deals with the outcry from moving their veteran goalie. I can’t wait to see the next deal they make today.

Trade Deadline #1

San Jose made the first strong move of the deadline. The Sharks will have a lot to say in media conferences and media releases now that they have acquired Brian Campbell. The big PR move in this deal is that the Buffalo Sabres have lost yet another strong name from their 2006-2007 team. Last year they lost Briere and Drury for nothing and made the strong Sabres fan base very mad. This year, the Sabres have at least gotten Steve Bernier in return. Bernier is a good right winger and will give the Sabres some scoring power. However, losing Campbell is hard on the defensive core for the Sabres. It will be interesting to see how the Sabres fans will handle the loss of someone like Campbell. Even more interesting, how the the Sabres PR team make the deal look like it was the best move for the Sabres.

Also, the Dallas Stars have just traded Mike Smith, Jeff Halpern, and Jussi Jokinen to Tampa Bay for Brad Richards and Johan Holmqvist. Dallas will have a lot to celebrate with a player like Richards joining their team. Tampa Bay will will finally have some decent goaltending from Smith. Both teams will be able to brag about the benefits of this deal. Big name deal with not a whole lot of PR involved. The Stars do gain a nice publicity piece by getting Richards.

Just to mention, Wade Belak has been traded to Florida. I can’t believe that Leafs fans won’t get to see the colourful personality of Belak around Toronto anymore.

Oh Canada?

The Montreal Canadiens have a serious crisis communications situation. On Feb. 10, Ryan O’Byrne and Tom Kostopoulos were arrested in Tampa, Florida. O’Byrne arrested for theft of a woman’s purse and Kostopoulos for interfering with police. The Habs will need to address this issue quickly and contain the damage to their team’s organization. The situation is not easy to handle. The team needs to stand by the players, but it can’t look as if their support the alleged behaviour.

I would suggest the team simply acknowledge the situation. They can’t ignore it. Beyond that, they need to say that while the allegations are serious, the team supports the two players and trust that legal system will clarify the situation. The team also needs to state that any internal reaction will wait until they know whether or not the players are guilty. Once that is determined, the media will be notified of necessary information. That’s how I’d handle it, but how the Habs handle it will be interesting to see.

New hope in the oil fields

The Edmonton Oilers had a PR disaster last season when star forward Ryan Smyth was traded to the New York Islanders. The damage for the Oilers went to the roots of their dedicated fan base as their season ended with a massive losing streak. They went from being in the Stanley Cup finals to not making the playoffs at all. Personally, I would not want to rebuild the image of a team that fell so fast.

This season has been less dramatic for the Oilers, but their unimpressive stats make life difficult for PR staff. How does a team consistently lose and maintain large audiences without being the Toronto Maple Leafs? It all comes down to hope. Fans understand slumps, but they want to have hope for the future. Whether it be a upcoming draft pick, or a breakout season by a rookie, a team needs a cornerstone for communication.

The Oilers have a new hope emerging this week, and they need to jump on it quickly. Mathieu Garon came to the Oilers from the Los Angeles Kings as a back-up goalie for veteran Dwayne Roloson. As the season has progressed, Garon has taken on a major role and given the Oilers hope. Just as Roloson brought hope for a Stanley Cup two short years ago, Garon is bringing hope for a new Oilers team.

Garon posted a shut-out against rival team the Calgary Flames earlier this week. He followed that performance with a 40 save win against the Chicago Blackhawks. Garon is only 30 years old and has many years left in the league. The Oilers’ PR staff need to make a new Roloson. The fans need hope and other teams need to be fearful.

A strong communication strategy, focused on Garon’s success in games, commitment to the team, and his hope for the future, can start the rebuilding of a team with many years of success. I’ll be watching to see if the Oilers can capitalize on their assets like Garon.

Classic PR in the hockey world

Over the past week, two excellent PR moves occured in the NHL.

At the league level, NHL Green was announced. NHL Green is a partnership between the NHL and the GreenLife Organization. The hope is that GreenLife will act almost as a consultant to advise the NHL on how to best do its part for the environment. What types of changes will be needed, I really can’t say. What I can say is that this is a excellent PR move for the league. To begin with, it is great to see a large organization commit to helping the environment. Most importantly though, it opens up numerous possibilities for marketing and advertising campaigns. Before watching clips from the Feb. 2 games in the league, an advertisement played. The ad showed ice breaking off of an arctic ice cap, immediately followed by an image of children playing on an outdoor rink – the simple phrase “Let’s keep teh ice from melting” appears on a white background. An excellent ad, and an excellent PR move by the NHL and GreenLife.

Although not as impactful to the world, the Anaheim Ducks made a similarly good PR move. The team took advantage of its very non-hockey climate and surroundings and brought in some star power to heighten their image. The new Snoop Dogg show payed a visit to the team and gave the organization some excellent publicity. I doubt that Snoop Dogg’s audience overlaps with that of the Anaheim Ducks. As a result, the team is now associated with Snoop Dogg within a whole new audience. Snoop Dogg’s credibility in the audience now give the Anaheim Ducks credibility in the audience. Well done by both parties involved. I’m sure that Snoop Dogg will also benefit from the publicty and ratings received by Anaheim Ducks fans tuning into his show.

Cliff Fletcher – leaf blower or garden rake?

All the internal strife, poor play and disorganization at the Maple Leaf organization has become headline news in the sports world. Now that the decision has been made – Ferguson out, Fletcher in – the focus has turned to one simple question: What next?

Will Fletcher be a leaf blower at MLSE and trade off high profile players, or will he be a garden rake and bring together the leafs he already has? Could Mats Sundin, the face of the Maple Leaf organization, be traded away to be a Stanley Cup rental player? The speculation about the future is the most damaging aspect of the soap opera situation. Many in the media have looked beyond the recent wins for the Leafs, and instead write more stories about what options Fletcher has.

The Maple Leaf hockey team is now a sideshow to the Maple Leaf administration. Fletcher tried to quell the fire in a recent Canadian Press article by saying “I’m going to meet internally with the coaches, the management group and the scouts, and get their opinion on how they see the team playing, where they see it can progress to, rate all the players in terms of value, and eventually come up with a consensus and a plan in how we’re going to attempt to move forward.”

Logical and thorough, but his comments leave fans and media wondering who will be rated poorly? Who will they lose, or not be able to lose? Is anyone even interested in Jason Blake, Bryan McCabe or Pavel Kubina? The Leafs have big name, big salary players without the stats to make them appealing.

The Leafs need to develop some strong key messages to demonstrate a united, professional and committed organization. Although the decision is going to be difficult, Fletcher needs to say what he is going to do. The decision has to be clear, so the Leafs can start rebuilding their credibility as a sporting organization.

If I were in the shoes of PR staff at MLSE my focus would be making the team the core to media coverage, not the administration. Stress the wins when they happen, the community involvement and re-brand the team. Sundin will be the face of the organization as long as he is in Toronto, but younger players such as Matt Stajan and Alex Steen need to slowly be worked into Sundin’s role. After years of transactions that have seen older players such as Ed Belfour, the Leafs need to be re-branded as a team with a strong core of young players to build a team around.

All eyes are going to be on Fletcher, but the PR staff can develop new strategies to lessen the speculation and maintain the image of a team steeped in history.