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.