The NHL has been attempting to reach a new generation of hockey fans and bring in new viewers to a sport most commonly viewed as an after thought behind football and baseball in the United States. One of the NHL's biggest problems was the average americans inability to identify the majority of hockey players, since they are almost always viewed in full body pads and a helmet, obscuring the face. The NHL partnered with GoPro to try and get their players more face time with the audience and highlight the infectious personalities of their players in an attempt to draw in new viewers to the sport. The GoPro advertisement was a huge success showing the skill of the players and the fun that they have playing the sport of hockey, the combination of these two factors created a unique commercial experience where the viewer did not even feel like they were being sold a product and thus had fun watching these incredible athletes do what they do best.
The NHL in similar fashion to the GoPro advertisement attempted to showcase the human side of their players to intrigue the audience into watching the 2016 playoffs. Relying on home footage of the sports most talented players, the advertisement presents the idea to the viewer that these pro athletes are very similar to them creating a deeper connection between the viewer and the sport. The footage of the young players attempting to skate for the first time and practicing their shooting, generates a sense of nostalgia for those viewers who grew up playing the sport and remember those days messing around on the ice.
The video than fast forwards to the players college and junior careers highlighting the evolution of the player, and all of the hard work and dedication that it tales to get to the point that they are at now. Finally in the waning seconds of the video the viewer finally gets to see the Stanley Cup the most iconic trophy in all of sports. The point of the advertisement is to show how hard it is to get to this point just to the playoffs and how much more work is needed to actually get to the Stanley Cup. The advertisement is a home run it highlights the human factor of the players, as well as the uphill climb all of the teams have to hoisting the cup.
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