The National Hockey League unveiled its 2015 Stanley Cup Final national TV spot during Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final on June 3.
The “Name” TV spot will run across the media platforms of the NBC Sports Group, Rogers and the NHL – including NHL Network, NHL.com, in-arena, digital and social media. The spot was crafted by New York City-based creative shop, Baby Bear’s Porridge.
Steve Bell, editor at Cutters Studios in New York edited the spot. He previously worked on the iconic “History Will Be Made” campaign for the NHL, as well as “Cup Raise,” “Boys” and “No Words.”
“You’ll notice that there are virtually no shots of hockey action in ‘Name,'” said Bell. “For hockey fans, there is more intimacy and emotion carried in poignant images of famous players from different eras. As with our previous campaigns, the NHL preferred to leverage emotion and heritage to appeal to their incredibly intelligent and knowledgeable fan-base, creating the kind of tribute fans have responded to so well in the past.”
Narrated by actor and hockey fan Liev Schreiber, the spot shines a spotlight on a tradition that is unique to the NHL: having your name engraved and immortalized on the Stanley Cup. The commercial closes with the title card, “Welcome to Forever.”
“Every player dreams of winning a championship,” said Brian Jennings, NHL chief marketing officer and executive vice president. “In the NHL, the achievement of winning the Stanley Cup is made more special with the engraving of your name alongside some of the greatest to ever play the game. For players and fans alike, a name forever takes on a new meaning in this great game when it is hand-engraved on the Stanley Cup.”