New York Islanders star Mathew Barzal was benched for the majority of the third period of Tuesday's contest versus the New York Rangers for putting individual play ahead of the team, head coach Barry Trotz confirmed, per The Athletic's Arthur Staple.
Barzal had one 40 second shift in the final frame, and he sat for nearly 18 minutes as the Isles secured a 4-2 victory over their in-state rivals.
The 22-year-old had two assists in the first half of the game and drew some eyeballs on the highlight reel for a through-the-legs attempt that was thwarted by Rangers netminder Alexandar Georgiev.
The benching doesn't appear to be any sort of grand controversy, as Trotz said he was "ecstatic" the club secured two points in its final game before a break that extends until Feb. 1.
Barzal's recorded 42 points in 49 games this season, and he's headed to St. Louis for the All-Star Game this weekend.
It's been quite a few years since Joel Quenneville found himself behind the visitors' bench at the United Center.
The Florida Panthers head coach is looking forward to Tuesday's matchup in Chicago, his first game there since serving as Blackhawks bench boss from 2008 until his dismissal in November 2018.
"I think it's going to be a fun night. The memories are so great - the moments, the people, the staff, the organization," Quenneville told NBC Sports Chicago.
He added, "You couldn't ask for a better 10 years of our life, or our coaching experience, or our families, or the opportunity to work with some of the best players to ever play the game."
Quenneville is the only coach in franchise history to capture multiple Stanley Cups, having won in 2010, 2013, and 2015. His 452 regular-season wins with the Blackhawks rank second in club history.
"Chicago's a special place to play and we had one of those memorable runs," said Quenneville, who previously served as head coach of the St. Louis Blues and Colorado Avalanche. "It was a privilege to be there. The franchise was the team of the decade and was very deserving."
When asked what he remembers most from his time with Chicago, Quenneville said it was the journey to each championship.
"Obviously the championships were significant achievements, and when you look back how each one was accomplished and how hard they were," the 61-year-old said. "All the things - the ups and downs of winning each one were the things that stand out the most."
In his first year with Florida, Quenneville has led the Panthers to a 27-16-5 record. The team occupies third place in the Atlantic Division entering Tuesday's action.
The American Hockey League has suspended Bakersfield Condors defenseman Brandon Manning for five games for directing a racial slur towards an opponent during Monday's game against the Ontario Reign.
The Los Angeles Kings defenseman has won two Stanley Cups, a pair of Olympic gold medals, a World Cup, and world junior gold. He made the playoffs in seven of his first 10 NHL seasons and never missed the postseason in his three campaigns with the OHL's Guelph Storm.
Now, Doughty finds himself on a rebuilding Kings squad in jeopardy of a last-place finish in the Western Conference for the second consecutive season. They entered Tuesday two points back of the Anaheim Ducks for second-last in the West.
"It’s frustrating," he told The Athletic's Lisa Dillman. "Being one of the top guys, I never expected to be (in this position). I always expected that I would be able to help push my team to a playoff spot every single year. But now back-to-back years, being in last place, it’s been stressful and depressing a little bit.
"Sometimes you’ve got to sit back and realize you don’t have the team you once had."
The Kings won Cups in 2012 and 2014. They earned playoff berths in 2016 and 2018, but since then, the club has tried to shift toward a youth movement. Doughty, who is in his first season of an eight-year, $88-million extension signed in July 2018, is in it for the long haul.
"There are times when you see really good things and you can see we’re getting better," he said. “The bottom line is we need to play a full 60 minutes and we didn’t play well (against the Panthers). You didn’t see a full 60 minutes. Vegas, we didn’t play well for two periods. Carolina was a good 60 minutes even though we lost.
“Tampa was ups and downs too. We need to figure out how to play a full 60 minutes. When we have the lead, we need to learn how to (protect) the lead. I know we’ve got a young team, so maybe it’s a little harder now."
While several players from the two Cup-winning teams remain, general manager Rob Blake, who took over in April 2017, has begun putting his imprint on the roster. He dealt defenseman Jake Muzzin to the Toronto Maple Leafs last season, and both Tyler Toffoli and Alec Martinez are rumored to be on the trade block.
Former NHL defenseman Akim Aliu inked a deal for the remainder of the season with HC Litvinov of the Czech League, he told Sports Illustrated's Alex Prewitt on Tuesday.
Aliu will fly out Wednesday to join the team and plans to play Friday. The club has 14 games remaining in its season.
Born in Nigeria, Aliu opened up in November about the racial abuse he faced from former coach Bill Peters while the two were together in the AHL in 2009-10.
The now 30-year-old claims Peters "ruined and deterred" his career, and has since met with NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and deputy commissioner Bill Daly about creating a change in hockey culture.
Aliu was selected by the Chicago Blackhawks with the 56th overall pick in the 2007 NHL Draft, but appeared in only seven professional contests.
Since being drafted, the 6-foot-3 journeyman has suited up for 23 different teams across seven leagues and five countries outside of the NHL. He most recently played with the East Coast Hockey League's Orlando Solar Bears in 2018-19.
Toews had Keith pinned down on the ice and had most of his jersey off before assistant coach Sheldon Brookbank broke them up. The rest of the team gave the players a few stick taps and the morning skate resumed as usual.
"Just some friendly wrestling ... That's the whole point of a morning skate, to get you ready for the game," Toews told Lazerus. "We're ready now."
Toews and Keith, who have been teammates for 13 years and won three Stanley Cups together, seemed to patch things up rather quickly.
The tail end of what appeared to be a, um, physical disagreement between Jonathan Toews and Duncan Keith.
I didn’t see what precipitated it and can’t say if it was real but sure looked real. pic.twitter.com/77ZcWnk5ZG
The warm weather of South Florida should delight players and media members alike. This year's All-Star Game is being held in St. Louis, where it's 23 degrees Fahrenheit (minus-5 degrees Celsius) as of Tuesday morning.
"Nothing against other places around the league, but we're talking about January in Florida," said Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad. "This is where guys want to be."
Alex Ovechkin has never not been "Ovi" to the NHL fan. Since his North American debut in 2005, he's been wholly himself, and no piece of content capitalizes on this qualityquite like a CCM skate commercial from 2010.
In the 30-second TV spot, Ovechkin is bodiless - a talking head, literally - stuffed inside a bowling bag.
"No one ever got better at hockey by bowling," the Capitals superstar, acting the part of a disgusted mentor, deadpans to a teen. "More practice for you."
Now, close your eyes and imagine Sidney Crosby, Ovechkin's generational peer, inside the bowling bag. It just doesn't work, right? You could say the same for this Papa John's pizza delivery boy ad from 2016, this ESPN "SportsCenter" Russian spy ad from 2011, this Eastern Motors football tryout ad from 2009, and this "NHL on NBC" vending machine ad from 2007.
Every single commercial is very … Ovi.
"The whole thing is about authenticity," said Ovechkin's longtime agent, David Abrutyn. "You can't - I think, anyway - be successful while pretending to be something that you're not."
Ovechkin, gap-toothed grin and all, is still with CCM and Papa John's. His roster of corporate partners also features global giants Nike and Coca-Cola, Hublot watches, Fanatics memorabilia, and Beats by Dre headphones. He recently launched an online store selling clothing that features the official "Ovi" logo. It's safe to say the affable 34-year-old is the sport's top pitchman.
According to Forbes, Ovechkin is set to make $5 million in endorsements during the 2019-20 season. That haul leads all NHLers, with Crosby and Connor McDavid a peg below at $4.5 million. Other top earners include Maple Leafs forwards Auston Matthews ($2.3M), Mitch Marner ($2M), and John Tavares ($1.7M). (Though Forbes' numbers are technically unofficial, industry insiders consider them to be fair estimates.)
Patrick Smith / Getty Images
The NHL is holding its annual All-Star gathering in St. Louis this weekend, an event where on-ice brilliance, off-ice personalities, and corporate interests collide. Ovechkin has opted out of the festivities - citing a need for rest for the second year in a row - but the show will go on. Dozens of promotional shoots, public appearances, and other marketing activities have been scheduled by the league, player agencies, and the NHLPA.
With the event approaching, theScore reached out to a variety of people who deal with player endorsements for help answering three central questions:
How do NHLers and their agents process an endorsement offer?
What does a typical endorsement contract look like?
What attracts companies to hockey players as pitchmen in the first place?
Here's what we learned from those on- and off-the-record conversations.
Filtering the offers
Brian Babineau / Getty Images
Professional athletes are inherently cool, and cool sells. Since hockey is Hollywood in Canada, players for Canadian teams are considered desirable spokespeople. In the United States, with basketball, football, and baseball pros ahead in the queue, the average NHLer isn't exactly swimming in endorsement offers. The bulk of the money is gobbled up by a small pool of players who have serious name value - think Ovechkin and the other top earners, plus guys like P.K. Subban, Taylor Hall, and Patrice Bergeron.
A player's approach to endorsements ultimately sets the tone, no matter how sought after a player might be in the local, regional, and national marketplaces. Some players choose to hustle and others don't care to get involved, while the bulk of the NHL's talent lands somewhere in the middle - interested in crafting a personal brand yet concerned about being labeled a shill.
For instance, future Hall of Famer Henrik Lundqvist, who's as handsome and stylish as they come, has become synonymous with Head & Shoulders shampoo but not much else. This is by design. The Rangers goalie says he's drawn to offers that promise fun experiences and can be stretched out over a long term. "It's about being more than just being a name or a face," he said. "I look at that opportunity and try to be a little creative, too."
"There's a lot of variables that go into it," Stars netminder Ben Bishop said. "It's not just, 'Hey, yes, no.' What are they asking for? What do they want? What can you provide?" Wild defenseman Matt Dumba follows a similar mental checklist: "Do I have a passion towards that? Do I actually use the product a lot?"
Patrick Kane, who's been in the public eye for 15 years, has adjusted his mindset over time. "It definitely changes from when you first get in the league to when you're an established player," the Blackhawks winger said. "You review everything, whether it's the term, compensation, what kind of brand it is, what kind of message it's sending."
Thomas Nycz / Getty Images
Traditionally, a company's first point of contact is the player's agent (though the NHLPA, through its group licensing program, will take the lead if the offer involves three or more players). Fan meet and greets, commercial shoots, and social media posts are a few of the most common requests from companies. The time commitment required from the player almost always makes or breaks the deal.
Coyotes forward Derek Stepan, for example, is hesitant to sacrifice family time for a few extra bucks. Occasionally, he would sign autographs at a Chase Bank branch during his stint with the Rangers, but he doesn't currently have a single endorsement. Hischange in teams has limited his opportunities, but Stepan says he's happy sitting on the sidelines at this point.
"If I'm not all-in on something, it's just not acceptable. I have to push everything. I have to be totally into it," said Stepan, who described the Chase deal as feeling more like a chore than anything else. "If I'm having the thought of, 'Ah, why did I do this event tonight?' - then why am I doing it?"
As Jeff Jackson of the Orr Hockey Group agency notes, "These companies don't just throw money at players. There's obligations on the player side." Jackson represents McDavid, arguably the best player on the planet. The agency curates McDavid's portfolio, guarding against overexposure and burnout. Yes, there's such a thing as having too many endorsements.
"Their time is valuable," Jackson said. "They have a grueling season, and then they have an offseason, and then they're back training. They don't have a ton of free time, particularly during the season. Every single one of these deals requires a time commitment of some sort. If you take on too many of them and then add them up in the end, you're looking at a lot of hours per year."
Coming to terms
Jeff Vinnick / Getty Images
Not unlike other types of contracts, no two endorsement deals are exactly the same. All of them include plenty of copy-and-paste legalese - morality clauses, exclusivity language, and the like - but each player-company contract has unique terms and conditions.
In most cases, compensation is highly dependent on the team's market. Places such as Toronto, Boston, Vancouver, Philadelphia, and Montreal usually make up the top tier, whereas Carolina, Florida, San Jose, Tampa Bay, and Arizona tend to be considered bottom-tier markets. So, if a Canucks player is traded to the Panthers in the middle of an endorsement deal, he ultimately earns less; the post-trade checks would be only 50% or 75% of what he could have earned in Vancouver. Companies are all about return on investment, and they've determined that return is different in traditional and nontraditional hockey markets.
Another interesting condition: There's a "minimum games" clause in many of these contracts. It states that the player's compensation will be calculated based on how many NHL games he appears in during a given season (i.e. if the minimum is 50 games and he plays 25, he'll get half the payout). The reason why a player misses action - injury or demotion - isn't contractually important. The company has lost some visibility either way.
On the flip side, just like a player-team contract, players are sometimes eligible to receive performance-based bonuses. Let's say a player's base compensation is $75,000. Depending on the market, bonuses could be $10,000 (for leading the team in scoring), $15,000 (named to All-Star Game), $15,000 (team advances to conference final), and $25,000 (team advances to Stanley Cup Final). That's an extra $65,000 in possible earnings.
Kirill Kukhmar / Getty Images
Equipment is a longtime staple of the endorsement space, and as a result, players and companies approach it differently. A player may settle on endorsing skates, sticks, pants, and helmets from one company but have a separate agreement with another company for gloves. This diversification could be a personal choice - maybe the player has worn Bauer gloves his entire career and is too superstitious to change - or the result of shopping around and capitalizing on a bidding war.
The occasional partnership, usually in the fashion arena, might open the door for some creative control. In these situations, players receive a commission, which gives them an incentive to promote the product as much as possible. One effective way to get the word out is by pumping up the product or service through the player's social media feeds. Almost every endorsement deal now includes a negotiated number of "#ad" posts. A single tweet or Instagram upload can net an NHLer tens of thousands of dollars.
Social media has given players leverage they didn't have 10 or 20 years ago. It's no coincidence that Paul Bissonnette, who scored seven NHL goals in 202 games, is likely raking in the most money from endorsements among retired NHLers. Bissonnette brings a rare combination of humor, unfiltered storytelling, and 1.5 million Twitter/Instagram followers to the negotiating table. In partnering with Bissonnette, a company can essentially talk directly to a targeted customer.
Moving the needle
Sonnet Insurance
Sonnet Insurance is constantly trying to grab the attention of Canadians, says Brian Long, the company's vice president of marketing. But, since insurance is a grudge purchase, customers automatically tune out advertising. This is where NHLers provide value as spokespeople. "People don't necessarily want to make the purchase, but when they do, they want to feel comfortable about what they're doing," Long said. "Having a personality, or having a personality around your brand, is a very important thing."
Sonnet's recently tapped the acting skills of active and former players like Morgan Rielly, Johnny Gaudreau, Doug Gilmour, and Mike Vernon to illustrate how the insurance industry has evolved. In 2020, customers purchase insurance online, not over the phone or in person, in the same way that wooden sticks have given way to carbon-fiber sticks. The campaign, which started last season, is a prime example of the NHLPA's role in the endorsement space, with Sonnet and the union working hand in hand on the ads.
Overall, the NHLPA has overseen a 25% increase in multi-player marketing deals over the past few years, according to Devin Smith, senior director of marketing and community relations. The PA has more than 30 hours of marketing activations scheduled for All-Star Weekend. That package includes everything from autograph signings with fans to face time with corporate executives.
"They are influential in what they do, and how they do it. And they don't need to be in their jerseys," Smith said of players embracing the business side of hockey. "These guys," he added, "know there's brands to build, and they do it well."
Look no further than McDavid. Notoriously stoic with reporters, the Oilers captain comes out of his shell in certain situations. The above ad for Electronic Arts promoted the NHL 18 video game while revealing McDavid's comedic charm. The response was overwhelmingly positive.
"We're not trying to make him into a comedian, or any player into a comedian, but you do have to show (your true self)," Jackson said. "There is a serious side to these guys - that's the most important thing, that they care about being really good teammates, good leaders - but when you get them away (from the rink), there's very few hockey players who don't have a great sense of humor. The dressing room is just ripe with comedy, right? It's nice to see some of that come out because it gives people a different side."
What separates Ovechkin from the pack is that, 15 years and 692 goals into his career, the "Ovi" brand is crystal clear. Abrutyn says Ovechkin's official brand plan is centered around six things: Family, loyalty, generosity, tenacity, leadership, and fun. This foundation gives prospective corporate partners an idea of what marketing ideas might attract him. His ability to resonate locally (in the Washington, D.C., area), nationally (United States), and internationally (Russia, Canada, and elsewhere) has opened countless doors since 2005.
Last fall, Ovechkin took his persona to another level with the release of Ovi O's, a cereal product Abrutyn calls "a natural extension of who he is and what his brand represents." Ovechkin hopped behind a till at a D.C.-area grocery store and rang through some orders to promote the launch. He was accessible, energetic, and self-deprecating. He was wholly "Ovi."
"That's why (companies) are drawn to celebrity talent," Abrutyn said of Ovechkin's longstanding authenticity. "It's because of their nature to break through in a world that's filled with thousands and thousands of messages."
