Smith, Reitman to Blog for NHL

Directors Kevin Smith and Jason Reitman, along with a dozen other celebs, have signed on to blog for the NHL about their love of hockey.
by Larry_Chimp_Man

There's no denying that die-hard hockey fans in the United States are some of the most passionate fans in the country. They stay true to a sport often lost in the shuffle due to a low percentage of the market share and a piss-poor TV contract. Most casual sports fans in the US couldn't care less about the sport of hockey and, while it has been gaining steam over the past few years, it's still not seen as a major sport south of the border.



With the NHL playoffs upon us the National Hockey League has once again turned to celebrity blogging as a means of propelling the popularity of their sport. Directors Kevin Smith and Jason Reitman have signed on to blog about their love of the sport as have a wide array of other celebrity personalities. Each blogger will follow their favourite team as they make a push for the Stanley Cup. Joining Reitman and Smith are actors David Boreanaz, William Fichtner, Tom Cavanagh, A.J. Buckley, and Geoff Stults along with The Hills star Lauren Conrad. Western singer Dierks Bentley has also signed on to the NHL.com blog for the playoffs.

Jason Reitman has publicly shown a tremendous admiration for hockey for years. The director may be Montreal-born but he's a Vancouver Canucks fan through and through. He's worn their team colours during press coverage for his films Thank You For Smoking and Juno as well as producing the infamous 'Swedish Twins' commercial for the NHL. However, it'll be interesting to see how Reitman covers the Canucks cup run considering the team wasn't able to make the playoffs.



Kevin Smith has been blogging for years on his own site SilentBobSpeaks.com. Hopefully all the comedic insight found on that sight will be carried over as Smith covers the New Jersey Devils cup run. Smith has showcased his love for the sport in every film he's done as hockey has become one of the director's recurring themes. Hopefully the New Jersey native doesn't hold anything back when deciphering the Devils' cup run.

While a few celebrity bloggers aren't likely to cause a spike in hockey popularity in the US I'm sure these blogs will open the doors for a few future fans of the sport. The NHL may be making some wrong turns when it comes to TV contracts and hockey coverage in the States but their sport marketing is spot-on. Hopefully the momentum currently behind the sport continues to slowly push hockey forward and into the spotlight.

What do you guys think about all of this? Is it right for celebrities to get caught up in sports marketing? I'm all for it if it's done in a creative fashion but one could argue something like this is simply an elaborate commercial. Post a comment and share your thoughts.

Click on over to the NHL's BlogCentral to follow your favourite team along with Smith, Reitman, and others.

Cheers.

Subscribe in a reader