Because it’s the Cup

Recently, Jess and I were quoting Sam from Love Actually and his brilliant, unintended summation of the NHL playoffs:

Worse than the total agony of being in love?

We’re almost there again.  The gut-wrenching, screaming-into-a-pillow, obsecenity-laden euphoria and destruction of the post-season.

In past years, the NHL has come up with some great commercials to capture this emotional meteor shower.

 

Granted these are for the Cup final, but I’ve been moved and inspired.  I’ve been fired up.

 

And I’ve wept like that time Professor McGonagall stepped between Harry and Voldemort in Deathly Hallows.

 

@Raedanda found these, the NHL’s first playoff commercials for teams that have clinched berths this year.  I have to say… BLEH.

 

I love a good montage, but these are doing nothing for me.  Not the Penguins, or the Toews/Kane bromance.

 

Not Foxy Friday Carey Price, not even Corey Perry’s overturned turtle goal-slide celebration.

 

 

I need blood and sweat, I need lowlights that I suffered through while my teams paid for their playoff berths in pounds of flesh.  I need feels.

 

Meh.  I am a hundred times more excited and terrified than these commercials let on.  Here’s hoping for better as this shortstop season draws to an end…

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  1. This is just the beginning, right? Just a warm up to ease us into the emotional f*ckery that is playoffs? That can’t be…ALL we’re getting? NHL, it’s time for a new agency.

  2. I was “Meh” on them too. And YOU KNOW WHAT TOEWS AND KANE DO TO MY FEELS.

    Maybe they should actually intersplice clips of Love Actually into this campaign. Too bad Sam is busy being Jojen Reid.

  3. Esbee Reply

    The still pictures are just flat. They don’t show the emotion and the passion. These are all pretty boring even though they are showing exciting guys who play with exciting teams. Don’t like these at all.

  4. Allison Reply

    I read somewhere that the goal of this year’s campaign is to appeal to a broader audience this time around, as in not just the hardcore fans. Because of the lockout the NHL lost a lot of “fair-weather” fans. They’re trying to gain them back, and more, by making these commercials more of an introduction than an emotional punch to the face. I did enjoy the one about how quirky the players are. I can’t help it that Jason Spezza’s laugh gets me every time.

  5. These aren’t even as good as the plays of the week on NHLN. Is their media production staff still locked out??

  6. Cassy Reply

    Kinda like the Bruins one.

    But you already knew that, right?!