This And That: Back In The Saddle

You never know what you will come across while wine-tasting in the Finger Lakes.

Last month, while I was driving the scenic roads in upstate New York looking for wineries, (and of course thinking about hockey and about what the Hurricanes needed to do to improve), I came across a few familiar names shown prominently on the walls at Bully Hill Vineyards in Hammondsport.

It's always nice to see passionate hockey fans when you are about and these jerseys certainly catch the eye when you walk into the room.  But if you look closely at one of those framed jerseys, it is not the same as the others.

The ECHL jersey of former Hurricane defenseman, Bryan Rodney, who has been around the circuit a bit, has an ad sewn on the bottom.  Yes, the same bottom portion of the jersey that several players used to tuck in, which is now illegal.

According to this USA Today article, similar ads will be coming to your favorite NHL hockey jerseys, soon.

NHL COO John Collins spoke about the issue late last year at the NeuLion Sports Media & Technology Conference, saying that jersey sponsorship is both "coming and happening."

Apparently, the Los Angeles Kings have done this with practice jerseys and once went so far as to have a sponsor logo incorporated into the team's logo for a specific promotion.

The joint agreement allowed for the McDonald’s logo to be placed on Kings’ practice jerseys and press backdrops. The team also designed a brand new version of the Kings’ shield that integrated the McDonald’s logo to be used in marketing and promotional material.

Hopefully, the coming ads won't be too obtrusive.  If you have to have then, the one on Rodney's jersey doesn't look too bad.

Of course, another former Cane, Matt Cullen's jersey is also shown.

My writing has been pretty sporadic of late here on the blog but things are picking up now and we will be back to having new activity every day here at Canes Country with news, interviews, analysis, and other features you hopefully will enjoy.

Hope everyone had a great holiday!