Written by The Royal Half | 10 October 2008

The NHL's marketing has been pretty hit or miss the last few years, especially after the lockout. But I am really enjoying the "Is This the Year?" series they are currently running. And since I recently upgraded to get the NHL Network on DirectTV, I see these ads non-stop. The first is Dustin Brown.



Anze Kopitar gets the other commercial.



And the one that was created to showcase the Kings entire team makes no sense to me.



Is it an ad teasing the team's hopes for a Stanley Cup or a clear explanation of the NHL rules and guidelines concerning scoring. Why yes, for every goal, there is an assist. Unless the goal was scored unassisted. And why the hell is Derek Armstrong in there? You really get the feeling on this one that the marketing team had created 29 of these and then said "shit, I don't know, your guess is as good as mine on this one."

But those Brown and Kopitar ads.... man, those get me excited for the Kings season to start.