Pass or Fail: NBC’s Stanley Cup Playoffs ad makes you rise and repeat (Video)

The 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs commercials are starting to arrive, since the playoffs start in just about two weeks.

The NBC Sports’ contribution to the genre this season falls back on a familiar trope in its previous promotion of the NHL – the ‘boys on the pond/these guys were all once kids just like you were!’ aesthetic – and adds a little dash of the “overcoming incredible pain/obstacles/odds for Stanley Cup glory” narrative.

A few reactions:

1. “Push, fall, rise, repeat” is an interesting phrase to use as the mantra of the spot. You have Sidney Crosby and Steven Stamkos there as the “fall and rise” and the prominently featured Chicago Blackhawks as the “repeat.”

Also, this is the same mantra my father uses when he visits the bathroom after eating Mexican.

2. The use of home video really does help to establish the connection between professional athletes and our own fuzzy movies of athletic accomplishment. These could be our sons or brothers, or that neighbor’s kid who was the best on the youth team.

It does, however, appear to limit the pool of footage from which to choose, leaving the spot very North American-centric. Which is rough when some of your top individual players in the playoffs are Russian, Slovenian, Swedish, Finnish and Old-Ass Czech.

3. Additionally, it outlines a problem the NHL has had forever, which is the ability to identify players by face. Now, de-age them, and it becomes even harder.

(An aside: There’s no reason they have to wear helmets during the shootout. It’s a marketing gimmick masquerading as a part of a competitive sporting event, so go the full monty.)

Overall, a nice spot, although it falls short of really conveying why any casual fan should tune into the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

What say you?

PASS OR FAIL: NBC’s Stanley Cup Playoffs commercial for 2016?

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Greg Wyshynski is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact him at [email protected] or find him on Twitter. His book, TAKE YOUR EYE OFF THE PUCK, is available on Amazon and wherever books are sold.

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