NHL marketing could have saved themselves a giant headache if they’d contacted the Seattle Kraken social media team for guidance. The league just fled out of a hockey romance field filled not with rose petals and perfume, but bear traps and land mines – like the Kraken found out in 2023.
What in the bloody hell is he going on about? Well, the trigger was this Sept. 29 Sports Business Journal headline: “NHL winks at hockey romance subculture with ‘Hot for Hockey’ campaign.”
The league had noted last year’s successful efforts by individual teams. The Ottawa Senators began selling jerseys inspired by the HBO Max series, Heated Rivalry. Profits were donated to Ottawa Pride Hockey. According to the Empty Netters podcast, “Teams in stadiums are playing songs from the (show) soundtrack.” Rolling Stone reported, “The Bruins and the Canadiens have incorporated Heated Rivalry into their social media promotions.”
NHL Selling Stars As Hearthrobs
During a break in a league-sponsored September photo shoot, San Jose’s Macklin Celebrini explained why younger NHL stars are embracing social media exposure. “It’s important that the personalities of hockey players are shown a little bit more.
“I think a lot of it has been kind of tucked away, like hockey hasn’t really been shown. There’s so many amazing guys and great personalities in our game and you never really get to see them.”
Here’s a couple of paragraphs that in the past would never have appeared on the NHL’s official site. “When Matthew Schaefer strides into Mustang Sally’s Diner at 2:03 p.m. on a Wednesday in early September, he is energy personified, all slicked back hair and bold movements, the picture of a kid just turned 19 years old with the world at his feet.
“He is running late, so the photo shoot prep happens quickly. Hair, makeup, styled in light jeans cuffed above black-and-white penny loafers, a white button-up shirt open two-thirds of the way down his chest, a white blazer, and sunglasses tinted ochre.”
Not until the 10th paragraph is it mentioned that Schaefer was the first overall pick in the 2025 NHL draft by the New York Islanders, and went on to win the Calder Trophy. Of course, that’s by design.
If The NHL Knew What Kraken Already Know
New NHL chief marketing officer Sean Eggert explained to ESPN, “People fall for people. That emotive connection is really, really important.”
By itself, that’s a dandy idea. The Kraken recently dropped a wholesome video showing roommates Berkly Catton and Mackie Samoskevich, not slamming into rink boards, but creating charcuterie boards from assembled groceries.
“Every player is a new way to reach a new fan,” said Eggert at the time. “The whole ‘romantasy’ space specific to sports and hockey, it’s undeniable. It’s a massive cultural force that’s happening in hockey.”
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman concurred during an Oct. 1 interview. “The data is overwhelming in terms of new fans that we acquired last year who were first introduced to hockey either through Off Campus or Heated Rivalry. Since it seems to be a cultural phenomenon, we figured why not get on board.”
Indeed, ESPN’s Emily Kaplan noted, “Nearly 1.8 million people watched the NHL for the first time last season after watching Heated Rivalry or Off Campus, according to NHL research. ESPN’s average female audience during the 2026 playoffs jumped 164% from 2025.”
The original plan, according to SBJ: “The league has contracted hockey romance authors to write and narrate 60-to-90-second pieces, which will direct listeners to tune in to upcoming games to see how the stories play out on the ice. It will also tap influential ‘BookTok’ creators to spread the word.”
Kraken Already Found Out Hockey Romance Is Complicated
The audiobooks were to carry titles such as Jack of Hearts (image at left), about Vegas’ Jack Eichel, and The Storm Between Us, focused on Carolina’s Sebastian Aho.
Though no romantic angles would be included, many fans still objected – loudly – to the league collaborating with hockey romance creators.
By Oct. 6, SBJ reported, “The NHL has discontinued its ‘Hot for Hockey’ campaign less than a week after the league began releasing a series of short stories in audiobook form.”
The league said the campaign was never meant to last longer than the first week of the season. However, the New York Post reported, “The NHL has wiped Spotify completely of the seven audio stories that had already been released, most of which received negative feedback on social media.”
This feels like the beginning of a movie where a group of kids stumble upon an old book of magic and start reciting spells, completely ignorant about the dark power they just unleashed.”
For the Seattle Kraken and their fans, this might feel eerily familiar. The Kraken entered the same hockey romance mine field during their second season. Details in the next part of this story, including collateral damage done to a Kraken player and his wife.
Earlier Kraken:
— Opening For “Extra” Kraken D-men After Lindgren Injury
