NHL's Tire

With the debut of the Stanley Cup Finals still two days away, hockey fans and broadcasters are no doubt bored with the excessive wait between rounds. For those counting, we’re in the middle of four straight days without any hockey on the tube and it’s starting to get tiring. So, it was with some irony that the NHL announced yesterday that it signed an “Official Tire” agreement. Granted, the deal was signed with Bridgestone Tires – as in the tires on a car – but, given the long wait between rounds, it would have made more sense to ink a deal with a mattress company.

According to the press release, the “Bridgestone brand will serve as the Official Tire of the NHL, NHLPA, and Hockey Hall of Fame for the next five years”. The communiqué goes on to list a plethora of events at which the tires will be featured and for which they will serve as a sponsor. But the real question, on my mind at least, was completely avoided: Why in the world does a hockey league need an Official Tire?

Could it be for the Zambonis? Well, the press release is quite specific with its message “for drivers who want to get the most out of their cars, it’s Bridgestone or nothing”. Cars, the text reads, not Zambonis. It must be for something else.

Maybe it’s for the moving vans when the Phoenix Coyotes finally croak and are relocated to Winnipeg. Again, the press release is quite explicit with the term “car”, but there probably won’t be enough cash left in the team’s $25 million rescue package to hire professional movers. Instead, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman may have to make a few trips with his car in the middle of the night, just like a tenant skipping out on the rent. (It’s worth noting that the Coyotes original lease at Jobbing.com Arena ran through the year 2033.) But I’m not sure Bridgestone would want to associate its brand with the Phoenix Coyotes saga – too controversial and too few people.

How about having Bridgestone on hand to replace the slashed tires of sports journalists covering the visiting playoff team in Philadelphia? Too bad for Montreal Gazette sports writer Pat Hickey that the Bridgestone announcement hadn’t been made when his 1999 Honda Accord with a Quebec licence plate was vandalized in Philadelphia after game one of the Flyers series against the Canadiens. Still, I bet there are a few dozen Chicago-area sports reporters who would be very interested in such an offer from Bridgestone. And the good news is that they still have another 48 hours before the Flyers-Blackhawks series gets underway to make arrangements.

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