NHL finally deals with controversial promo video!

Earlier this week as we are in the midst of the Stanley Cup final, the National Hockey League put together a minute long video to promote the championship final and what it will take for the Dallas Stars or the Tampa Bay Lightning to hoist the prestigious trophy. The video was seen many times over on social media and some fans, former players and pundits heavily criticized the league’s angle to promote the game.

In the video, we could see players blocking shots and limping off the ice, grimacing in pain and struggling to keep going. The message it gave was the following: “The price is steep, it leaves its mark, but the sacrifice doesn’t go unnoticed and in the end, every bruise, every ache, every scar is worth it.”

It did not take long for many fans and former players to comment and heavily criticize the post. Former player Dan Carcillo, who has been quite vocal about head trauma and concussions since he retired from the NHL after his nine-year career back in 2015, commented that he would give up his two championship titles to get his health back. In his career in the NHL, Carcillo racked up 1,233 penalty minutes and sustained numerous concussions. He also won two Stanley Cups, both with the Chicago Blackhawks. Clearly he does not believe it is worth living with the trauma he still deals with today.

He wasn’t the only one to complain about it. The promotional video came out the same day TSN’s Rick Westhead put together a segment entitled “The Problem Of Pain” in which former players, notably Ryan Kesler, discuss the dangerous side effects of pain medications. 

On Thursday, Westhead posted that the NHL had finally deleted the controversial video. Nothing else was said about their decision to promote pain as part of a job in the NHL. 

"The NHL has deleted its "Price to Pay" video, which glorified playing through pain in order to compete for the Stanley Cup. Clips of the 70 second promo, posted on the NHL's Twitter feed, included a player taking a shot to the body and then struggling to the bench."

We can understand why some fans and players have an issue with the way the NHL is selling the sports on social media. Hockey is way more than this. And the NHL needs to do more to educate its players and prospects.