NHL Playoff Teams Gear Up for Postseason With Sweet Swag Giveaways

Joseph Myers

After six months of riveting regular season action, the NHL is preparing for the best time of the year—namely, the two-month quest to lift Lord Stanley’s Cup. It’s time for the playoffs, folks! Sixteen teams are vying for the coveted proof of undeniable determination and might, and many clubs are heightening their fan bases’ fascination with fast-paced action through promotional giveaways, including ones that pair up with devotees’ participation in the NHL Bracket Challenge.

The postseason commences with five games tomorrow, so our attention span for anything other than hockey is going to be next to null. Teams know that we have thousands of contemporaries, so they are rewarding that loyalty, with our two favorite examples coming from franchises who could very well meet in the Finals.

Today, the Nashville Predators are kicking off a scavenger hunt that relies upon “monster blocks,” with each container holding promo goods such as autographed pucks and memorabilia, along with playoff tickets and gift cards to local businesses. We would like for the Predators, who have some Philadelphia ties, to go a long way in the playoffs anyway. But thanks to this promotion, which will situate the blocks around various Nashville neighborhoods, we would not mind seeing them claim the Cup so as to build even more brand recognition. The team is also relying on a Bridgestone logo-centric contest as a nod to its arena’s eponymous sponsor, with tickets going to select Twitter users.

If the Predators are to win the franchise’s first title, they will likely have to beat the Tampa Bay Lightning to do so. Easily outpacing the entire league with 62 wins, the Lightning will be looking for their team’s second Cup, and many hockey fans are presuming they will. To secure that coronation, the Lightning will have to win 16 games, and their fans can tout their heroes’ march through promotional car magnets and flags, vehicle decals and yard signs, with a fitness spot giving out the last item and AAA locations distributing the other products.

Fourteen other clubs, of course, do not want the Predators or the Lightning to win the Cup, so they are psyching up their fans over their own prospects through numerous freebies. The San Jose Sharks won a ton of preseason admiration for their enhanced roster, and it’s now time to see if they can come through when the action is more scintillating. Tonight, fans will have a two-hour chance to win a playoff prep box as their club looks to take out the Vegas Golden Knights, last year’s media darlings.

Another Western Conference contender, the St. Louis Blues, who had seemed destined early in the season to be making golf reservations instead of heading to the postseason, will look to build on their momentum by acknowledging fans’ Let’s Go Blues banners, with not only fans but also businesses in the running for prizes. Their first-round foes, the Winnipeg Jets, are hoping to soar to the Finals this year and will definitely have thousands of fans rocking jerseys at Bell MTS Place. Through the Bracket Challenge, believers can save some cash, as winners will be claiming said tops at the conclusion of the playoff slog. If the Jets emerge as the victors of the whole shebang, those jerseys are definitely going to become a valued apparel option next season and beyond.

In the Eastern Conference, the Boston Bruins are also giving away jerseys to Bracket Challenge entrants, as the Beantown bunch looks to remind people that it finished tied with the Calgary Flames for the second-best record in the league.

Finally, the Columbus Blue Jackets, who have never won a playoff series, have a chance to shock the hockey world when they face the Lightning in the first round. Since the Ohio team will start the series on the road, the organization is going to have watch parties, through which it will give away prizes, duplicating the generosity when the matchup shifts to Columbus.

As rabid hockey supporters, we will be following the action closely regardless of the amounts or types of swag available to fans, but we will certainly keep an eye out for more giveaways as the playoffs commence. It’s really a shame that our Flyers are not in the playoffs, because we just know that Gritty would have made an additionally great inspiration for playoff goods. Wait until next year!

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