Add a Tint of Color!
It wasn’t shown on TV. It should have been. I bet it made heads turn. Shown first at the October 2nd game between the New York Islanders and the New Jersey Devils, it was shown on the scoreboard screen to the fans. The NHL was testing a new color for the boards. They tested the boards that stand behind the goalie and his net.
They added a drop of yellow to the white.
The idea is to get a kind of ‘green screen’ effect. Why, you may ask?
The reason is simple. Advertising provides big bucks for the NHL, and if they can increase their cash flow, why not? The boards then can be used twice. First they can be use in the arena by local advertisers. Second, since the boards will look blank to the TV watchers due to the yellow ‘green screen effect’, the NHL can then use the boards again for national advertising. One set of boards, used twice for marketing! I bet that the person who thought of this is driving one heck of a nice car right now!
Don’t know if you can tell in this photo, but the boards are tinted yellow. pic.twitter.com/Q50cMJUkpY
— Tom Gulitti (@TGfireandice) October 3, 2014
Travis Zajac of the New Jersey Devils didn’t like the off-yellow tint around the goalie area. That is not surprising, any change can trip out players when it comes to lights, colors, and finding the puck! After the game, the boards went back to normal.
Let us think about this for a minute or two. Ice has its own brilliant color. It gleams when a blade slides over it. Can a tint of color ruin the glow of silver underneath the lights? Can our eyes start to play games with this and allow the cool ice to become off-color? I will be honest. I have another reason for writing about this. When I first read the article, the first image that came to mind was yellow snow. You all know what that is, I hope? It is an awful color to me. I couldn’t help it. My mind’s eye turned this into a mushy yellow tint that extends onto the pure ice. Every time I think about the yellow boards, my mind travels to yellow snow! Am I the only one?
Another thought came to mind (sometimes I can’t stop this old mind from hockey thinking!) – What can the NHL do with the extra money they would receive if they continue with this plan? Most of the money will go into the pockets of the NHL’s employees. But I hope a lot of it can be use for good. How about a decrease of ticket prices across the teams? Once inside the arena, lowering the price of food would really improve a night on the town! Let us not forget the kids. The NHL can get behind kids’ leagues across the U.S. and Canada. They can imprint kids with good skills like fair play, team play and such. How about off-setting the prices of team wear? Or off-setting prices for families that cannot afford hockey gear or that cannot afford to let their kids play in a league?
We all know that the NHL is worth millions but by giving back, the NHL becomes a soft plush toy instead of a hard round black puck!
