Popular Leafs personality proposes controversial idea for jersey nameplates

The NHL is one of the least popular major sports leagues with respect to viewership. Amongst the big North American leagues (others include the NBA, MLB, NFL, MLS), the NHL is currently in a dog fight for the 4th spot on this list.

The NHL has tried several different ways to branch out and create more buzz around their league by doing some out of the box things. A few examples include adding celebrity All-Star co-captains (Justin Bieber, Michael Buble, Will Arnett, Tate McRae) and playing games overseas via the Global Series showcase in an attempt to drum up interest in Europe, Australia and other areas.

An interesting jersey concept that could potentially help the league branch out to other viewers was pitched by Steve Dangle of The Steve Dangle Podcast when talking about new Leafs free agent acquisition, Oliver Ekman-Larsson.

This conversation expanded onto other Maple Leaf players with catchy nicknames.

They went even a step further, combining nicknames of Maple Leafs and other NHL superstars, with their jersey numbers.

This is an interesting concept and could very well help in targeting a younger generation of hockey fans. I think the NHL should be open to new concepts, as any new viewership could help generate additional revenues, which would factor into the overall salary cap picture for the league.

I'm not convinced that nicknames on actual player jerseys would do much for the game, but selling fan jerseys with player nicknames could be a worthwhile venture to consider for the NHL.

Source: The Steve Dangle Podcast
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