#ceo!sidney crosby

[holy-puckslibrary]

𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐦𝐚𝐬 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐭

here's a list of every upload from the fic-mas event i did on patreon last year, as well as a link to the selection of said uploads that are now available to you here on tumblr (depending on when you see this post).

hope you enjoy, and happy holidays!

˗ˏˋ 𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭 ˎˊ˗

again, this is a list of ficmas uploads that are available on my patreon and will remain there for the time being. if you'd like to learn more about how to access them, please refer to 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐏𝐎𝐒𝐓.

if you'd to pursue the content available now (or soon-to-be) on tumblr, please refer to 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐏𝐎𝐒𝐓.

˗ˏˋ 𝐒𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐓 𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐆 ˎˊ˗ 

𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 — stargirl!connor mcdavid x famous!reader 𝐰𝐜 — 3k 𝐜𝐰 — none, excluding cavities. 𝐬𝐲𝐧𝐨𝐩𝐬𝐢𝐬 — romance is not dead if you keep it just yours. (requested)

need a refresher or to get caught up? here's the 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭.

˗ˏˋ 𝐇𝐎𝐖 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐄𝐎 𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐋𝐄 𝐗𝐌𝐀𝐒 ˎˊ˗ 

𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 — ceo!sidney crosby x assistant!reader 𝐰𝐜 — 2.8k 𝐜𝐰 — mild angst, but that's it! 𝐬𝐲𝐧𝐨𝐩𝐬𝐢𝐬 — sidney's hatred of the holiday inadvertently thwarts the enjoyment of it by someone he definitely doesn't hate. (inspired by a #darvey scene from suits)

˗ˏˋ 𝐁𝐈𝐆 𝐁𝐀𝐃 𝐖𝐎𝐋𝐅 ˎˊ˗ 

𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 — jamie drysdale x reader 𝐰𝐜 — 2.4k 𝐜𝐰 — references to past hook-ups but nothing explicit and heavy angst (per the request) 𝐬𝐲𝐧𝐨𝐩𝐬𝐢𝐬 — merry meddling brings two volatile foes back under the same roof. can holiday magic mend the burned bridge between these former enemies-with-benefits?

˗ˏˋ 𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐊 𝐀𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐔𝐄 𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐁𝐋𝐄𝐌𝐒 ˎˊ˗ 

𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 — adam fox x heiress!reader 𝐰𝐜 — 3.2k 𝐜𝐰 — a smidge of angst. 𝐬𝐲𝐧𝐨𝐩𝐬𝐢𝐬 — the princess of park avenue and the hotel manager's son, once childhood sweethearts, are reunited by a precocious permanent resident just in time for the holidays — and the heiress' wedding. (inspired by the best movie of all time, eloise at christmastime)

˗ˏˋ 𝐒𝐈𝐃𝐍𝐄𝐘 𝐂𝐋𝐀𝐔𝐒 ˎˊ˗ 

𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 — sidney crosby x reader 𝐰𝐜 — 2.8k 𝐜𝐰 — references to a previous one-night-stand and some drama. 𝐬𝐲𝐧𝐨𝐩𝐬𝐢𝐬 — five years ago, she left the club's annual holiday celebration with an unexpected party favor. said party favor meets more than just st. nick when they return this year. 

˗ˏˋ '𝐓𝐈𝐒 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐃𝐀𝐌𝐍 𝐒𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐎𝐍 ˎˊ˗ 

𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 — tyler seguin x oc (caroline allen) 𝐰𝐜 — >10k 𝐜𝐰 — adult themes and content, angst (and a lot of it), description and repeated reference to an injury + chapter-specific warnings.

𝐬𝐲𝐧𝐨𝐩𝐬𝐢𝐬 — tyler seguin will attest that caroline allen, acclaimed author and his childhood love, is "the one that got away" until his dying day. even though the "got away" half is (more than partially) his fault. but that didn't matter much when he was thousands of miles away, skating his heart out and partying the years away. by some stroke of luck or a cruel twist of fate (he isn't quite sure yet), a season-ending injury has sent him back to recover in the one place he knew she'd always be. will this second chance to make things right be the gift of a lifetime, or just another lump of coal weighing down his heart? 

the family trees

Have you ever been watching a Hallmark movie and been suddenly overcome with the urge to visit the festive little town where the story takes place and the seemingly mismatched leads fall madly in love?

Well, look no further than Merriment Island, Christmas' official home in the States! 

For over 100 years, the jolly citizens of this aptly shaped island located just off the coast of Washington have been spreading holiday cheer amongst themselves and all who visit. This year, Mayor Seguin has selected you all as the guests of honor for our annual Winter Wonderland celebration - the longest-running of its kind!

Be sure to join us from December 18th through Christmas Day for festive fun, friendly competition, and the opportunity to create unforgettable memories with your loved ones. Make sure to keep the exclusive flyer handy (attached after the stylized map designed by our very own Benny Allen), as it will be your ticket into the 8-day, all-inclusive event! 

If you have any questions about the event, please email Jennifer Bishop-Allen (Winter Wonderland Chairwoman and co-owner of the Allen Family Farm), or her daughter, Caroline Allen. (Yes, the NYT best-selling author!) 

If you are not staying aboard the Sleigh of the Sea (Merriment's very own cruise-liner that docks in Seattle!) for the duration of the celebration, please contact Catherine or Lily Seguin at the Yuletide Inn to make your reservation as soon as possible. Rooms are limited and going faster than you can name all eight of Santa's reindeer! 

╰┈➤  an excerpt of the email accompanying the the invitation flyer

All of the stories and fantasies written or discussed on this blog by the owner or by followers are purely fictional and are not intended to offend any parties.

©2023 holy-pucks, all rights reserved. I do not give consent for any of my work to be copied, re-posted, or translated here, on Tumblr, or on any other platform. Reproduction of any content from this blog is considered plagiarism.

⤑ to my inbox 💌

⬸ back to the catalog

⬸ back to the main blog

[chanelfunnell]

How does Crosby Interesting know the name of the woman bebind IN co pány account that you have mentioned regardung JT? There is no hint of the name. How do you know that?

No idea. I would expect she belongs to old troupe of Crosby's ardent fan girls from Puckbunny Parkour who covered Tazer etc from time to time but they were very military about Sidney. It is only way she has recognised the chick M on IN of her company that I have posted. You need to be very obsessed about the player such as Sid and any sport female reporter etc around him from more than a decade ago to recognise a female commentator online after a decade lol.

I have found out her company IN account thanks to Illinois local papers featuring a charity gala fundraising for US marines and so older photo of golf tournament in Carolina for a female US marine where this chick M had participated. Her company IN's photo with her in golf attire was in the papers but she has deleted the post later on...i have to check her IN stories, all boring and so her company in UK registry where I got it is her stuff. Perhaps similar way how fan girls have tracked Megan and his Arizona chicks. I don't bother. I just got it when we have found Tazer was a captain and Meg which is also Margaret was with a red lipstick in a beret...It is my personal opinion but I think Tazer likes her more than just a long term friend. Not just for her royal marines and former role of the captain and red lipstick beret post with him up to golf asap as soon as she played one in Carolina. We know stiff boring emotionless grumpy moody serious Tazer and times when he is so happy and horsing around. He did it around her and I thought she was good to put him on ease and relax, since Olympics in Vancouver where he left his shell and he scored so often. Sidney introduced them and obviously it is always simple...a pretty girl so Tazer has paraded himself and relaxed a bit...my opinion. I just think after him being always so keen to jump on any bandwagon she does and says and his merry go round attitude when she's around that he has deeper feeling for her or likes her but it's cute and better than bitter unhealthy obsession of puckbunny barking up to wrong tree rather than having a sport interest. Her name is Marketa Barborikova Linden Windsor or Marketa B Linden W and she has quite nice life and she's pretty. Not sure if she has children, she looks preggo on one rare photo. She has said in one book interview she would like to have 3 kids. I don't remember whether Tazer has even scored a hattrick so far lol but it has to be ages to remember or dwell on Crosby as a fresh famous rookie. McDavid is quite old player now but he has a college sweetheart. Obviously these frats are having fun elsewhere...a gf and a wife or not but not online lol the chick is CEO of her own tech company etc, his mother was CEO...he spoke about Office and sweetheart or baddie Pam...maybe he likes bossy women to rein him lol..no idea and I don't care. I like sport and that spirit, even bromance of Max and Pat lol

[flashyfucker]

something abt sidney crosby in b&w

it's so his vibes. ceo of desaturation

[wearepenguins]

The Pittsburgh Penguins today announced a plan to pay full and part-time arena and service employees at PPG Paints Arena, who would otherwise lose income on regular season games because the NHL has paused the season.

Funding will come from Pittsburgh Penguins players, the Pittsburgh Penguins Foundation and the Mario Lemieux Foundation.

When the NHL announced the pause on Thursday, because of the threat of coronavirus COVID-19, the Penguins had six regular season games remaining on the schedule.

"The ushers, ticket takers, concession workers, cleaning staff and other arena workers are the backbone of a Penguins hockey game at PPG Paints Arena, and a big part of the Penguins' family," said David Morehouse, the team's president and CEO. "Our owners, Mario Lemieux and Ron Burkle, and our players, led by Sidney Crosby, thought it was essential to help them through this. We have come together to ensure that they will not lose pay because of the pause in our season."

[weirdcanucks]

We have been hearing Petey wants to “build his brand” this offseaon. It is a smart move, because the NHL doesn’t know how to market itself. Today I’m sharing an article on Sidney Crosby’s brand-building and his calculated strategy of being neutral and non-controversial. It also prompts us to think: in 2020 when the uprising against police violence and white supremacy affects the world of sports, is “sticking to sports” still an option?  

If you are interested in marketing and sports business, check out the full article here where Dan Robson details Crosby’s partnership with brands like Tim Hortons, Pepsi Co. and Adidas.

Excerpts:

Crosby’s sustained popularity is also a result of his carefully curated image, one that never allows his personality to distract from his excellence when playing. You can be sure Crosby will give his all on the ice and will never offend you off of it. Crosby and his team have been carefully maintaining that image ever since he emerged as a peewee superstar — since “The Kid” was just a kid. And the blueprint they created in building the Crosby marketing machine is the one now being followed by the game’s next generation of mega-stars.

Hockey super-agent Pat Brisson was the first to spot Crosby’s incredible marketing potential. More than many other agents, who are first and foremost experts on the ins and outs of NHL contracts, Brisson also had a keen vision for brand building. And once he’d signed the phenom at 14, no one was getting to Crosby without going through him.

According to Brisson, from the very beginning Crosby’s image was the result of carefully selected relationships. Brisson knew corporations would be lining up to work with the kid, but Crosby had one job that had to come before everything else: playing hockey. So the agent guarded his prized client like an overprotective parent. 

Crosby isn’t going to crack jokes or steal a scene with his charisma, but he is going to provide something consistently admirable to Canadian consumers, says Brian Cooper, CEO of MKTG, an international marketing company. The highlights he generates on the ice are great, but companies love that Crosby won’t surprise them with news off the ice. “You’re never going to see him anywhere but the sports pages. He’s never going to get into trouble,” says Cooper. “He’s never going to be one of those guys that embarrasses the club or this country in any way.”

[raplinesmoon]

Attraction tag ✨

Tagged by @lcksndkys (thanks Suzie, this looks fun hehe)

Rules: Post 8-9 people you’re very attracted to.

Kim Namjoon

Namjoon is the most attractive mf to ever walk this earth, don’t fight me ✨ he’s the ultimate package: his facial features are so nice, from his lips to the dimples, to his eyes (esp when he smiles 🥺). And on top of that, he’s smart and seems nice with a killer personality which only makes him even hotter. Being single is just slightly tolerable knowing if I can even achieve close to a fraction of his perfection, it’s worth holding out for 🥰

Kim Seokjin

Listen, when I was in Greece, I came across all these ancient statues with features carved to perfection. And you know what? They all reminded me of Kin freaking Seokjin. This man is too attractive, it’s scary in a vampiric sort of way. Not only has his face persisted through thousands of centuries (convinced he was an Ancient Greek official at some point), but just like his whole aura of being super confident is sexy af (WWH indeed) 😍

Choi Youngjae

I don’t want anyone to sleep on how cute this man is. I’ve never looked at a person and fallen so hard in my life (only Namjoon hahahaha). Like he just has a face that makes you light up and smile and feel like you’ve had an entire cup of hot chocolate on a cold, snowy day. His smile is easily the single best thing I’ve ever seen, and I am a certified simp through and through 🤗

Lim Jaebeom

My single most embarrassing story from the past few weeks is that I’ve spent such an absurd amount of time staring at JB’s Instagram that he literally became my entire explore page at one point oops 😅 ANYWAYS STAN THIS ATTRACTIVE CAT DADDY (for real he has like five cats, talk about being CEO of that 😺)

Dev Patel

Abshsjdjdkdk the brown boy crush I wish I had in college!! Like he’s just so cute!! I loved his evolution from being so wide eyed and innocent in Slumdog Millionaire to really coming into his own as a certified hottie in Lion and his more recent works. He’s a many of many talents, and The Green Knight is the one movie I’m looking forward to this year so I can scream over him ok 💖

Farhan Akhtar

An unconventional pick, considering he’s like 20 years older than me, but also not what one typically gravitates towards when they think of attractive bollywood actors. However, mans exudes big brain energy: he can sing, dance, act, produce, direct, and manage a non profit that seeks to prevent violence against women in India. That alone is worth the mention 💕 (the gif I’m blushing 😳)

Ahn Hyo-Seop

I would host weekly kdrama nights at my apartment so my friends and I could scream over this man. AND HE ALMOST DEBUTED IN GOT7 😮 Thank you for coming to my TED talk, now go watch Abyss pls n thank u 😃

Andrew Garfield

Suzie, I am also jumping up and down bc #1 Peter Parker in my heart! I cannot get over how soft and cute he was as Spider Man and I’m so mad they cancelled the planned movies with him 😡 he’s the only reason I had every single line of The Social Network memorized as a teen

Sidney Crosby

Shoutout to the OG bae, because he’s the reason I found myself on Tumblr in the first place!! I used to (still) have a massive hockey fangirling phase, and he’s 100% of the reason whyyy. Seeing him place in person at my very first hockey game was one of the highlights of my life!! 🤩

Mentally, Jung Hoseok is on this list too and he does not need any explanation or reasoning as to why so here have a sexy Hobi pic

Tagging: @dinamitae @propinqxity @jinpanman @coepiteamare @sunshinekims @augustbutwinter @cutechim and anyone else who sees this and would like to <3

[rinkrats]

“Sidney Crosby came to us in his rookie year and said, I want to find a way for kids to be able to play that can’t afford it. And so we came up with our first programme, Sidney Crosby’s Little Penguins, where we provided free hockey equipment for kids five to seven years old. The first year, we gave 600 sets out. The next year, we gave out a thousand. Last year, we gave out two thousand sets. So they’ve become hockey fans forever.” -David Morehouse, Pittsburgh Penguins CEO and president

[freenewstoday]

New Post has been published on https://freenews.today/2021/02/09/the-five-biggest-challenges-for-ron-hextall-brian-burke-with-the-penguins/

The five biggest challenges for Ron Hextall, Brian Burke with the Penguins

The last time the Pittsburgh Penguins announced a new general manager they shocked the hockey world by hiring Jim Rutherford, the long-tenured Carolina Hurricanes executive who introduced himself by saying he expected to be in Pittsburgh for only about three seasons.

Three seasons later, Rutherford was raising his second Stanley Cup with the Penguins.

After he stepped down in January for unspecified personal reasons, Pittsburgh certainly felt the pressure of an encore. The Penguins are at a crossroads as a contender, as they were when Rutherford was hired.

On Tuesday, they shocked the hockey world again.

Ron Hextall hired as general manager? Not too shocking, if we’re being honest. He’s been on the radar for a few openings since the Philadelphia Flyers fired him in 2018. Perhaps the only surprise is that such a hated rival of the Penguins as a player is now running their team — although Hextall said he grew up a Penguins fan and, well, one assumes he’d like to get a measure of revenge against the franchise that fired him, too.

But Brian Burke? That was the shock. The way it came together: Co-owner Mario Lemieux suggested that David Morehouse, the team’s president and CEO, reach out to Burke as a sounding board during the team’s hiring process. Specifically, Morehouse asked him about Hextall after the first round of interviews.

“He not only gave me sage advice on Ron Hextall, he gave me sage advice going through this process,” said Morehouse.

The Penguins had considered adding a president of hockey operations along with a general manager during their search and decided to revisit the concept with Burke. He wasn’t searching for a new opportunity in the NHL. But working for Lemieux and the Penguins proved to be too alluring him for him to turn down. For the Penguins, they get the same kind of executive that they hired in Rutherford: someone with a penchant for bold moves, who also happens to have a Stanley Cup on his finger.

Oh, and now Burke finally gets Sidney Crosby on his team, too.

“If you remember back in the lottery in [2005], I just missed on Sidney Crosby,” said Burke, whose Anaheim Ducks team earned the second overall pick and drafted Bobby Ryan. “Well, now I got Sidney Crosby.”

That he does … as well as some huge challenges. Here is what Burke and Hextall face as they take over the Penguins.

Source

[mitchmarnerstan]

A List of My Favourite Hockey Players (Part 2)

again, these are in no particular order! i tried to include players from lots of different teams, and i acc didn’t include any players from my favourite team (leafs) lol. 

1. Jeff Skinner, #53: Buffalo Sabres

- his smile is literally the c u t e s t thing I have ever seen

- literally just so cute n sweet

2. Brock Boeser, #6: Vancouver Canucks

- the ✨~flow~✨

- literally seems like the sweetest person ever

3.  Sidney Crosby, #87: Pittsburgh Penguins

- i feel like this one doesn’t really need explaining

- he’s literally an icon 

4. this used to be Carter Hart but for obvious reasons.... absolutely not

5. Dylan Larkin, #71: Detroit Red Wings

- v attractive,,,,

- v talented

- seems so kind 

6. Josh Anderson, #77: Columbus Blue Jackets

- tbh i don’t really know why i love him so much

- i am irrationally attracted to this man

7. Connor McDavid, #97: Edmonton Oilers

- mcjesus™

- seriously though how can you not love him

- ridiculously talented

8. Andrei Svechnikov, #37: Carolina Hurricanes

- so so so attractive

- ceo of the michigan/lacrosse goal/whatever you want to call it

9.  Vince Dunn, #29: St. Louis Blues

- tumblr got me irrationally attracted to this man

- now i’m lowkey in love with him but it’s chill

10. this used to be Jamie Benn but he’s a transphobe so nope

[churchofrileytanev]

my nhl hot takes with analysis: metro division

i am not bullying nolan and tk i swear

sidney crosby - my good canadian mother raised me to be a sidney crosby stan first and a human being second, literally the goat, pretty sure it was him who crushed those watermelons but the media team is too cowardly to release that footage

henrik lundqvist - to qoute that tweet “he sold his soul to the devil for perfect hair”, always looks sharp as fuck

david ayres - truly one of the best moments of recent hockey history, just a heart-warming story, i remember watching the highlights while the canucks murdered the bruins so it was a truly wonderful experience

braden holtby - woke king who could probably throw an axe through all the homophobes, racists, and sexists

pk subban - such a good person with all his charity work and i hope the devils get their shit together, he’s also engaged to L Vonn who is also the goat, wicked hats

dougie hamilton - an absolute force on the blue line who actually has braincells?? truly a man with culture

tj oshie - just a dude being a dude, seems like such a good father, and having his father with him when they won the cup was so heartwarming

andrei svechnikov - ceo of flashy goals and looking pretty, “MISTA SVECHHHHHHHHHHHNIKOVVVVVVV” 

mat barzal - looks like he should be modelling not taking pucks to the face, but why does he only have one t in his name kinda wack, reigning winner of the fastest skater

sebastian aho - he is baby who let him out on the ice? cutie tho

kris letang - not only is he the father of the cutest child in the league but he’s also hot as fuck, thank you for coming to my ted talk

jacob trouba - literal king when he tells off all of his trumpie teammates, deadass showed up to ekbald’s engagement looking chaotic as fuck and i support that, his original wedding caption was funny i said what i said

nolan patrick - his ranking is not negative, we would only fistfight over our opinions on certain indie bands, he’s always 200% (such a virgo, i see you boo)  and i hope he found his way out of that parking garage :)

tk - again, the ranking is not negative, he simply gives me the energy that parking lot fistfights are within the realm of possibility, probably loves to fish and may or may not have a little bit of short mans syndrome

jack hughes - he's not terrible at hockey he’s just like 9

seth jones - tbh don’t really know anything about columbus other than john torts but jones seems super chill and him getting in the wrong photo at all stars was iconic

matt murray - pittsburgh (the city) does NOT deserve this man, i hope he finds a team where he’s appreciated, and that his dogs have a lovely night

[sortagaysortahigh]

“if i was a bad person i’d make you leave hockeyblr”

LMFAOOOOO. that made me giggle anon.

are you the god damn CEO of tumblr now? do you own the fucking NHL??

sidney crosby himself could walk up to me and tell me to leave hockeyblr and — well i’d probably do it, cause it’s sid fucking crosby — but that’s not the point.

you are a NOBODY. you sit behind anon and harass zootie in their asks 24/7. nobody is making hockeyblr toxic but YOU. just shut the fuck up and sit comfortably in your ignorance. or grow a fucking pair and come off anon for once.

at this point you seem obsessed with zootie and their blog. you have their notifs on, that much is clear, and you spread nothing but negativity and ignorance. in case you haven’t noticed, no one fucking agrees with you. read the room. take a hint. stop coming back to a blog that you think is so toxic and criticize everything they post.

sit in your corner of tumblr where you can be privileged and ignorant and silent on the issues that matter.

Chai said what she said.

[obsessiveshayme]

SIDNEY IS A SAINT

"The ushers, ticket takers, concession workers, cleaning staff and other arena workers are the backbone of a Penguins hockey game at PPG Paints Arena, and a big part of the Penguins' family," said David Morehouse, the team's president and CEO. "Our owners, Mario Lemieux and Ron Burkle, and our players, led by Sidney Crosby, thought it was essential to help them through this. We have come together to ensure that they will not lose pay because of the pause in our season."

😇😇😇

[atlanticcanada]

Tim Hortons 'Nova Scotia Strong' donut raises over $1.4 million

Tim Hortons says sales of their ‘Nova Scotia Strong’ donuts have raised more than $1.4 million across Canada to support those affected by last month’s mass shooting in Nova Scotia.

In a news release Thursday, Tim Hortons said their Debert, N.S. restaurant sold more than 4,400 donuts, the most of any of the 1500 participating restaurants across Canada.

"We knew this campaign would resonate with our local community but we were still blown away by the response," said restaurant owner Quinn MacKenzie, whose location sold more than 4,400 Nova Scotia Strong Donuts. "And it was really amazing to see how the rest of the country all got behind us to support this cause. We're truly grateful."

The tragedy struck Debert directly as two victims, Heather O’Brien and Kristen Beaton were killed in the area. RCMP say the man responsible for the mass shooting also spent the night in Debert.

Debert is also home to a Tim Hortons distribution centre that employs many residents in the region.

Officially launched last week, 100% of the proceeds of each Nova Scotia Strong Donut sold went directly to the Canadian Red Cross Strong Together Nova Scotia Fund, which is working to provide support to the individuals, families and communities impacted by the mass shooting with immediate and long-term needs.

"This contribution from Tim Hortons to the Stronger Together Nova Scotia Fund is a direct reflection of the heartfelt support from Canadians across the country," said Conrad Sauvé, President and CEO of the Canadian Red Cross. "All of the funds raised will help to meet the immediate and long-term needs of the people deeply affected by this tragedy."

Tim Hortons says the campaign was bolstered by the support of NHL stars and Nova Scotia natives Sidney Crosby and Nathan MacKinnon.

“I want to say a huge thank you to everyone who bought a Nova Scotia Strong doughnut at Tim Hortons this past week,” Crosby said in a statement. “With your support, we were able to raise over $1.4 million that will go to support those who were impacted by this terrible tragedy. Thank you for stepping up and coming together during this tough time.”

Tim Hortons says in order to begin fundraising as soon as possible, they made the unconventional decision to forgo a standardized design for the Nova Scotia Strong Donut and encouraged owners to use their creativity and create a design with the ingredients they had available. The result was a wide array of creative designs at restaurants across the country.

A heartfelt thank you to everyone who purchased the Nova Scotia Strong Donut. Because of your generosity, we were able to raise over $1.4 million dollars for the Canadian Red Cross Fund in support of the families impacted by the recent tragedy in Nova Scotia. pic.twitter.com/k37Q30fVw2

— Tim Hortons (@TimHortons) May 7, 2020

My Nova Scotia donut from Tim Hortons......monies raised goes to the families #NovaScotiaStrong @TimHortons pic.twitter.com/LCak5vW9Zx

— Sean (@Sean07460084) May 3, 2020

1st day of the Tim Hortons “NovaScotiaStrong donuts with 100% of the proceeds to @redcrosscanada Stronger Together NS Fund supporting individuals, families & communities impacted by the Nova Scotia tragedy with immediate & long-term needs, including resiliency / capacity building pic.twitter.com/oLKh2xZgHt

— Myra James (@702MJ) April 29, 2020

Had a Nova Scotia Strong Donut this morning at @TimHortons in Wolfville! :). @TownOfWolfville pic.twitter.com/jSwDonRSZ2

— Robert Hawley (@RobertHawley) May 2, 2020

#NovaScotiaStrong Tim Hortons is selling Nova Scotia Strong donuts and 100% of all proceeds go to the Canadian Red Cross Stronger Together Nova Scotia Fund. So what are you doing right now? Get out and grab one <3 pic.twitter.com/E5wLRgzY2x — ElNino83 (@Nino83El) May 5, 2020

from CTV News - Atlantic https://ift.tt/3djdjWi

[kicksaddictny]

Memphis Grizzlies Jae Crowder invests in footwear company ISlide

ISlide, known for it's ability to create custom slide sandals for any customer within days using a proprietary printing process, announced today that it has closed its most recent investment round by adding three new prominent major investors which brings the company valuation to more than ten million dollars.

The investors include Milwaukee Bucks President Peter Feigin, Memphis Grizzles Forward Jae Crowder, and Former President of Adidas Sports Licensed Division & LIDS David Baxter.

“I am excited to partner with ISlide and be a part of their growth story,” said Baxter. “It is a great brand, with great products and people. I believe it has tremendous opportunity to continue to grow and win consumers”

ISlide in recent weeks has continued to show why they have become a major player in the footwear industry when they previously announced that it entered into a two-year licensing deal with the National Hockey League (NHL) to manufacture and distribute footwear products and designs featuring NHL team logos. This added further strength to the brand as they already previously held the licenses for both the NBA and MLB.

“When I started this company I knew we had a great opportunity in front of us. Bringing these new investors into our ISlide family is a testament to what we have been able to accomplish in this short period of time. I am incredibly proud of the hard work of our team and the continued growth we have had this past year resulting in us becoming a leading brand in the footwear industry,” said Justin Kittredge, Founder and CEO of ISlide.

ISlides are the highly sought-after athletic sandal that have been seen on the feet of countless athletes and celebrities to include Lebron James, Rob Gronkowski, Sidney Crosby, Steph Curry, Justin Bieber, and more. Islide who created DJ Khaled's famous "Another One" and "Bless Up" sandals fuses fashion with athletics by partnering with the NBA, MLB, Def Jam Records, and others to create officially licensed custom designs.

To learn more about ISlide, visit their blog or follow @ISlideUSA on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter. You can customize your own ISlides now at www.islideusa.com.

[scifigeneration]

Video gamers may soon be paid more than top pro athletes

by Louis-Etienne Dubois and Laurel Walzak

Your interest in sports may have started out as a hobby when you were just a kid. You were better at it than others, and some even said you were gifted. Maybe you had a chance to develop into a professional athlete.

Colleges would soon line up to extend full scholarships. If you pushed hard enough, practised countless hours and kept a cool head, lucrative contracts and international fame awaited.

This fantasy plays out for many North American kids who dream of “making it to the big leagues.”

Whether they play hockey, football or basketball, even the most remote possibility of turning their love of the game into a respected career is worth sacrificing for.

Enter video games.

In less than a decade, the realm of professional sport has been taken by storm by the rise of eSports (short for electronic sports). These video game events now compete with — and in some cases outperform — traditional sports leagues for live viewership and advertising dollars.

For the top eSports players, this means sponsorship contracts, endorsements, prize money and yes, global stardom.

Games on TV still command high ad dollars

This week, dozens of professional video game players will descend on Toronto during NXNE, an annual music and arts festival, to compete in different games for prizes of up to US$1,000. Not a bad payday, perhaps, but still chump change in the eSports scene.

For example, Dota 2, a popular battle arena game published by Valve, recently handed out US$20 million to its top players during its finale.

What does this mean for traditional sports? And sports TV viewership?

The lasting broadcast success of sports leagues games can be explained by the fact that they are meant to be shared happenings and are best experienced live. As such, they have been resilient to disruptions within the media landscape and somewhat spared by the advent of on-demand streaming services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime.

The ability to capture a sizeable number of “eyeballs,” long enough and at a precise time, is the reason why professional sports leagues still command huge TV rights and advertising dollars.

In the past few years, the “Big Four” North American sports leagues have all struck new deals worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

Shifts in sports culture

Some leagues like Major League Baseball, and their once subsidiary Advanced Media division (MLBAM), have long embraced technological innovations to enhance audiences’ experience.

Meanwhile, media and telecommunication giants have been slower to catch on.

In 2016, John Skipper, then president of ESPN, referring to cable TV packages said: “We are still engaged in the most successful business model in the history of media, and see no reason to abandon it.”

This attitude, at the time, was not only symptomatic of a lag or inability to adopt technological innovations, but also raised concerns about the company’s future.

But the decline of the traditional linear broadcast, and the risk of losing relevancy in this digital, broadband and tech savvy media landscape is inevitable, and forces these media giants to question their traditional business models and to focus on online audiences.

Along with this shift, a new, popular and expansive trend for the new generation has emerged - eSports.

Whether eSports are actual sports or not is a whole other debate; however, the emergence of the global video game competition field demands attention and strategic investment.

Why eSports is doing so well

As a spectator sport, video games generate viewership at least on par with professional leagues.

Take, for instance, 2016’s League of Legends tournament that drew 36 million viewers, five million more than the NBA Finals, in front of a sellout crowd at the famous Bird Nest stadium in China.

eSports events regularly draw sellout crowds like major professional sports leagues. (Ubisoft)

eSports mimic traditional sports leagues principles: Exciting content, likable stars, catchy team names, slow-motion highlights, intense competition and an uncertain outcome.

These video games attract audiences as they are no longer simply designed to be played, but increasingly to be visually pleasing for audiences.

Age-wise, compared to traditional sports that struggle to diversify their audience demographics, eSports have successfully attracted younger viewers.

The fanbase is pretty young, with 61 percent of fans falling in the 18-34 age range. Young men, in particular, are a desirable market for many advertisers.

eSports attracts advertisers

The economic outlook for video gaming sports is staggering. According to NewZoo, eSports “on its current trajectory is estimated to reach US$1.4 billion by 2020.” And a “more optimistic scenario places revenues at US$2.4 billion.”

Companies like Red Bull, Coca-Cola and Samsung, all usual suspects when it comes to advertising and young people, are flocking to eSports.

In recent years, eSports has made efforts to monetize across traditional revenue streams, such as merchandise sales, subscriptions plans, ticket sales and broadcast rights. It is, once again, taking a page straight out traditional sports leagues’ playbook.

So, what can established leagues and media giants do? Given the choice between fighting eSports or joining them, many appear to have chosen the latter. Recall ESPN resisting change in 2016. Then fast forward to their recent strategic investments in the digital platform BAMTech, once MLB Advanced Media, in order to launch ESPN streaming services.

As a result, Disney, the 100 per cent owner of ESPN, now has a say in League of Legends streaming because its publisher Riot Games had signed a seven-year US$350 million dollar broadcast deal with BAMTech.

FIFA just partnered with Electronic Arts on a online tournament that drew 20 million players and 30 million viewers. Also hoping to create platform synergies and to reach new audiences, Amazon acquired Twitch in 2014, the leading game streaming service.

These examples show that eSports are not just popular with gamers, but also among sports leagues and media giants. Both stand to learn from each other. No wonder Activision’s CEO said that he wanted to “become the ESPN of eSports.”

This popularity also opens up more opportunities to compete on the professional level and earn huge endorsements, prize money and salaries just like LeBron James, Serena Williams, Danica Patrick or Sidney Crosby.

In fact, higher education eSports programs are already launching across the country and college scholarships are now commonplace, further acknowledging the economic viability and social acceptability of this phenomenon.

And with talks of introducing eSports in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, Canada’s “Own the Podium” program may soon have to follow suit.

In any case, it turns out that our parents were wrong all along: You can stay glued to your console in the basement all day and still make it pro.

Louis-Etienne Dubois is an Assistant Professor in the School of Creative Industries at Ryerson University. Laurel Walzak is an Assistant Professor in the RTA School of Media at Ryerson University.

This article was originally published on The Conversation, a Sci FI Generation content partner.

[rinkrats]

The Penguins needed a new arena and a prospect who could give their fans more hope when (former Penguins GM) Craig Patrick left his hotel that morning to walk to the lottery. He grabbed the lucky four-leaf clover that a Penguins staffer had given him a while back and stopped by St. Patrick’s Cathedral on Madison Avenue on his way there.

“We were already so excited to have the CBA settled and a salary cap and financial parity and an opportunity to compete,” recalled Penguins vice president of communications Tom McMillan. “We didn’t think coming into that day that we were going to have Sidney Crosby. We just wanted to get a top-10 pick.”

Looking back 15 years later, the 2005 draft class is maybe the best of the past two decades. Beyond Crosby, there were a dozen All-Stars along with winners of the Conn Smythe, Vezina and Selke trophies. The final selection, at No. 230 overall, scored a Cup-clinching goal in the 2017 final. You know Patric Hornqvist.

But Crosby had long been considered a generational prospect. He did his first TV interview at age 7, was called “The Next One” by “The Hockey News” at 14 and had already inked seven-figure endorsement deals with Gatorade and Reebok.

“Sid was the perfect prospect,” Jim Rutherford said. “There wasn’t any doubt.”

Added (former Anaheim Ducks GM) Brian Burke, now an analyst for Sportsnet: “He was the whole package. Elite hockey sense. Elite physical ability. Elite leadership. There was no question about whether or not he would be great. It was just a question of how great.”

...After Montreal then Minnesota were eliminated, only three teams remained.

“I’m not a guy that sweats a lot, unless I’m out in the humidity. But the palms of my hands started getting wet,” said Rutherford, who at the time was Carolina’s GM. “I was like, ‘Wow, we may be getting Sidney Crosby.’ It just got more and more intense. And then we got the third pick and my hands dried up.”

When Bettman picked up the envelope marked with the No. 1, Burke was for some reason confident that Crosby was headed to Southern California.

“I just had a hunch,” he said. “Then I saw a little splash of color when they opened the envelope. I thought it was orange. I thought the Ducks had won it.”

It was Pittsburgh’s “Vegas gold.” The Penguins had won the Crosby lottery.

Ken Sawyer, who retired as Penguins CEO in 2009, smiled and politely shook Burke’s hand.

“Ken is a very reserved guy,” Burke said with a laugh. “I would have been doing the ‘Rocky’ routine up there, jumping up and down with my arms in the air.”

That’s what McMillan was doing back at Mellon Arena after excusing himself from a room filled with local media who had assembled to watch the lottery.

“All the TV cameras pointed to me and I realized that I was the highest-ranking official in the room,” he said. “I remember saying to myself, ‘Don’t do anything stupid that will get you on a highlight video for the rest of your life.’ ”

As he stood outside screaming, McMillan knew everything had changed.

“It was euphoria, almost hysteria,” he said of the events that soon followed.

Shortly after the news broke, the team’s ticket office was overwhelmed with calls. There was a 45-minute wait to get through. McMillan added that employees were still in the office until close to midnight taking ticket orders.

Within a few days, fans from as far away as Australia had purchased tickets. When single-game tickets went on sale, the Penguins sold more than 10,000 in four hours.

... Crosby made his NHL debut Oct. 5, which is Lemieux’s birthday, and finished his sensational rookie season with a team-high 39 goals and 102 points.

“You always hear people say [that draft lottery] was rigged, especially with where the organization was at,” Brooks Orpik said. “But there’s no chance that would ever happen. But yeah, there is so much hype with some of these guys and sometimes they bust. Obviously, that wasn’t the case with him. It worked out.”

In 2009, Crosby, along with Malkin and Fleury, led the Penguins to a Stanley Cup. They got their new arena in 2010 and two more titles in 2016 and 2017.

Based on how those 48 lottery balls could have ping-ponged, Crosby could have potentially lifted the Cup anywhere on the NHL map, from Minnesota, where he attended prep school, to Montreal, the home of his childhood team.

Picture Crosby in San Jose teal or — dry heave — in Philadelphia orange.

What if he wound up with the dynasty-seeking Detroit Red Wings?

All these years later, he swears he doesn’t ponder all those possibilities.

“I remember having a lot of meetings with all the different teams because nobody had any idea where you’re going to end up,” the captain said with a shrug. “It was kind of unique circumstances with the way it was done that year.”

Well, the rest of the league wonders what might have been. Even Rutherford, who won his first Stanley Cup with Carolina that season. And especially Burke.

“I still joke with Sid about it. They were here in Toronto [in February],” Burke said. “Every time I see him, I hold up my index finger and my thumb about a quarter inch apart, and I say, ‘This close, Sid. You were this close to being a Duck.’

-Inside the NHL’s Sidney Crosby sweepstakes, 15 years later, 2 April 2020