While the NBA and NFL turn athletes into global icons, the NHL remains obsessed with a "team-first" culture that strips players of their personality and leaves millions of casual fans in the dark.
When you talk to casual sports fans — or just doomu2011scroll through Instagram comments — you start to notice a pattern. Hockey fans keep repeating the same exhausted sentiment: the NHL is terrible at marketing its own sport. And that failure isn’t just annoying; it’s actively hurting the game, its profitability, and its ability to be recognized by a wider audience.