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Dodge Ventures Into New Sponsorship Territory on Twitter

On first glance, sports branding seems to have filled every crevice in broadcasting imaginable. Dodge has managed to find one sitting right under our noses.

Screenshot of Bob McKenzie's Twitter account from March 4, 2014

Notice the “TSN TradeCentre Tweets Presented by Dodge Ram.” Taken March 4, 2014

ESPN leads the way on this front, as their “Sunday NFL Countdown” has six companies with branded segments, while “Monday Night Football” programming has 14. Their college football pre-game show comes complete with a coach bus that drives around splattered with The Home Depot’s logo.

Maybe it shouldn’t be any surprise that ESPN’s sister station to the north has upped the ante.

TSN’s one-day TradeCentre program, which basically provides breaking news, analysis, and predictions on the NHL’s annual trade deadline, is one that has helped the network stand out as a premier hockey authority. Featuring a panel of some of the top hockey analysts, often seen furiously typing away on their smartphones, it’s not surprising the show draws sponsorship.

Seeing the massive following that their analysts have amassed on Twitter (as a result of their hockey authority and knowledge, mind you), Dodge has decided throw their sponsorship behind individual tweets and “personal” accounts.

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Ryerson Exact Revenge; Rout Thunderwolves in Grudge Match

Published on The CIS Blog on January 19, 2014.

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One of the most anticipated series of the month took place this weekend, when the No. 8 Ryerson Rams traveled north to Thunder Bay to face the No. 9 Lakehead Thunderwolves with first place in the OUA West on the line.

After Lakehead squeaked out a 4-3 Friday win on a Ryan Magill goal with just twenty-three seconds left in regulation, Ryerson came out insistent that they wouldn’t go home without splitting the series, blowing out the home side on Saturday 7-1 in front of over 2,500 fans.

It was obvious the Rams felt this grudge match was a must-win, as they came out flying and it didn’t take long for them to get on the board. The nation’s top point-getter and goal-scorer, Jamie Wise, ripped a hard slapshot top shelf to put Ryerson up just over four minutes in.
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Ravens Survive Gee-Gees in Capital Battle

Published on The CIS Blog on January 12, 2014.

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The stands were packed, the benches fired up, and the referees’ whistles put away in this past weekend’s big matchup between heated cross-city rivals #9 Carleton and Ottawa. And while the cliché of “the game being closer than the score reveals” is used a lot, it was certainly true in this one. Despite Ottawa outplaying the Ravens for much of the opening period, Carleton were able to escape with a lead after twenty minutes before opening up a 4-0 lead in the second, en route to a monstrous 5-2 victory.

Kyle Brown

The highly anticipated, crushingly physical game got off to a flying start for the Gee-Gees, who tested Carleton’s backup goaltender Francis Dupuis early and often. Within the first seven minutes of play, the garnet and grey had created a flurry around the Raven net, outshooting the home side 7-0.

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OUA Men’s Hockey Mid-Season Wrap-up

Published on The CIS Blog on January 2, 2014.

It’s been thirty years, but the Queen’s Golden Gaels finally find themselves back in the CIS Top 10 with OUA teams set to hit the ice again and enter the second half of the season. As the games begin to mean more and we come out of the turn and into the final stretch of the playoff push, here’s five of the biggest storylines from the conference over the first half, and that are worth watching as we begin the second.

Gaels on Top

It took until the eighth week for Queen’s to finally crack the top ten and take the eighth spot. In spite of three other OUA teams placing ahead of them in the voters’ eyes, the Gaels find themselves atop the conference standings with a two-point lead on #5 McGill. More impressively, despite racking up two losses in overtime and three as a result of shootouts, the Gaels remain undefeated in regulation, the only team in the OUA who can claim that (the only other in CIS is the #1 Calgary Dinos).

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Great Goaltending Lifts Gaels Over Windsor in Weekend Sweep

Published on The CIS Blog on November 26, 2013

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It probably wasn’t the way that head coach Brett Gibson drew things up, but in the end the Queen’s Golden Gaels walked away from a difficult weekend double-header against the #7 Windsor Lancers with four points.

The weekend’s game plan ultimately ended up going something like this: allow goaltender Kevin Bailie to carry the team, and then capitalize on quick flurries of offense.

That improvisation was certainly in full effect in Friday night’s game at the historic Kingston Memorial Centre.

Bailie was tested early, as Queen’s took three penalties in the first period to Windsor’s one. The Lancers managed to fire 14 shots on net, but Bailie was able to withstand the pressure. Not to be outdone, Parker Van Buskirk stopped all 10 shots he faced in the Windsor goal.

Windsor, the CIS leaders in team penalty minutes, fell back into their usual undisciplined habits in the second period, but managed to keep the pressure up throughout the second frame. Despite having four power play opportunities, Queen’s managed to put the puck on net just three times. Windsor, on the other hand, tested Bailie eight times, but he was able to stand tall.

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Lancers and Patriotes Trade Wins Amidst Penalty Parade

Published on The CIS Blog on November 19, 2013.

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Considering the schools are separated by approximately ten hours of highway, one wouldn’t expect bad blood to exist between Windsor and UQTR. However, with the Patriotes visiting the #7 Lancers for back-to-back games, penalties ruled the weekend double feature.

The Lancers were coming into the weekend having not lost since opening night, and looking to keep their spot atop the OUA West division. The Patriotes, meanwhile, were on a five-game winning streak of their own, and hungry to capture their first road win of the season.

The fireworks started early, with three players off to the box just 34 seconds in. Windsor quickly took three straight penalties in the first, managing to kill off all three, before UQTR made three straight trips of their own. It was the Patriotes who jumped out on the offensive, though, as Thomas Martin scored his first goal of the season on the penalty kill. The Pats took that 1-0 lead into the first intermission, following a period that saw ten minor penalties and a misconduct.

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Shootout in Montreal – Redmen Down Mustangs in Penalty-Filled Affair

Published on The CIS Blog on November 10, 2013.

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It was a cold, brisk evening in the city of Montréal on Saturday night, but inside McConnell Arena things better resembled the Wild West, as an all-out barnburner took place between the #5 McGill Redmen and #7 Western Mustangs.

Western was entering the game coming off of a tough loss in Ottawa against the Gee-Gees the night before where they were held off of the scoresheet until over midway through the second. In this one, they got started quickly to try to remedy that as Steven Reese scored just three and a half minutes in to get the Mustangs out in front early.

Following the goal, both teams started a long and lengthy parade to the penalty box that endured throughout the entire game, as special teams became a crucial part of both sides’ strategies.

And just under seven minutes after Reese gave Western the lead, McGill’s Neal Prokop scored on the powerplay to even things up. The goal came after Julian Cimadamore took a cross-checking penalty, the first of three straight calls against Western.
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