The New Face Of Hockey On TNT

When a new person is hired at any company, it's always good to see people lending a hand and helping that person settling into his or her new role. I've been in that situation before, and it makes the initial apprehension of getting into the swing of things that much easier. Occasionally, mistakes will happen, and I know I've called someone by the wrong name in my first few days at a job because I hadn't yet gotten everyone's names straight, but those people were really good about it and we can laugh about it now. Little mistakes like that will happen when you're new to any workplace and you can't let those moments of "oops" ruin the day or experience.

With the NHL announcing the new broadcastingn deal with Turner Sports today, there were some real eyebrows raised at the amount of money and services that Turner Sports will be giving the NHL when it comes to the deal. Don't get me wrong: this is good for the NHL when it comes to getting their product out to the public through as many broadcast offerings as they can find, so you'd expect that Turner Sports was going to be excited about having the NHL on its networks.

Turner Sports, in that thought, published this graphic near the end of their NBA on TNT broadcast this evening, and, well....

You may look at that graphic and think, "I don't see the problem here, Teebz." To that, I would implore you to look a little closer at the number worn by the captain of the Edmonton Oilers, though, because Connor McDavid, current captain of the Edmonton Oilers, doesn't have a "2" in the number he wears on the ice. Nor has he ever worn a "2" in his career.

That #21 Oilers captain is defenceman Andrew Ference who captained the Oilers prior to his retirement in 2015-16. While Ference was a very serviceable defender during his time in the NHL, I'm not certain that the NHL wants him as the face of the NHL on TNT, most notably because he's been retired for five years and won't play another second in the NHL when TNT begins its broadcasting contract.

As the new employee walking around the NHL Offices, you can probably forgive Turner Sports for calling the guy in cubicle 21 by the wrong name, but I would think it's much harder to mess up who McDavid and Ference are since the only common thing they share is captaining the Edmonton Oilers. Adn whoever signed off on this graphic designed by some employee below them also needs a crash course on the NHL's most biggest and marketable stars.

My congratulations go out to Andrew Ference, the new face of the NHL on TNT! As for Connor McDavid, he'll have to win a few more scoring titles and a Stanley Cup before Turner Sports will recognize his excellence in the game. Standards have to be met, after all.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!