The Annual Contest

It's that magical time of year once again. It's when the grass starts to turn green, the leaves start budding on trees, the ice and snow recede to places no one needs to think about until October, and the NHL begins its annual 16-team battle to determine which team will be crowned as the Stanley Cup champion. With the latter event about to settle into life for the next two months, The Hockey Show is preparing for another postseason of fun where 16 listeners get a shot at claiming the title of "champion"!

I've already received a few questions about whether or not Survivor: NHL Playoffs will return this season, and this post is a flag on the beach that says Survivor's NHL Island is open for business once again this year! As you may have heard on the radio show over the last couple of weeks, our take on a Survivor contest is returning to the airwaves again as we look to crown a winner, award prizes to worthy competitors, and bestow fame and glory on the final entrant standing as The Hockey Show's 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs survivor!

In reality, there's no island in a tropical climate nor a boat that will get you there, and our annual show budget of $0.00 says Jason and I will never broadcast from an island in the south Pacific. However, if you're aware of the Survivor pools that are run between friends or at the office, ours is based on the same idea where you pick a random name of one of the contestants, and that person on Survivor is your person for the run of the show. If he or she is voted off the island, the game for you is over. In our contest, though, we put our own twist on the game so it becomes much more hockey-centric.

This is where you come in as Jason and I will be seeking sixteen people to call The Hockey Show on April 18, 2024 where each of those callers will choose a number from 1 to 16. Each of those sixteen numbers will have a corresponding playoff team assigned to it randomly. Whatever number you've chosen will reveal your team for the playoffs, and that team becomes YOUR team in a similar random fashion to Survivor pools. All you have to do is be near your phone that evening between 5:30pm and 6:30pm Central Time, call us, and choose one of the numbers on the board to find out what playoff team you'll be rooting for this year!

If you need a real-world example of how this works, let's say that Jason were to call in and choose #6. We flip that card over to reveal that #6 has the New York Rangers under it. Officially, Jason's team is the Rangers until they're eliminated or they win, and card #6 is no longer available as a choice for the next callers. Jason will be cheering as a Rangers fan this spring until they're done playing.

Following Jason's call, let's say that I call in next and select #13 as my number, revealing the Vegas Golden Knights. Vegas would become my team until they're eliminated or they win, and card #13 is no longer available as a choice for the next callers. Wash, rinse, repeat until there are no numbers and teams remaining.

If you think you're up for this, you'll need to have your radio tuned to The Hockey Show on April 18 and have your phone close to you. Before you commit, though, what we haven't told you yet is that there's a twist in all of this radio fun. And this twist is where things get crazy fun for everyone involved.

Just when you think you're out, you're still in the contest until "Tribal Council". You may be wondering how a radio show does "Tribal Council", but we already know your team was eliminated so you've technically been voted off Survivor's NHL Island. However, every episode of Survivor ends with the contestant voted off doing their exit interview, and that's precisely what you will do: you'll deliver an exit interview for your team! We'll call you, set up the quick two- or three-minute chat about your team, and then you're officially done with the contest. Easy-peasy, right?

Some of you may worry about being heard on the radio, but I assure you it's just like talking on the phone. In other words, don't think we're going to make it sound weird or anything. But knowing that this is going to happen, what might you say? You're free to talk about how you're disappointed that a specific player didn't show up in the playoffs or how you never thought there would be an upset this early or how you're just lucky that your chosen team made the playoffs. Or you can be like Jacob and talk about your team embarrassed you.


While the CBS version of Survivor promises a big cash prize and whole bunch of prizes from sponsors - both of which The Hockey Show doesn't have - we will be offering up some prizing that aligns with our lack of budget. There will be some smaller prizes handed out as "challenge prizes" much like the network reality show does, and those challenges are as follows:

• First shutout recorded in the playoffs.
• First hat trick recorded in the playoffs.
• First goaltender point recorded in the playoffs.
• First team eliminated from the playoffs.
• First to advance from the second round to the third round.
• First team to score seven goals in one game in the playoffs.
• First upset of the playoffs.

The first team that accomplishes any of these challenge goals will earn their Survivor player a corresponding prize! The prizes have yet to be collected, but we've done hockey books, gift cards, and other assorted smaller prizes in the past, so expect much of the same this year. Any prizes earned through challenges will be handed out while supplies and challenges last and in the order they were completed! Needless to say, teams can earn more than one prize in this challenge part of the contest, so choose wisely when it comes to the randomly-distributed teams! Or just choose your favorite number. Either works!

Just like the TV show, we do offer prizes for the finalists! The grand prize winner who captures the Survivor crown will take home their choice of an NHL jersey plus a few additional prizes! The finalist will get jersey not chosen by the winner as a runner-up prize, so you're going home with a prize as long as your team makes it through three rounds which is pretty awesome when all you had to do is call us!

As a new wrinkle to this year's contest, The Hockey Show will also be asking if you plan on supporting UMFM's Pledge-O-Rama event that runs between April 19th at 6:30pm until 8:00pm on April 26th. For anyone who enters the Survivor: NHL Playoffs contest AND donates to Pledge-O-Rama, we'll put you into an additional draw for even more prizes! You help us, we'll reward you - it's that simple. Read the linked article above about all the Pledge-O-Rama details and get your pledge into UMFM for a chance to win even more shwag!

I should also be upfront and inform you that we have some requirements that need to be met before you can participate. The good news is we won't need a medical team available like CBS does for their version of Survivor, but we do have a few must-have REQUIREMENTS for anyone to participate. They include:

1. You must call into the show on Thursday, April 18 between 5:30pm and whenever we fill all the spots in the contest. If all 16 spots aren't filled within the hour, Jason and I will get creative to fill the empty spots. Don't complain - you had an hour to make one phone call!
2. You must have a phone number and an email address. If you're calling us, I'm pretty sure you have at least one of these already. If you have neither, are you even alive?
3. A desire to watch your chosen team's progress in the NHL Playoffs. You don't need to follow them religiously, but it's better to know something if/when your team is eliminated.

Beyond that, this is a fun contest meant for laughter with a few rewards for those who get lucky. It's not to be taken seriously in any way, and it's a nice way for us to reward our loyal listeners with some free gear. If this has enticed you to listen for the first time or come back to the show after not listening, welcome to the show and here's hoping you get into the contest! Just remember, though, that if your team gets bounced, we're calling you for that exit interview. If that scares you in any way, work through that fear!

Be ready, folks, because this contest always is fun for everyone involved. Like CBS' Survivor, only one person can be crowned as "survivor" in this contest, and we're ready to kick things off on April 18! Here's hoping you'll call in for the best radio contest in hockey!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!