Long time, no blog. 

Doug Warf

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This is the time of year that I see fans at community events and they ask, what do you guys do in the off-season…take month-long vacations? The answer is always no, but this year, it is an emphatic no. 

The combination of the All-Star game and our AHL’s move to Charlotte have made this a busier off-season than one might have thought in January. 

Everyone is very excited about the planning of the All-Star game. Though it is an NHL event, the Hurricanes act as the host team and we are all trying to gear up for what may be asked of us. 

The team and league received great publicity when the game was announced on April 8. However, when the season ended we wanted a small commercial purchase that would help keep the information in front of Triangle residents during the spring. I sat down with the directors of our marketing arms (Ben Aycock, Pete Soto, Jon Chase) to brainstorm ideas for a small commercial campaign.

We wanted to come up with one TV advertisement and two to three additional spots that would serve as short “webisodes”.

The TV Advertisement, which started Friday on select Time Warner Cable stations in the Raleigh & Fayetteville markets (including NHL Playoff coverage on Versus), features Chad LaRose and Eric Staal. 

The first follow-up webisode will debut online on Monday, May 17.  All of the webisodes feature Staal and LaRose with special cameos by the greatest Ice Hawg in the continental US (rumors of Alaskan Ice Hawgs have yet to be confirmed). For the webisodes, we used the four-letter network’s main show’s ad spots as a starting point to feature players and Stormy in their attempt to prepare for the All-Star game (Stormy has to prep too). 

Honestly, we collectively wondered how the ideas would translate to the screen, but personally, I think the webisodes really allow for Chad and Eric’s personalities to come out. I think most Canes fans know that Chad LaRose is a fairly funny and jovial person. However, I don’t think that most Canes fans get to see Staal’s humorous side. Hopefully you check back to carolinahurricanes.com or one of our social media sites (Twitter, Facebook, YouTube) to see the follow-up spots as I think they aptly showcase how funny BOTH guys are. 

A big thanks to Eric and Chad as they not only willingly participated, but even added ad-lib portions that add to the humor in the short spots. I will include a few photos so you can get a brief glimpse into the upcoming spots.

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