Jack Eichel gets it about promoting NHL players
From
Alex Prewitt of Sports Illustrated, here’s Eichel:
“Hockey’s such a team game. Everyone’s so conservative that you don’t see players or people becoming he type of icons that you see in basketball or football or even baseball, where people’s personalities are shown more and they’re able to market themselves and their personality away from the sport they play. I think our game’s so conservative – and rightfully so – that everyone’s so worried about what the next guy’s going to think instead of being themselves and letting their personalities show.â€
Now, the “team game†aspect of the NHL does restrict some star power. It’s not baseball or the NBA, where individual efforts are obvious and celebrated. But the rest of Eichel’s take is valid, which he expanded on:
“I think it’s on the players, but the problem with it is that everyone is so conservative. Hockey players, we’re conservative people. We’re worries about what the next guy is going to think and obviously you don’t want to do anything to make yourself look bad in the locker room, to your coaches, to your general manager. With that being said, I think guys take the high road and hide themselves a little bit better. There are some guys who are doing it. I think P.K. Subban does a good job of self-marketing himself. People know him, they see his pesonality more than just the type of guy he is on the ice.â€
