NHL Removes ‘Hot for Hockey’ Audio Shorts After 1 Week
The league says it was meant to be a one-week-only campaign.
The NHL's "Hot for Hockey" audiobook campaign was abruptly taken down from Spotify just one week after its debut. The league's marketing initiative aimed to create 30-to-90 second audio stories based on real NHL news, narrated in a romantic novel style by hockey romance authors. Seven episodes featuring six players - Connor McDavid, Trevor Zegras, Sebastian Aho, Jack Eichel, Kyle Connor, and Mika Zibanejad - were released, but the campaign was deemed to be a temporary one-week-only promotion tied to the season's opening games.
The NHL stated that the campaign was to introduce new fans to the sport, with the first week being successful in gaining new fans through other initiatives like "Off Campus" and "Heated Rivalry." However, the campaign received negative feedback on social media, largely due to confusion and concerns for players' privacy and safety.
The league did not disclose why the episodes were removed entirely from Spotify or if new ones would be produced in the future.
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