Did Canucks ownership and Management miss the opportunity to capitalize the relationship between Boudreau and Kevin Owens to increase the brand awareness of the The Vancouver Canucks globally?

[iinatcc]

Watching Vice's The Dark Side of the Ring got me thinking ....

 

While not exactly mainstream per-se Pro-Wrestling has been part of the global Cultural pastime for decades now. It's an industry that is shunned upon by the mainstream but respected enough by the global audience with names like Batista, John Cena, and Dwayne Johnson all starring in billion dollar (or near that) grossing blockbusters. 

 

Kevin Owens, while not as big as a name as those mentioned, Is quite a big WWE star in his own right. A former WWE World Champion and recently main evented night 1 at Wrestlemania 39. Over the last year there has been a developing relationship between Owens and former Canucks coach Bruce Boudreau especially when Boudreau revealed to the media that he was quite a Wrestling fan and one of his favoriate wrestlers was Owens himself.

 

Since then, and before Boudreau got fired, Kevin Owens has been quite the representative for the Canucks even wearing a Canucks jersey during a WWE live event.  The WWE, now sold to the same company that owns the UFC, is looking to only be bigger than ever in the Sports-Entertainment landscape.

 

Vancouver Canucks Management and ownership should have found a way to capitalize on this opportunity brining brand awareness to the Canucks and perhaps do a co-promotion with the WWE. Imagine if WM39 Kevin Owens came to the ring wearing a Canucks jersey or Boudreau accompanying Ownes and Sami Zayn at WM and promoting the Canucks? or perhaps in other cross promotion ideas.

 

Was Canucks Management too hasty? in letting go Boudreau ? Perhaps they could have worked an agreement with Boudreau in staying in the organization in a VP or even as a special broadcaster for the Canucks? Imagine the visibility the brand would have gotten if they continue this Owens/Boudreau thing as part of the Canucks organizaiton.

 

Heck maybe Rick Tocchet could join as the assistant coach but Boudreau as the head coach. And when Boudreau has to commit to a WWE event Tocchet can take over as interim head coach.

 

So we still get Tocchet helping the team while Boudreau will bring visibility to the Canucks brand both in the wrestling space and mainstream? 

 

For all we know we could have had a legion of Canucks fans become fans due to them being WWE fans?  Imagine if the next Saudi event Boudreau joins Owens and Sami Zayn (since he can now perform in Saudi Arabia for some reason), they all come in with Canucks gear talk about it. And perhaps The Canucks would be considered Saudi Arabia's hockey team and would get an influx of fans and perhaps merchandise. Maybe even play some games in Saudi Arabia with the Canucks as part of the NHL's global series.

Edited July 12, 2023 by iinatcc

[D.B Cooper]

Nope.  
 

Let’s be honest. 

Who are the majority of wrestling fans?

Im going to be as nice as I can with this. 
Most of them are rednecks, idiots or kids. 
Yes I understand they fill arenas all around the USA.   I stand by what I said.  
You could fill every area in the country, you still wouldn’t have a seat for the majority of the redneck dummy wrestling fans.  
That doesn’t say good things for wrestling, that say’s horrible things about the state of the country

They don’t care about hockey.  

That's why they watch wrestling.  
People in NA who know hockey, know who the Canucks are.  
 

People follow the team in their city or the one nearest to them 9.5/10. 
 

Also, Bruce was an absolutely terrible coach.   Great guy. Great personality.  
His time in hockey is done. 
 

The slight chance of getting a handful of hillbilly’s to watch a couple bucks games isn’t worth the pain of watching a Bruce run team.  
Historically bad defence and PP. 

Zero systems and we looked like a bunch of chl kids against pros.  
 

 

Also, if we didn’t all get fed that fluff piece, most people here wouldn’t know the name Kevin Owens.  
 

One more thing, does anyone actually watch wrestling?    Hahahah

 

 

Don’t watch if you are offended by words  

 

Edited July 12, 2023 by D.B Cooper

[Alflives]

[Nucker 67]

Nah, who is Kevin Owens? 

[PhillipBlunt]

No. The choice to let go of Boudreau and hire Tocchet, while done extremely poorly, was necessary. The biggest need for the Canucks isn't more "global brand awareness" but a better more balanced hockey team. 

[iinatcc]

5 minutes ago, NUCKER67 said:

Nah, who is Kevin Owens? 

Former WWE World Champion  

 

 

[PhillipBlunt]

3 minutes ago, iinatcc said:

Former WWE World Champion  

 

 

Looks like Triple H is enjoying himself some Kevin Owens.

[nuckin_futz]

I'm gonna go with NO.

[bishopshodan]

God no.

 

BB was awesome and his enjoyment of the childish stuff was cute but jeepers, hockey is a real sport.

 

[bishopshodan]

12 minutes ago, PhillipBlunt said:

No. The choice to let go of Boudreau and hire Tocchet, while done extremely poorly, was necessary. The biggest need for the Canucks isn't more "global brand awareness" but a better more balanced hockey team. 

Yeah, management botched that. Timing that was brutal, lost fans, and a potential higher draft pick.

Coach doesn't pick the players on the team, but we have needed to be more balanced for a while...again, a management gaff. 

[spook007]

nope...

[HorvatToBaertschi]

12 minutes ago, bishopshodan said:

God no.

 

BB was awesome and his enjoyment of the childish stuff was cute but jeepers, hockey is a real sport.

 

So is wrestling? Pre-determined outcomes don't change the fact that it's a bunch of stuntmen with 1 take in front of a live audience.

WWE is a massive global brand, but I don't think the demographic really cares about hockey. 

[Fanuck]

Nothing raises brand awareness like winning and championships - forget the peripheral stuff,  let's concentrate on that first. 

[komodo0921]

1 hour ago, iinatcc said:

Watching Vice's The Dark Side of the Ring got me thinking ....

 

While not exactly mainstream per-se Pro-Wrestling has been part of the global Cultural pastime for decades now. It's an industry that is shunned upon by the mainstream but respected enough by the global audience with names like Batista, John Cena, and Dwayne Johnson all starring in billion dollar (or near that) grossing blockbusters. 

 

Kevin Owens, while not as big as a name as those mentioned, Is quite a big WWE star in his own right. A former WWE World Champion and recently main evented night 1 at Wrestlemania 39. Over the last year there has been a developing relationship between Owens and former Canucks coach Bruce Boudreau especially when Boudreau revealed to the media that he was quite a Wrestling fan and one of his favoriate wrestlers was Owens himself.

 

Since then, and before Boudreau got fired, Kevin Owens has been quite the representative for the Canucks even wearing a Canucks jersey during a WWE live event.  The WWE, now sold to the same company that owns the UFC, is looking to only be bigger than ever in the Sports-Entertainment landscape.

 

Vancouver Canucks Management and ownership should have found a way to capitalize on this opportunity brining brand awareness to the Canucks and perhaps do a co-promotion with the WWE. Imagine if WM39 Kevin Owens came to the ring wearing a Canucks jersey or Boudreau accompanying Ownes and Sami Zayn at WM and promoting the Canucks? or perhaps in other cross promotion ideas.

 

Was Canucks Management too hasty? in letting go Boudreau ? Perhaps they could have worked an agreement with Boudreau in staying in the organization in a VP or even as a special broadcaster for the Canucks? Imagine the visibility the brand would have gotten if they continue this Owens/Boudreau thing as part of the Canucks organizaiton.

 

Heck maybe Rick Tocchet could join as the assistant coach but Boudreau as the head coach. And when Boudreau has to commit to a WWE event Tocchet can take over as interim head coach.

 

So we still get Tocchet helping the team while Boudreau will bring visibility to the Canucks brand both in the wrestling space and mainstream? 

 

For all we know we could have had a legion of Canucks fans become fans due to them being WWE fans?  Imagine if the next Saudi event Boudreau joins Owens and Sami Zayn (since he can now perform in Saudi Arabia for some reason), they all come in with Canucks gear talk about it. And perhaps The Canucks would be considered Saudi Arabia's hockey team and would get an influx of fans and perhaps merchandise. Maybe even play some games in Saudi Arabia with the Canucks as part of the NHL's global series.

While I don't really see this as missed opportunity, I do see issues with their branding strategy, if they even have one. 

Looking at "The Core 4" sports in North America, it's not hard to find the biggest brand names. Boston Celtic, LA Lakers, Chicago Bulls, Golden State Warriors, any of the original 6 hockey teams, LA Kings, New England Patriots, Green Bay Packers,New York Yankees, LA Dodgers, Boston Red Sox, and to a slight lesser extent, the Toronto Blue Jays.

All these teams have relevance in more then just their respective markets. This is because they've created a look, they've created winning cultures, and history's.

For whatever reason, Canuck ownership and management have always missed the boat, when it comes to their brand. They've ever created a winner and, by extension a culture they've never had a look that people will buy into.

Imo, until these issues change, The Canucks will always be that irrelevant team in the far corner of the map no one, except locals will care about.

[canuck73_3]

No, year 2 Bruce was quite frankly dogshit as a coach and looking more of a lame duck the longer the season went. Fixing that is far more important than potential niche exposure. 

[DrJockitch]

Well we have squandered lots of opportunities, I don't think this is one.

[OldFaithfulCap]

I think the Canucks would do well to focus on their underdog status from a marketing perspective. They are approaching the realms of the all-time trophyless professional teams. Between Wrexham and Ted Lasso i think they'd do well to market themselves as a long term suffering team. 

[NewbieCanuckFan]

1 hour ago, NUCKER67 said:

Nah, who is Kevin Owens? 

 

[NewbieCanuckFan]

1 hour ago, HorvatToBaertschi said:

So is wrestling? Pre-determined outcomes don't change the fact that it's a bunch of stuntmen with 1 take in front of a live audience.

WWE is a massive global brand, but I don't think the demographic really cares about hockey. 

Jeremy Jacobs says hello.

[bishopshodan]

1 hour ago, HorvatToBaertschi said:

So is wrestling? Pre-determined outcomes don't change the fact that it's a bunch of stuntmen with 1 take in front of a live audience.

WWE is a massive global brand, but I don't think the demographic really cares about hockey. 

Wrestling is a sport, but not the stuff you are talking about.

 

Your discriptor as stunts is more accurate.