Does this mean we’ll get an ECHL Guardian Project??

Probably not, but one can always dream, right?? I pose this question after the announcement that the ECHL has teamed up with Marvel Comics in a branding collaboration in Super Hero Nights for each of the teams, as well as merchandise and other in-game promotions.

Now, this may come as a little of a surprise, but it’s a smart move. The fact is most of these teams have a marked night for some kind of superhero night, but now with the backing of Marvel, the money won’t have to come directly out of their budgets entirely and maybe a little help will come with the merchandising sales from in-game and perhaps afar depending on how the merchandise is promoted.

Of course, the biggest thing is how they will follow through on this whole thing. Of course, I brought up the Guardian Project at the start— mostly because it was such a disaster for the NHL and Marvel on the hope that a Stan Lee project would spurn some kind of new fans to the NHL because of super heroes?? I don’t know how the NHL thinks, and at times– I’m sure their marketing people are tilting their heads.

It’s a good synergy and it helped that the announcement came at the Jay and Silent Bob’s Secret Stash store in Red Bank, New Jersey. Not just because the ECHL’s headquarters are an hour away, but because Kevin Smith is an avid hockey fan. Doubtful that he’ll be inter-mingling with these games at all, but it’s not a bad name to have on your side. They did mention that people from AMC’s Comic Book Men were in attendance, but I think they’ll be like Smith and just an observer of it all.

What it seems like is less Guardian Project, more Muppet Project that the NHL got into back in the day where the Muppets were intertwined with the logos of the NHL team.  To have something like this is nice and who knows what it could lead to in the future. Don’t expect something big and glamorous, mostly because the AHL tried their hand at some kind of comic book and it….well, I don’t know what it turned out because very few copies exist and not many images are to be had about it.

Good on the ECHL to step up their corporate marketing, especially if it can save some money for teams when it comes to licensing and coming up with designs.