Gordie Howe

I've been a hockey fan since I was in junior high school, which should tell you something because I think they call them 'middle schools' nowadays. I've also been involved in public relations. Not necessarily as a PR worker but as a radio professional, because what is radio if not trying to put a good foot forward and have others think favorably of your station? Now I'm separated from the radio thing but the PR work and thought continues.

Nearly two months ago these two worlds collided. Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals, Penguins at Sharks, was played on Sunday, June 12. Gordie Howe, one of the greatest to ever play the game, died on June the 10th. The first opportunity for the NHL to publicly recognize this would have been prior to game 6. Plans already existed to make this happen prior to the opening faceoff.

However on the morning of the 12th, a guy killed 49 people in an Orlando nightclub. I spent time during the day wondering how San Jose would handle this situation from a PR perspective, since this is a unique and certainly unwanted set of circumstances. Maintaining a favorable public image (a working definition of PR) is clearly secondary here, but proper and timely homage must be shown to the victims and their families, and to Mr. Hockey. What would Sharks PR decide?

The choice was made, correctly, I believe, to change the plan and honor the victims during pregame right before the national anthem. This moved the honoring of Howe to the tail end of the first intermission of the game where it could stand by itself.

As well respected of a player and human being Gordie Howe was/is, my thought is that this is an example of good public relations. Well done by the NHL and by the San Jose Sharks.