PPG has announced a new three-year North American partnership extension with National Hockey League (NHL). In this agreement, PPG will remain the official paint of the NHL in the U.S. and Canada.
PPG will be a sponsor of the 2023 Discover NHL Winter Classic, which will pit the Pittsburgh Penguins against Boston Bruins on Monday, January 2. The existence of Pittsburgh-based PPG at the NHL Winter Classic is a natural complement to the Penguins’ participation. PPG’s involvement will be visible in a variety of ways, including on-site activation, branded dasherboards, and in-stadium signage.
Bryan Iams, PPG Chief Communications and Government Affairs Officer, said, “We’re proud to combine the power of the NHL with PPG and its well-known consumer paint brands, including PPG PAINTS, DULUX paint, SICO paint, GLIDDEN paint and OLYMPIC stains. Through the partnership extension, PPG will continue to identify new ways to integrate its paints, coatings and speciality materials into the game of hockey, including at premier events such as the 2023 Discover NHL Winter Classic.”
Throughout the association, PPG will receive nationwide broadcast visibility via Digitally Enhanced Dasherboards (DED) during the Stanley Cup Playoffs. PPG will be allowed to reach a wider audience with this vibrant signage proposal, and the potential is a strategic fit with the Stanley Cup Playoffs taking place at the start of the paint season.
Kyle McMann, NHL Senior Vice President of North American Business Development, said, “We are delighted to extend our partnership with PPG, a deeply committed NHL partner that engages our fans across numerous levels of our great game, including at the upcoming Discover NHL Winter Classic. It is exciting to see that PPG will utilize DED, an innovative approach to dynamic dasherboard advertising to promote their products and reach new consumers and NHL fans.”
PPG has worked with the NHL to incorporate its unique ideas into the game of hockey since the partnership’s founding in 2017.
At the start of the recent renewal in 2019, the two parties announced that all official game pucks would have a colour-changing thermochromic coating. The advanced coatings, formed with PPG suppliers LCR Hallcrest and QCR Solutions Corporation, change from purple to clear when a puck’s temperature rises above freezing. This gives officials a visual indication that the puck should be replaced. The coating will be used for the fourth time in the 2022-23 NHL season, and it will continue to enhance the game.
Every season, the NHL uses over 60,000 coated game pucks. PPG’s ENVIROCRON Extreme Protection coating, in addition to the thermochromic coating, has been used on NHL goalposts since 2017. The proprietary powder coating technology provides exceptional cold chip resistance for the most demanding automotive underbody applications and is still used to protect hockey goals.