Bridgestone becomes presenting sponsor of hockey's Mark Messier Leadership Award
RELATED
Bridgestone, along with the National Hockey League, the National Hockey League Players’ Association and Mark Messier, jointly announced at last Saturday’s NHL All-Star Weekend in Montreal that Bridgestone will be the presenting sponsor of the Mark Messier Leadership Award.
The “Mark Messier Leadership Award Presented by Bridgestone” is an honor recognizing a superior leader in hockey and as a contributing member of society. The award salutes someone who leads by positive example through on-ice performance, motivation of team members and a dedication to community activities and charitable causes. Past winners include Chris Chelios and Mats Sundin.
In addition, to expand its partnerships with the NHL and Messier while broadening its strong promotion of the leadership message at every level, Bridgestone is creating the “Bridgestone Mark Messier Youth Leadership Award” to encourage leadership, community spirit and to reward youth hockey players or mentors and coaches for their contributions to youth sports or education.
“I’m very excited about my partnership with Bridgestone,” Messier says. “It’s a company which shares my passion for excellence and community service. I’m very gratified Bridgestone will be sponsoring my NHL Leadership Award as well as a Youth Leadership Award in my name to reward an amateur player or coach who represents aspects of youth hockey that really make a difference: courage, leadership and community spirit.”
The Messier youth leadership award will go to the U.S. or Canadian resident involved in amateur hockey judged to have overcome adversity in achieving his or her goal or dream; promoted community service by promoting youth sports or excellence in academics for athletes; or who has enabled underprivileged kids to partake in hockey.
The award will also be open to people who have served as mentors or coaches, and through their involvement over the years in amateur hockey, have made a significant difference in the lives of kids in one or several roles, including coach, league administrator, sponsor, or game officiating, timing and scoring, etc.
“Whether it’s on the road, on the ice or at the rink, leadership can take many forms,” says Phil Pacsi, the company’s vice president of North American consumer tire marketing. “We are delighted to align another NHL marketing platform to the Bridgestone brand with Mark Messier, who set the standard for leadership on the ice and off. Mark also uniquely enables Bridgestone…to promote and reward community leadership throughout North America.”
Other hockey-related initiatives include title sponsorship of the Bridgestone International Series in Prague and Stockholm in 2008, the Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic in 2009, the Bridgestone Greatest NHL Captains program – an on-line promotion on NHL.com that enables fans to pick the greatest captains in NHL history – as well as prominent exposure in premier NHL events such as the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the NHL Entry Draft and the NHL All-Star Game.
“Bridgestone is a global leader, and aligning with Mark Messier, one of the greatest leaders in sports, is a natural,” says Keith Wachtel, the NHL’s senior vice president of integrated sales and marketing. “We are delighted that Bridgestone continues to take advantage of the NHL’s global brand and the multiple, integrated corporate marketing platforms we offer our partners.”
For more information, visit www.bridgestonetire.com.
