All we can do now is sigh. The official announcement that ads are on their way onto NHL jerseys was a sad one. And while the NHL promises us it won’t be more than a small patch on the front... they also promised us the helmet ads would only be a one-year deal. Yeah.

So here we are. I told myself I’d at least keep the Concepts Showcase free of ad-covered jerseys. But no. We all need to see this. We need everyone to know what the future holds for our game. Because this is it. Brian Brideau isn’t the enemy. He’s just the messenger.

This concept is troublesome and I really hope it never comes to this in the NHL. But I can’t possibly see how it won’t. Happy Friday.