Connecting Community and Championship: The Tradition Rogers Revived at the 2025 Stanley Cup
Rogers’ This Is Our Game. This Is Our Ice. campaign at the 2025 Stanley Cup Final brought hometown pride to hockey’s biggest stage, reviving a quiet Canadian tradition that started with a loonie under the ice and now connects players to their roots.

A Tradition Beneath the Surface
In 2002, ice technician Trent Evans quietly slipped a single loonie beneath centre ice at the Salt Lake City Olympics. No press. No ceremony. Just a simple act of belief.
Canada went on to win double gold in men’s and women’s hockey, and the “lucky loonie” legend was born.
Since then, the tradition has followed Canadian athletes around the world. Coins have been buried beneath basketball courts, rowing lanes, volleyball sand, and even golf greens. Wherever Canadians compete, the loonie tags along, not just as a superstition, but as a symbol of pride, hope, and home.
That’s why Rogers’ This Is Our Game. This Is Our Ice. campaign, launched during this year’s Stanley Cup Final, felt like more than just a marketing activation. I first saw it while watching the Final, and it immediately reminded me of the loonie buried in the ice at the 2010 Winter Olympics. The campaign didn’t feel like just another ad; it felt like a genuine continuation of that spirit, rooted in community. That connection made me want to learn more about how Rogers brought this story to life.
This Is Our Game. This Is Our Ice.
To mark the start of the Stanley Cup Final, Rogers gathered ice from six local hockey rinks, each tied to an Edmonton Oilers player, and combined it with the Ice at Rogers Place in Edmonton for Game 1.
The hometown ice came from:
- Magna Centre (Newmarket, ON) – Connor McDavid
- North Shore Winter Club (Vancouver, BC) – Evander Kane
- Harry Howell Twin-Pad Arena (Hamilton, ON) – Darnell Nurse
- Burnaby Winter Club (Burnaby, BC) – Ryan Nugent-Hopkins
- Confederation Arena (Edmonton, AB) – Stuart Skinner
- The Rink (Winnipeg, MB) – Calvin Pickard
The gesture gave new meaning to home-ice advantage. But more importantly, it reminded fans across the country that these players, now competing for hockey’s biggest prize, started out on the same community rinks that kids skate on every day.
What made this campaign resonate was its authenticity. Rogers didn’t just lean into nostalgia, it honoured the places that shaped the players and the communities that rally behind them. It connected the game’s biggest stage to its smallest beginnings, childhood rinks frozen into the Stanley Cup surface. The message was simple, the road to greatness starts at home.
Building on Tradition
Rogers didn’t invent the tradition. But by bringing hometown ice to centre stage, they built upon it, demonstrating how meaningful storytelling can deepen the connection between players, communities, and fans.
While Edmonton didn’t win the Stanley Cup this year, their journey resonated across Canada, reinforcing the value of purposeful engagement and local roots in sport. The wait for a Canadian team to lift the Cup will end, and when it does, it will be built on these very stories and partnerships.
For brands and leagues alike, it’s a reminder that authentic traditions and community connections are what make sports moments truly impactful.
References
Rogers This Is Our Game. This Is Our Ice. Campaign