Toronto Maple Leafs: Souperman Is Here To Save The Day!

The Toronto Maple Leafs resident Souperman Ilya Mikheyev has officially become Campbell Canada’s “Chief Soup Officer.”

Other Toronto Maple Leafs also have sponsorship deals.  Mitch Marner has his Red Bull and Intact Insurance deals, Auston Matthews has his GQ covers, but this one takes the cake….er, soup?

Toronto media has been heavily criticized for being dramatic, over involved, and heavy on the exaggeration.

Players in Toronto’s big four sports are often placed under a microscope smaller teams are shielded from. However, playing in Toronto does allow its players to benefit from the added attention.

After his NHL debut, where Ilya Mikheyev recorded a goal and assist, he made a passing comment about soup.

The Russian native was waxing poetic about his love of soup and blatantly said in broken English “Yes. I like soup. I don’t know why you don’t eat soup.” Leafs twitter quickly picked this up and he was affectionately titled “Souperman.”

At the time, no one could’ve predicted an ending like this. The Toronto Maple Leafs fourth liner recently signed a soup deal with Campbell Canada to become their “Chief Soup Officer.” Only in Toronto could a rookie with 40 games and 23 points under his belt get an obscure deal like this.

The NHL’s Love-Hate Relationship with Sponsorships

The NHL seems to have a love-hate relationship with sponsorships. Not every superstar can pull them off well.

This obscure sponsorship deal reminds me of how former Toronto Maple Leafs Matt Martin starred alongside sophomore Mitch Marner in one of his Intact Insurance commercials.

In any other city, it is very unlikely Martin would be used to sell anything (he is an enforcer with a career high of 19 points), but Toronto is special. Speaking of superstars, Mats Sundin even acted in commercials as well!

What is tricky about sponsorships is making them relatable and not robotic. For example, Connor McDavid uses his social media accounts purely for promotion, which does not make him a good follow on any account.

However, what Marner and Mikheyev have been able to achieve is a human-ness approach to sponsorships. McDavid looks very uncomfortable in his promotional shoots and I cringe whenever I see him on screen.

In the modern NHL, it seems like superstars are always going to be used to sell product. Or really anyone mildly successful.

Commercials are also a popular way to bring personality to a usual dull league. The ever controversial PK Subban brilliantly sponsored Listerine during the 2017 Stanley Cup Finals.

He committed to the long game starting after Sidney Crosby supposedly complained about Subban’s breath, by arriving the next game with a bag of Listerine. During the 2018 season Subban even admitted it was all made up for the sake of advertising.

While Mikheyev will not be taking home the Calder (which will likely go to Cale Makar or Quinn Hughes), he will be taking home a boat load of money. I think it’s great when players can spin the negative media attention for their own gain.