Seen Stamkos?
Even Stevie Wonder could have seen the Tampa Bay Lightning's no. 1 pick coming. The worst kept secret in hockey was the best laid marketing campaign to herald the selection of Steven Stamkos. It sets the tone for the new-and-improved Lightning, and for the future branding of the next gen hockey star.

 

Darren DESAULNIERS
for SZ

 

On Friday June 20, a little after 7 p.m. EST at Scotiabank Place in Ottawa, the Lightning selected Steve Stamkos with the first overall pick in the NHL Entry Draft. By the time that it happened, it was the worst kept secret in professional draft history.

In the days leading up to the NHL draft, “Seen Stamkos?” bumper stickers, billboards, signs, t-shirts, and more began to appear around the Tampa Bay area, then around the world as a guerilla marketing blitz by the Tampa Bay Lightning in anticipation of the worst kept secret in hockey and marked one of the best marketing campaigns to accompany a major league draft in many a year.
 
The last time the Lightning had the first-overall pick was 10 years ago, when they took a kid from Ile Bizzard, Quebec named...

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