The NHL’s Stanley Cup Playoffs got underway last night in true NHL fashion, with three games being decided by one goal, including a very exciting overtime affair in Tampa Bay, as the Lightning lost 5-4 to the Montreal Canadiens. Unfortunately, I’m still trying to figure out how the new NHL playoff system works, because people are talking about things like brackets and seeds and re-seeding and Canada, and I don’t know whether to pull out the St. Louis Blues shirt that I wear when they’re good and start cheering or send more money to the people I lose all my NCAA Tournament money to each year.
Fortunately, the folks at NBC Sports and Bouchon Bakery have already thought of the best way possible for a dumb fat boy like me to understand the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and it involves delicious chocolate and marshmallow (pronounced marsh-MAL-low) puck cakes designed by Chef Thomas Keller.
According to a press release that could have also doubled as a dessert menu for an NHL-themed restaurant:
NBC Sports Group and Bouchon Bakery will produce more than 6,500 of the hockey-puck-sized cakes, comprised of marshmallow and a shortbread cookie encased in a chocolate shell. Puck Cakes will be embellished with one of 18 unique, edible graphics representing the logos of the 16 NHL teams that qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the logo of NBC Sports or the logo of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
The Puck Cake desserts will be presented in a limited edition custom-designed NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs bracket box, which reflects the new playoff format for the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and hand delivered to athletes, celebrity hockey fans and social influencers in key markets across the country. Each playoff team will also receive their own box of “Puck Cakes” from NBC Sports Group.
“We wanted to celebrate the postseason and help promote the new single elimination bracket format of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.” said John Miller, Chief Marketing Officer, NBC Sports Group. “Getting to collaborate with Thomas Keller on such a fun promotion was the icing on the cake.”
“Often our inspiration is in trying capture the memory of a favorite childhood food,” said Thomas Keller, Chef/Proprietor, Bouchon Bakery. “The Puck Cake is no different, as it reminds us of the classic mallomar and the nostalgia of those flavors we enjoyed while rooting for our favorite team.”
*goes outside, checks mailbox, sits down on front doorstep, mopes, eventually asked to leave by the people whose house I’ve been squatting in*
Oh well, maybe next year. And while I still don’t necessarily understand the new changes to the playoff system, I’m sure the Blues and their recent suckiness will give me reason enough to stop watching soon. In the meantime, I’ll just keep rocking out to the CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada Stanley Cup Playoff opening video.
