ESPN Spot Sees Hockey Stars Clean Up the Stanley Cup

Over the last four months, the Vegas Golden Knights have been parading the Stanley Cup all over the world. The trophy has been in hands, on beaches, and filled with different beverages.

With the Golden Knights looking to defend their championship, the Stanley Cup needed to freshen up before the National Hockey League’s (NHL) opening night Oct. 10th, where Vegas faces the Seattle Kraken at 10:30 p.m. ET on ESPN and ESPN+.

In the latest ‘This is SportsCenter’ spot, 'Dishwasher,' Golden Knights forwards Jack Eichel and Jonathan Marchessault – alongside SportsCenter anchor Steve Levy – give the Stanley Cup a much-needed cleaning.

Steve watches Jack and Jonathan open the dishwasher with the Stanley Cup inside, and gives the duo a look. Jonathan asks Jack if “they should run it again,” which is a subtle gesture of winning the Stanley Cup back-to-back. Jack replies, “Yeah, I think so.” 

“As the NHL returns to ESPN, our iconic This is SportsCenter campaign shines a light on the Stanley Cup champions and two of their stars, Jonathan Marchessault and Jack Eichel,” said Seth Ader, vice president of brand marketing. “Lord Stanley’s Cup is now cleaned up for another dramatic season on ESPN, although it sounds like the Vegas Golden Knights are looking to ‘run it again.’”

Said Chris Kim, Arts & Letters Co. creative director, “There have been iconic NHL This is SportsCenter commercials, so to be lucky enough to add to the canon is really special. We loved getting to work along with two of the sport’s biggest stars, the Stanley Cup and Steve Levy.”

Dating back to late 2022, ESPN has released four different This is SportsCenter commercials featuring prominent athletes such as United States Women’s Track & Field star Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and United States Women’s National Team soccer players Megan Rapinoe, Becky Sauerbrunn, and Sophia Smith, with SportsCenter anchors Elle Duncan, Hannah Storm, Kevin Neghandi, and Jay Harris.

These spots in order of debut are: 'Orange Slices,' 'Performance Evaluation,' 'Stoppage Time,' and 'Seconds.' Other spots anticipated to launch in the coming months include commercials with Boston Celtics superstar Jayson Tatum, PGA Tour golfer Jon Rahm, and MMA fighter Brandon Moreno.