There have been plenty of sports social media controversies and missteps over the years, but the apparent latest one just seems funny, involving an NHL team’s Instagram account and a rink board ad that just happened to be in the wrong place. As per @PumperNicholl (a writer who covers the Los Angeles Kings for the team’s websites; the name’s a reference to Bernie Nicholls’ goal celebration), the Calgary Flames posted a photo on Instagram that featured an, uh, awkward board ad placement in relation to where forward Matthew Tkachuk was skating:
That screenshot includes the Flames saying “C you soon, C of Red” and the Kings’ account commenting “He looks, um, *very* excited.” And it does appear this is a real photo; Imagn (the USA Today Sports Images archive) has photos with that ketchup ad in the Flames’ arena from last season’s playoffs, although not that specific photo, and a Reddit thread on this includes a poster referencing that they posted the same image back in April (that’s a wider crop that includes Colorado Avalanche players; the newer one is a tighter crop that only shows Tkachuk). And the Flames did post this photo on Twitter Saturday morning, but with a higher crop that doesn’t include the ketchup ad:
So yeah, if that photo keeps popping up, there are going to be some further laughs about what’s just out of the frame.
[Pumper Nicholl on Twitter]