• by Aaron Baar , September 14, 2009

Pleasing casual and hardcore hockey fans can be tricky. Appealing to the hardcore fans with pure bone-crunching action may turn off the casual fans who want to have fun. And vice versa. But to launch its NHL2K10 title for Nintendo's Wii system, 2K Sports may have found the perfect middle ground: the hockey mom.

Hockey moms have long been well-known and popular among hockey fans. But the arrival of self-proclaimed hockey mom (and vice presidential candidate) Sarah Palin on the national political stage vaulted the term and persona into the vernacular.

"Even people who aren't involved in hockey know hockey moms," said Jason Argent, vice president of marketing for 2K Sports. "It hit the vernacular a year ago, but for Canadians like me and hockey fans, we've known about them for a long time."

The campaign for the game -- the only pro hockey simulation for the Wii system -- launches with a 30-second television spot, in which three women portray "The Hockey Moms," who meet every Thursday in one of the moms' living rooms. Speaking with very flat upper Midwest accents (think "Fargo"), the moms introduce themselves, share their lemon bar snacks and welcome their special guest, NHL Hart Trophy and Washington Capitals left winger Alexander Ovechkin (joining them via the Wii Speak add-on, which allows voice connectivity during gaming via the Internet).

"Ovechkin is one of those guys who's the life of the party," Jason Norcross, creative director at 2K Sports' advertising agency, 72andSunny, tells Marketing Daily. "We thought it would be great to give the party a physical place."

The hockey moms engage Ovechkin in a game of NHL2K10 ("the greatest game of the greatest sport ever invented by human," according to one mom), showing off features like Stumble Shots (where you can make a goal even while falling down) and the Wii Speak technology. When one of the moms scores on Ovechkin's game avatar, he chides her with a "What do you think you're doing ... Just kidding that was awesome."

"It helps to see people playing the game, and that it looks like a party," Norcross says. "It's not like it's a metaphor or anything. It's fun."

The agency and company are hoping to extend the concept beyond the television. They're at work creating longer-form online video of the Hockey Mom trio playing against other well-known hockey "guests" (which will also help the company delve deeper into showcasing some of the newer features, Norcross says. There's also talk of having the moms make personal appearances on college campuses and hockey programming.