Students in St. Clair College's Advertising and Marketing Communications Management program have taken the top prize at the NHL Hockey Innovation Competition in Ottawa.
"The Innovator Award" was shared by St. Clair's "Reignite the Rink" team of Sausha Goodhand, Elle Hebert, Airika Natyshak, Aryanna Pierson, and Jordyn Taylor, along with Queen's University's "First-line" idea presented by Jordan Bates.
The competition drew submissions from dozens of Colleges and Universities from across Ontario, narrowed down to just six finalists. Those teams were matched with NHL and SAP mentors to refine their ideas ahead of Final Pitch Day on Wednesday at the Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa, Ont., home of the NHL's Ottawa Senators.
Students were challenged to pitch bold, practical solutions for hockey infrastructure — ideas aimed at expanding access, improving participation, and modernizing arenas for the future of the sport.
"We've been working on this for a while," said Mandi Duhamel, NHL Vice President of Community Development and Growth. "Part of the Industry Growth Fund is all about where our investments should go to better the game for the future. How do you benefit Canadian families? How do you get more people into hockey and make access easier?"
"Who better to look at the game from a fresh lens?" Duhamel said. "Even those who haven't played or have played, you have both in and out perspectives. They're very futuristic-looking. They're technology-based, environmentally friendly. The next generation just sees things so new and fresh."
St. Clair College's idea "Reignite the Rink" pitch focused on retrofitting aging arenas by capturing and redistributing waste from heat and refrigeration systems, integrating multi-use spaces, and connecting communities through a digital platform to create year-round hubs.
"It was so fun and rewarding to be able to be part of this experience alongside an amazing team," said Elle Hebert, a member of the St. Clair team and student in the Advertising program. "It was awesome to be able to bring our ideas to life and present in front of industry leaders who took our ideas and saw potential in it. It's really awesome that these could be scalable in the real world."
"This means everything to me," said teammate and classmate Airika Natyshak. "I'm so proud of them and happy for us as students and representing our college. It's amazing to have this opportunity and it's an honour."
"We got the chance to really put everything that we've learned into creating this idea. And bringing it to earn the NHL Innovation award and place higher than any other college or university programs is a testament to all the hard work that we've put into this," she said. "It's incredible to see that the NHL and SAP saw in us what we believed to be true the whole time, that we had a great idea and that it was worthy of winning."
This is the third annual Hockey Innovation Competition. Last year, St. Clair College's team finished third in the competition.
"Over the past three years we've just learned so much and it really prepared us to come to the big leagues," said teammate, Sasha Goodhand. "To be able to take that knowledge and actually present to brands like the NHL and SAP just makes it feel really real and that the knowledge we've gained from the program is genuinely useful and we're going to be using it in our future."
"I just love our program so much and I'm so glad that it was able to bring us to this position," she added.
The team collaborated early on with Prof. Glenn Evans and students in St. Clair's Graphic Design program for an initial workgroup where they drafted ideas and creative concepts.
"This experience has been very memorable, educational, and surreal," said teammate, Aryanna Pierson. "This is why I took a program like the advertising and marketing communications management, because it presented me with opportunities like this – things that I'm going to be able to take into my future endeavors."
Students also had the chance to network with NHL and SAP executives during the competition.
"We got to meet a lot of important people. It was incredible to be surrounded by so many smart industry leaders who are where we would one day like to be," Pierson said.
Aside from winning, the students got to participate in a high-stakes real-world challenge and experience the pressure of pitching in front of industry professionals.
"It was a very surreal experience to watch our students absolutely shine like the sun demonstrating what they've learned in class over the past three years," said Prof. Dwayne St. John, who was with the team at the competition. "The professors helped mentor and prepare them well and we are just so proud of all of them."
"It's a proud moment for all of us Saints in the Advertising Marketing Communications Management program and the entire College celebrates this success," Prof. St. John added. "It's a very proud day to earn the NHL Innovation Award and be tops in the province."
Duhamel said she hopes the student projects will inspire new ideas and help grow hockey in Canada, aiming to reach one million players.
"It's less about grabbing one idea and making it come to life," Duhamel said. "It's more about hearing perspectives of unique ways that we can share with our innovation team and share with different variations of the NHL employees to direct more of our overall strategy."
