by Amy Johnson, Managing Editor, HabsTweetup.com (AllHabs.net)
PHILADELPHIA, PA — With the temperatures finally dropping, leaves beginning their annual display of vibrant colors, and the calendar announcing the autumn equinox, it’s time to accept the fact that summer is officially over. Pack away your beach gear, change your closets from shorts and t-shirts to sweaters and scarves, and get ready for that first frost lurking just around the corner.
A favorite first writing assignment in elementary school classrooms everywhere is to compose a few paragraphs describing “What I Did This Summer.” It’s usually a fond look-back at some of the season’s most memorable moments. Here at All Habs Hockey Magazine, our summer pages were jam-packed with extensive coverage on the NHL Awards, the NHL Entry Draft, and Canadiens development camps held at Brossard — as well as some special feature stories along the way.
One highlight of our summer has been all the fantastic contests we’ve held! We’ve crowned winners on numerous occasions and they’ve earned some really exciting prizes.
If there’s one thing you need while watching hockey, it’s a good snack. This year during the playoffs, Doritos Canada rolled out a new line of “Jacked” flavors like Smoky Chipotle BBQ and Enchilada Supreme. The chips are thicker than traditional Doritos and have a bold, intense flavor which inspired the question, “What has been your stand-out “jacked” moment in the 2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs?”
The winning comment came from Tony, pictured at right, who said, “My jacked moment was when Joel Ward scored in OT to knock out the Bruins!” We’d have to agree that was a pretty great moment. Tony won a gigantic Doritos Canada Smoky Chipotle BBQ prize pack which included gear and bags of chips valued at $100! After receiving his prize pack, Tony gave the new Jacked Doritos a taste test and said, “Those chips are unbelievably hot as far as chips go!”
Next up came our inaugural All Habs On Location event. All Habs team members gathered at McLean’s Pub armed with laptops, tablets, and smartphones to live-blog the 2012 NHL Awards. It was a unique way of connecting with our readers and was well-received, especially given the fact that the awards were televised on delay. With a live stream online, we were able to give hockey fans results in real time as they were happening.
We also reached out to our social media followers for a special rendition of the All Habs Trivia Challenge, an activity usually reserved for our Hockey Parties. In between award announcements, we held an All Habs Twitter Trivia contest by sending out tweets with trivia questions related to the NHL Awards. After tallying all of the correct responses we received, three winners were randomly selected to receive an official All Habs t-shirt! Congratulations again to Stacey (@staceyqbc), Angelica (@ReinaDeLaIsla), and Matt (@mattCH_).
Finally, even though the hockey season had ended, there were still plenty of sporting events to cheer for thanks to the 2012 Summer Olympic Games held in London.
Some events like swimming and beach volleyball were the hottest tickets in town, drawing large television audiences as well. Others, like handball and badminton, were not quite as popular.
Visa Canada teamed up with All Habs to find out which events our readers enjoy the most, which ones they’d rather not ever see on the schedule again, and which athletes they admire the most. The reward? One of two $125 Visa gift cards! We heard from many of you and two winners were randomly selected.
All Habs reader Jason was excited to receive his prize and says, “Thank you once again to the All Habs crew for putting on the contest. The Visa card will be put to good use on some new fly fishing gear.” Sounds great to us! He believes that air pistol events should be removed from the Games and his favorite current Olympian is Milos Raonic.
Congratulations also goes to reader Lina who looks pretty excited to find a Visa gift card waiting for her in the mail as well! Her favorite summer events to watch are, “Shooting and Synchronized Swimming. Maybe gymnastics. Really hard to decide because most sports are really interesting once you start watching them.”
It was a summer full of fun, leaving lots of smiles on our winners and participants. Thank you to Doritos Canada and Visa Canada for their partnership in these contests. Stay tuned for more chances to win great prizes right here at All Habs!