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Music

Why Is a Hard Rock Band Named Monster Truck Sponsoring My Niece's Hockey Team?

In an insane twist, a rock n' roll band becomes a corporate sponsor.

Photo via the band's Facebook

Hamilton hard rockers Monster Truck make big anthems fit for an arena. Whether it’s for them to play inside on stage or to be heard over the speakers to help pump up some hockey players, they are custom made for arena rockin’. This makes a lot of sense considering the band members themselves are big-time hockey fans and supporters of their local team, the OHL’s Hamilton Bulldogs. And so, when I first learned that the members of Monster Truck were sponsoring my 12-year-old niece’s peewee house league hockey team, I wasn’t as surprised as I would be if, say, Toronto black metallers Thantifaxath were the sponsors. So why is this Juno Award-winning rock band that have toured with Alice In Chains, Sevendust, Deep Purple and Slash throwing their money and support behind a bunch of tween hockey players? It’s a very good question. So Noisey got in touch with the band’s guitarist Jeremy Widerman to find out.

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Noisey: What made you want to sponsor a youth hockey team?
Jeremy Widerman: Once we decided to sponsor our own beer league team I realized that there are probably much more deserving youth teams all over the country that could probably use the help as well. As a band we admittedly have yet to be able to donate to worthy causes as much as we want to. This idea seemed like a perfect chance to be the first thing we really get behind. In the future, we hope to expand this to more teams and also get involved in other charitable organizations.

What made you go with a girls team over a boys team?
Before we even launched the campaign, we knew we were going to be leaning more towards a female team because we know that sometimes the girls hockey leagues can be overlooked by other sponsors. After we made our decision and after talking to the team’s organizers, I learned that the girls teams don’t receive the same concessions when it comes to ice time and ice availability either. So at that point we knew we made the right decision.

You held a contest for this sponsorship. What was the response like?
It honestly wasn’t as popular I thought it would be for applications. We got around 12 to 15 applications with less than ten of them even being really serious. I think we also may have waited too long to start the process, and next year we expect to get in earlier and have a lot more teams have an opportunity to apply.

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How often do you think you'll be able to attend the games?
I think we will be able to make it out a few for sure. In addition to that we are hoping to get on the ice a bit for a practice and hopefully learn a few things!

How familiar are the girls with Monster Truck's music?
That was the other reason we are so glad to have chosen the Stoney Creek Sabres. After speaking with the team’s organizers, we learned that the team was really excited about the prospect of having a rock band as the sponsor. I’m not sure to what extent they are all familiar with the music, but I’m sure they are now.

Did they get free copies of your album along with the jerseys? What kind of perks come with having a rock band as your team sponsor?
No, they didn’t, but that’s definitely a great idea. I’ll be sure to bring a box of CDs to the first game we attend! As for perks I’m not sure. I know they have already received attention on our social media as the comments have poured in on the sponsorship already. Our fans are now aware of the team and are eager to follow along during the season, which is definitely what we were aiming for.

Photo via the band's Facebook

You have a new album out coming out soon. Is there a Monster Truck song that you'd put forward as their theme song/anthem?
I think for now we’d have to go with the first single “Don’t Tell Me How To Live,” which just came out this week. But once the full album is out we definitely would move towards the one song on the album that is purely about hockey. It’s called ‘The Enforcer.”

How good is Monster Truck at hockey? Can we expect an exhibition game where you guys take on the Stoney Creek Sabres?
I just started playing last year so I am looking forward to joining in on a practice so I can get the help I desperately need. Steve, our drummer, is a bit better than me having played youth hockey himself. I wouldn’t expect an exhibition game but more so just a thorough lesson from the team and their coaches to help me and Steve not suck as much.

You have your own beer league hockey team. Since they're way too young, what kind of beverages would you serve a bunch of tween girls after a game?
Chocolate milk for sure. With its three-to-one carb to protein ratio, it’s the perfect post-exercise recovery drink!

Cam Lindsay is a writer in Toronto. Follow him on Twitter.