Mitsubishi Electric Sales Canada has become the new official HVAC partner of the NHL in Canada and will be pairing with the league to showcase its residential and commercial products throughout the country.

The partnership marks the first sports sponsorship for Mitsubishi Electric in Canada. Dermot McMorrow, GM of Mistibushi’s HVAC division, told MiC the company plans to capitalize on both companies’ coinciding anniversaries, with Mitsubishi Electric ringing in 30 years in Canada and the NHL’s centennial.

Most of the  brand integrations for Mitsubishi Electric will focus on experiential marketing through its partnership. The brand will have an activation at the travelling NHL Centennial Fan Arena, which will appear at the country’s seven different NHL cities throughout the year. Though McMorrow wouldn’t reveal what the activation would entail at press time, he said more announcements will be made throughout the year.

Experiential marketing is a bit of a departure for the brand, said McMorrow.

“The NHL sponsorship creates a relevant and powerful platform for us to evolve into more traditional consumer marketing,” he said, adding that traditionally the company has focused on promoting its products to its distributors and dealer networks. While this type of marketing will still continue, he said that Mitsubishi Electric is adding a new element into the mix.

On top of its experiential activation on the road, said McMorrow, the plan for 2017 is to also work with dealers and retailers to create more in-person activations to engage customers in more exciting ways.

The universality of hockey, said McMorrow, is what helps to make the partnership ideal, since the brand wants to tackle a diverse audience from home-owners to business operators and heating and cooling buildings applies to almost anyone.

Mitsubishi Electric works with OSL Marketing on media.