GTHL and the Esso brand announce multi-year partnership

September 5, 2024

The Greater Toronto Hockey League (GTHL) and Imperial Oil (Esso) are proud to announce a multi-year partnership starting in the 2024-25 season.

The partnership will feature Esso as the official fuel of the GTHL, joining the League through the Team Jersey Patch Program for all competitive (‘A,’ ‘AA,’ ‘AAA’) divisions and age groups. The Esso brand will also become the GTHL Puck Drop Weekend festival’s title sponsor.

The Team Jersey Patch Program will feature all competitive teams sporting the Esso logo on their jerseys. The partnership will allow the League to stabilize player registration and team entry fees in upcoming seasons as both entities collectively strive to make hockey more affordable and accessible for all.

As the title sponsor of the Esso GTHL Puck Drop Weekend, the Esso brand will join the League in celebrating the beginning of the hockey season during the festival set for October 26 to 27. The Esso Puck Drop Weekend will bring varying skill levels and ages together for a weekend that prioritizes fun on and off the ice.

“The Esso brand has been redefining the meaning of ‘winning’ with a strong presence in minor hockey since 1981,” said Scott Oakman, Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer of the GTHL. “The GTHL is honoured and excited to bring the influence of the Esso brand to support the League’s redefined mission to empower, inspire, innovate, and provide hockey experiences that foster growth, inclusion and excellence for all participants. Together, the GTHL and the Esso brand will continue the work necessary to make the game accessible, safe, and fun for all.”

For more than 80 years, Imperial and the Esso brand have been closely linked to hockey. The Esso brand sponsored the first national radio broadcast of an NHL game in 1936 and in 1940 sponsored transmissions of hockey games for Canadians serving overseas in WWII.

The three stars of the game were first awarded in the 1936-37 NHL season as a means for Imperial (then Hockey Night in Canada’s new principal sponsor) to advertise its Three Star brand of gasoline. The Imperial logo continues to have three stars today.

By 1950, three million Canadians listened to Esso hockey broadcasts each week – and in 1952, the broadcast sponsorship was expanded to include television. Today, the Esso brand is a founding sponsor of the Hockey Hall of Fame, a proud partner of all Canadian NHL teams, a premier partner of Hockey Canada, and the official fuel of the National Hockey League.

Now a proud addition to the GTHL and a supporter of minor hockey in communities across Canada since 1981, the Esso brand actively celebrates achievement at all levels of hockey. Esso Medals are one of many initiatives that strive to arm coaches and volunteers to inspire and encourage minor hockey players of all ages at no cost. To date, over two million Esso Medals have been awarded and Esso medal winners can now get their name in the Hockey Hall of Fame.

“Hockey is as engrained in the Esso brand, as it is in the hearts and minds of Canadians,” said Cheryl Seaward, Director of Partnerships at Imperial Oil. “As a long-standing premier partner of Hockey Canada, Imperial is proud to expand its minor hockey affiliation through partnership with the GTHL, fuelling the next generation of athletes from pond to podium.”

ABOUT IMPERIAL OIL

After more than a century, Imperial continues to be an industry leader in applying technology and innovation to responsibly develop Canada’s energy resources. As Canada’s largest petroleum refiner, a major producer of crude oil, a key petrochemical producer and a leading fuels marketer from coast to coast, our company remains committed to high standards across all areas of our business.

ABOUT THE GREATER TORONTO HOCKEY LEAGUE

Founded in 1911, the Greater Toronto Hockey League (GTHL) is a non-profit organization, home to more than 30 community recreational programs and the largest minor hockey league in the world. The GTHL registers more than 30,000 annual participants in Markham, Mississauga, Toronto, and Vaughan. The purpose of the GTHL is to empower, innovate, and provide hockey experiences that foster growth, inclusion, and excellence for all participants, while providing an enriching, equitable, and inclusive environment that benefits all members and the broader community.

For more information, please contact:  

Stephanie Coratti  
Senior Manager, Communications and Marketing  
Greater Toronto Hockey League  
SCoratti@GTHLCanada.com