You hear it all the time: the “official airline, or car manufacturer, or doormat maker, or deodorant of the NHL”. And it’s not just the NHL; all pro sports leagues/teams do it, but what does it mean, exactly? Every NHLer wears Right Guard? Every CFL quarterback flies Porter? Every Blue Jay drinks only Tim Horton’s Coffee? We don’t think so and we don’t have the answer.
We don’t…but Hyundai has a modicum of one in the form of this: the Canada-only 2024 Santa Fe NHL Edition. It’s debuting at the Montreal Auto Show starting Jan. 19 and it doesn’t get much more Canadian than that, eh?
Speaking of Montreal: don’t go all crazy thinking you’ll be able to get your 1-of-500 specials done up in the Bleu Blanc et Rouge of the Montreal Canadiens or the Halloween-esque black, yellow and red of the ‘90s Vancouver Canucks; the Santa Fe NHL Edition will only be available in matte white paint with 20-inch black wheels (hockey pucks are black, right?) with a Pecan Brown interior – with weatherproof mats in the footwells and in the cargo bay, of course. For all those late-night sessions at the ODR, you know? It’s on those mats and the door sills that you’ll really see the connection and they can be customized with the logo of your favourite NHL squad. Word is if you spec Red Wings logos, the mats can get coated in something called “Acqua di Ocotopi”. We kid, of course – we think.
That’s all good, but the NHL Edition is no slouch under the hood, either; it starts life as the top spec Ultimate Calligraphy trim, which means 12-speaker Bose audio, turbo hybrid power to the tune of 232 horsepower and 271 pound-feet of torque (non-NHL Calligraphy models get a non-hybrid 2.5L four) and dual wireless charge pads between the front seats that can both be used concurrently.
Indeed, even without a host of NHL-spec colourways, the all-new Santa Fe remains a spectacular-looking thing with its squared-off dimensions, H-shaped design motifs throughout and blocky wheelarches. Indeed, while Canadian roads are saturated with mid-size crossovers like this, the Santa Fe is sure to stand out, like a good flow from under a winger’s helmet.