Giving Back to Community on Martin Luther King Jr. Day Just One Element of Service From Preds Front Office Staff

When Roman Josi first arrived in Nashville in 2011 as a rookie defenseman, one of the first things he noticed was the community involvement emphasized by the Predators organization.

Yes, he was here to play hockey, but skating 25 minutes a night and calling the job done wasn’t going to cut it.

Franchise pillars like former captain Shea Weber and former goaltender Pekka Rinne helped to establish the community culture as the club morphed into the model organization it is today.

Now the captain himself, Josi helps to continue on that legacy with his own work alongside the Nashville Predators Foundation, but that work outside the walls of Bridgestone Arena doesn’t stop with those who have a stall inside the Preds locker room.

On this Martin Luther King Jr. day, there won’t be many employees at their desks inside the Predators front offices - but they won’t be sitting on their couches at home either.

Instead, those who work in Smashville will be on the ground throughout Middle Tennessee working to better their community. It’s called a Smashville Day of Service, and it’s just something the Predators organization does because it’s the right thing to do.

“A big part of our culture is giving back to the community to make Nashville the best place to work and live, and so instilling that from orientation day, we say, ‘This is the requirement and what we expect of our employees,’” Predators VP of Community Relations Rebecca King said. “We provide opportunities, but then we also allow staff to find what they're passionate about and then let them run with that as well. So, it only makes you a better person, it makes your company stronger, but it also makes your love for the company more that this is such an important element to working here.”

From food banks, warehouses, animal rescues and everywhere in between, Predators staff will be embracing the ONE GOAL mentality and leaving their city better than they found it when the day began.

So, why is it important to do more than just sell tickets and hot dogs?

“Because you have this unique platform that elevates your presence in the community, and it rallies people,” King said. “Your product creates emotion… It brings money, it brings awareness, it brings donations, it brings everything along with it. So by leveraging that, we don’t have to, but we want to. We see the value of it.”

Monday won’t be the only staff-wide service day of the year, but considering the holiday, there is added meaning to this particular experience.

The GUIDER initiative - an acronym that stands for Growth, Understanding, Inclusion, Diversity, Equality and Representation - was created by the Preds in 2020, and progress made across Nashville in growing hockey and beyond has been noteworthy. GUIDER holds a great deal of importance across the Predators organization, and the opportunity to strengthen those ties with others is too good to pass up, especially on a day like this.

“Community is such a pillar of the Preds organization, and Dr. King says this: ’One says life's most persistent and urgent question is, What are you doing for others?’” Preds Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Amy Bratten said. “And I feel like that is definitely a question that we ask all of our staff to ask every day.”

Entraining its fifth year of impact, GUIDER continues to spawn sustainable programs that branch out from the core of the organization. Working hand in hand with the Preds Foundation, the initiative continues to make an intentional effort to be actionable while using reach, relationships and resources to benefit the community under the Predators logo that stands for so much more than just hockey in Nashville.

“Generosity is generosity whether you have $1 million or $10 in your bank account,” Bratten said. “It’s so great to see the character we've built in the front office. It models the legacy of Dr. King, of being kind and treating others with respect and serving other people. Through players like Josi and Rinne, we can tell that’s also the character in the locker room. It feels so synonymous to me that as an organization, we know who we are.”

So, as Preds employees hit the pavement on Monday, they’ll do so with the same passion that’s engrained across everything that’s done in Smashville - because it’s simply the right thing to do.

“You always hear people say, ‘I get more out of it than what I did for whatever event I did,’” King said. “It usually puts things in perspective and shows that maybe what you were worried about isn’t such a worry anymore. Once you go to the Rescue Mission or Room In the Inn, or work with puppies or whatever your thing is, you kind of realize the big picture. If everybody just does a little thing, the impact is so much greater than just the charity trying to grind by themselves.”

The Nashville Predators are proud to partner with Nissan USA to celebrate Black history and heritage throughout 2025. Join us February 8 at Bridgestone Arena as we celebrate Black Music Heritage Night as we take on the Buffalo Sabres. More info and tickets available now.