The WNY Native Announces His Retirement
After 40-Plus Year Career in NHL, Including 24 Spent with Nashville, Helper Retires from Work in Hockey
By Press Release @PredsNHL / Nashville Predators
Nashville, Tenn. – Nashville Predators Senior Vice President and Senior Advisor Gerry Helper announced his retirement, effective Dec. 31, 2021, following a 40-plus year career in the National Hockey League.
A Day 1 employee, Helper joined the Predators and Bridgestone Arena in October 1997 and has served in various communications roles ever since, and in addition to his current title, held the position of Chairman of the Board of the Nashville Predators Foundation empowered by SmileDirectClub. Since its inception, Helper and the Predators Foundation have awarded more than $7.9 million in grants to Nashville-area charitable organizations, including a single-season record of $735,000 in 2020-21. He’s also been instrumental in the awarding of more than $20 million to the Middle Tennessee community through Predators Foundation grants, the 365 Pediatric Cancer Fund presented by Twice Daily, SmileDirectClub SuperGrants, DEX Score & Win and other programs.
“Not often is reality better than our dreams, but I am so grateful and appreciative to have lived and experienced a career that I couldn’t have possibly dreamed of when I graduated from St. Bonaventure and began this journey,” Helper said. “To begin working for my hometown team (Buffalo), the National Hockey League office, be part of two expansion franchises from Day 1 (Tampa Bay and Nashville) and the 2010 U.S. Olympic Hockey Team has given me a lifetime of memories and friendships that I will forever treasure. It is the people that made working in this sport so rewarding and I’ve had the privilege to work with Hall of Famers on the ice, behind the bench, in the press box and broadcast booths as well as Hall of Famers off the ice and in the communities, all whom I am lucky enough to call friends. My family and I will always be fans and look forward to watching the Predators’ franchise grow on the ice and continue to contribute to making the community a better place through the work of the Nashville Predators Foundation.”
Alongside his role on the Predators Foundation board, Helper also worked closely with upper management on external organizational and franchise communication issues.
“It is near impossible to properly summarize Gerry’s incredible 40-year career and countless accomplishments in just a few sentences,” Predators President and CEO Sean Henry said. “I entered two organizations that Gerry helped start – Tampa Bay and Nashville. Both organizations today are lauded for so many high points of achievement and success, not just as expansion markets, but as community cornerstones and model franchises for the NHL. Gerry provided the connective tissue for our players to come to life through many touchpoints in our community and, by hand-picking their respective broadcast teams, was as influential in bringing Predators hockey to the world as anyone. Beyond our two franchises, Gerry made many contributions to the NHL as a whole that helped make it the best League in the world. I am so grateful for what Gerry created in SMASHVILLE and across the NHL map and for the countless lives he touched and impacted so positively.”
“I want to congratulate Gerry Helper on an illustrious 40-plus year career in the National Hockey League,” Predators President of Hockey Operations/General Manager David Poile said. “We are very fortunate to have had Gerry work for our organization since Day 1. He was the perfect person to help us start a franchise, having already successfully done so in Tampa Bay, and his wealth of knowledge and history of hockey gave us an advantage right from the beginning. Gerry always put the Predators first, and while we will miss his knowledge and experience, we wish him and his family all the best in retirement.”
Helper came to the Predators after spending seven years with the Tampa Bay Lightning as the team’s Vice President of Communications from 1991-97. Just as he did with the Lightning by hiring Hockey Hall of Famer Rick Peckham, Helper made an immediate impact in bringing the sport to a new NHL market, hand-picking Pete Weber and Terry Crisp – who coached the Lightning during his time in Tampa Bay – to be the initial members of the Predators’ broadcast team. He also hired John Russell as the Predators’ first, and only, team photographer prior to the inaugural 1998-99 season.
Throughout the first decade of the Predators’ existence, Helper also oversaw amateur and youth hockey efforts, including the creation of a street hockey program that delivers equipment to area YMCAs and Metro Parks centers; the launch of the Predators Cup for high school hockey teams; and the introduction of the Get Out and Learn! (G.O.A.L!) program, which provides introductory lessons to young, first-time players at no cost, among other programs.
He was on the NHL’s Communications Advisory Board from 2004-09 and was the organization’s point person with the NHL for the 2003 NHL Draft in Nashville. In 2011-12, the Predators Communications Department, led by Helper, received the Dick Dillman Award, presented by the PHWA to the top communications department in each conference, and was a finalist again in 2012-13. Helper has also been active with USA Hockey, serving as a communications liaison for the United States’ silver medal-winning team at the 2010 Olympics and on USA Hockey’s marketing council from 1994-99.
Prior to his time with Nashville and Tampa Bay, Helper served as the NHL’s Director of Information (1987-89) and Director of Public Relations (1989-91), building a relationship with the League that was invaluable as the Predators hosted the 2003 Draft, 2016 NHL All-Star Weekend and the 2017 Stanley Cup Final. A Buffalo, N.Y., native, Helper got his start in the industry with his hometown team, the Buffalo Sabres, in 1979, and rose to become the organization’s PR Director in 1982 at the age of 25.
Helper served on the board of directors for the Middle Tennessee YMCA and Joe C. Davis Camp Widjiwagan and is currently on the board of the Nashville Sports Council. He graduated from St. Bonaventure University in 1979 with a bachelor’s degree in mass communications and was recently named to the school’s Board of Trustees; he also is a 2000 graduate of Leadership Music.
(NHL.com/Nashville Preds Photos)
