Predators, GUIDER Program Ready to Celebrate Hockey Is For Everyone Night

As Hockey Is For Everyone Night returns to Bridgestone Arena on Saturday, the Nashville Predators and their impactful GUIDER program - growth, understanding, inclusion, diversity, equality and representation - will be ready to celebrate.

Arriving during the program’s fourth year of impact, the evening will give Nashville’s many diverse communities an opportunity to come together and enjoy the greatest game ever played in a welcoming, inclusive environment.

“It truly does feel like a celebration, because it's our community coming together and it is GUIDER seeing through the goals and implementation of being an inclusive space,” Predators Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Amy Bratten said. “The kids who come to this game and come to all our games can see people that look like them and know that they can perform on the band stage, they could be a player, they could be a coach… So, it really does feel like a celebration and it's important for the GUIDER board to have a night like this to celebrate and to support the NHL and their DEI efforts as well through the Hockey Is For Everyone platform.”

To be certain, when the Predators host Hockey Is For Everyone Night, they mean everyone. 

Nissan Community Leaders from the TN Pride Chamber, the Tennessee Latin American Chamber of Commerce, the National Museum of African American Music and API Middle Tennessee will lead the festivities as towel wavers, fan captains and Mayors of SMASHVILLE.

On the Bridgestone Arena plaza, the NHL’s United by Hockey Mobile Museum will open its doors to fans as they enter the game. The museum features artifacts from players from a wide array of backgrounds and a look at the next generation of young stars, NHL Officials, broadcasters and women across hockey. Admission to the bus is free for all ages.

The Creating Opportunities for Racial Equality Program - or CORE - presented by Bridgestone will take the ice during the first intermission, while Sled Preds will be on the Bridgestone Arena concourse giving fans demonstrations and information about their program.

In addition to the festivities, Saturday will also provide a moment to recognize the progress made by the GUIDER program since its inception four years ago, during a watershed moment in American history.

“In 2020, a group of individuals sat down and said, ‘We need to do more than just release a statement, we need to start taking action to create change in our town and in our country,” Bratten said. “It’s been so important to our organization, because the Preds are so involved in the community and that’s not out of checking a box, but out of passion and out of heart for being a part of Nashville and the people that call this place home. And having our fan base look more like our community is a priority, because our community is so special, and the Predators want to be a part of all of the community, not just parts of it.”

Several different members of the Nashville community who had a hand in getting GUIDER off the ground four years ago will be back in SMASHVILLE for Hockey Is For Everyone Night. 

For the Predators, the homecoming couldn’t be more significant.

“It’s an honor to feature some of the community leaders who started the conversations with us and who took a chance on the Preds and saw us as authentically wanting to be part of their communities and their organizations,” Bratten said. “It lets us look back at GUIDER in the last three years and the progress that our staff has made and the relationships we've built and celebrate that through Hockey is For Everyone, and we've never done that before. It's so exciting to give them a night in SMASHVILLE that they won't forget, where we honor them and continue to appreciate our partnership.”

Of course, there’s plenty of GUIDER initiatives to look forward to before the season is over. 

On Wednesday, Jan. 31, the Predators will welcome guests from Tennessee State University, Fisk University, Meharry Medical College and American Baptist College for HBCU and Black History Month Night, while the Preds Foundation will auction off custom, locally-designed BHM jerseys. 

On Saturday, Feb. 10, the Predators will host API Middle Tennessee for Asian & Pacific Islander Heritage Night; custom, locally-designed jerseys will also be auctioned off by the Preds Foundation this night.

Finally, the Predators will welcome members of Nashville’s LGBTQIA+ community during their ninth annual Pride Night on Tuesday, April 9. Custom, locally-designed jerseys will be available through the Preds Foundation Silent Auction on this night, as well. 

Tickets are still available for Hockey Is For Everyone Night; click here to get yours. And click here to purchase special ticket packages for the Predators’ upcoming theme nights.