Ryan D. Smith
Professional Hockey Broadcaster
PR/Community Relations
Below you will find some of the PR and Community Relations initiatives I have helped oversee in my time with the Thunderbirds. These are some of my personal favorites:
The Thunderbirds were recognized in 2017-18 by the AHL for having the Most Unique Community Relations Promotion as the franchise provided a one-of-a-kind gift to one of its most special fans, Katrina King.
In 2018, the T-Birds launched an annual Street Hockey Tournament as a wonderful chance for local youth hockey players to showcase their talents on the pavement in the summer sun!
In February of 2020, after Zamboni driver David Ayres made headlines for winning a game with the Carolina Hurricanes, Steve Hartman and the CBS Evening News reached out to us with a unique offer - to have Steve, himself, throw on the pads and try his hand between the pipes!
2020 threw us all a curveball, but that didn't stop us at the T-Birds from virtually meeting some of our new players from the St. Louis Blues. I hosted this T-Birds Town Hall with reigning AHL scoring champion Sam Anas, who has a heartfelt story of why the annual Pink in the Rink tradition in the AHL has so much extra meaning to his family.