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Buffalo State Stories
Tim Darling
Communications Manager, Nashville Predators, B.A., Public Communication, '98
“Music City, USA,” where the temperature averages a balmy 46 degrees in winter, is known for country-and-western tunes and Bible publishing. As communications coordinator of the National Hockey League’s Nashville Predators, Tim Darling is working to add “world-class hockey” to the list.
Darling brings to this challenging job a lifelong love of the game (he started playing at age 4) and family roots in frosty Western New York.
From offices in downtown Nashville’s Gaylord Entertainment Center, he is half of the two-person department responsible for media relations for the 6-year-old team. He also serves as managing editor of Saber Tooth Times, the magazine for season-ticket holders, and develops the Predators’ yearbook, media guide, game programs, and Website content.
“We’ve got to be a lot more proactive in trying to get out there and pitch stories to the media and educate the fans around here, who maybe don’t know much about the game or haven’t grown up with it,” he said.
Darling grew up with the Buffalo Sabres and inherited a passion for the game from his father. The late Ted Darling was the renowned “Voice of the Sabres” for 22 seasons and one of the few broadcasters inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.
“He was someone who just loved being around it, and he loved being around the players,” Darling said of his father. “He was constantly teaching people about the game.”
Continuing the tradition farther south, Darling is witnessing Nashville’s first foray into hockey mania. The team has an official song, "Hockey Tonk (The Predators Song)," and mascot, Gnash, named for the remains of a saber-toothed tiger discovered at a downtown Nashville excavation site.
In 2003, the team made the playoffs for the first time. “It was an exciting couple of weeks here,” Darling recalls. “We sold out all our games, and the whole town just seemed to catch on with hockey fever. It spilled over in our off-season, with renewal rates for season tickets up.”
What’s the attraction? “The speed of the game and the skill and the excitement,” said Darling. “I think a lot of people, when they watch their first hockey game, they get hooked. It’s a lot more exciting in person (than on television).”
Despite a hectic schedule and 12-hour workdays on game Saturdays, Darling continues to share the fans’ enthusiasm. “It’s great being part of hockey,” he said.
The Lockport native majored in public communication at Buffalo State, where he also participated in two career-boosting internships, one with the Empire Sports Network and another with the Buffalo Sabres.
After graduating in 1998, he served as director of public and community relations for the Lubbock Cotton Kings, a minor-league hockey team in Texas. He then returned to Buffalo, where he assisted with community and media relations for the Sabres.
Today, although loyal to the team “that’s paying my paycheck,” Darling retains a fondness for hometown hockey. “Obviously, I still love the Sabres, and I love to follow them,” he said.
Photo: Bob Schatz
