BROOKS, AB (June 1, 2015) – The Brooks Bandits of the Alberta Junior Hockey League (AJHL) are happy to announce the hiring of Tyler King as the organization’s new Manager of Communications, effective immediately.
King, 27, joins the Bandits after spending four years with the Fort McMurray Oil Barons of the AJHL as the team’s radio broadcaster, game-day operations coordinator, and webmaster, and the past season as its full-time Manager of Communications.
In the newly-created role, King will oversee game-day operations for the team’s home games, including the creation of content for the new video scoreboard at the Centennial Regional Arena. He will also oversee communications and relations with local media, as well as web and social media content, among other responsibilities, some of which will be further detailed in the coming weeks.
“The addition of Tyler to our staff is a huge step for the organization as he brings a wealth of knowledge, specifically at the Junior A level,” said Bandits head coach and general manager Ryan Papaioannou. “This will allow our game operations to run in a more smooth and professional manner while adding to the fan experience in Brooks.“
In his time in Fort McMurray, King oversaw the creation of comprehensive video highlight packages and news-style features for the team, a rarity at the Junior A level. In coordinating broadcasts, he was also voted as one of the top 4 play-by-play men in Junior A in the first “Broadcaster Battle” online ballot hosted by FastHockey.com.
“Tyler has a unique skill set that will be utilized with our new video display, which was launched during last season's playoffs,” noted Papaioannou. “He will also give us more brand exposure with game highlights, special event, and community involvement videos, while our advertising partners will also benefit greatly from the opportunity to show off their businesses on our video ribbon board.“
“With Tyler on board, it will allow our Manager of Marketing and Community Relations, Jaime McIntosh, to focus her attention on our advertising and community partners, further strengthening those relationships,” he added. “We are all looking forward to next season with this new dynamic.”
King also coordinated and oversaw game-day video scoreboard operation in Brooks during this past postseason’s South Division Final and Gas Drive Cup Final, assembling video highlights of Bandit games.
Prior to his tenure in Fort McMurray, King spent time as broadcaster for the Kingston Voyageurs of the Ontario Junior Hockey League (OJHL), and as a television reporter for Kingston, Ontario’s CBC affiliate. He holds a Master of Science in Broadcast Journalism from Syracuse University, and a Bachelor of Arts (Hons.) in History from Queen’s University.
'The entertainment facet of our operation is of paramount importance,” said Bandits President Paul Seaton. “In our ongoing determination to augment, adding video replay to the arena score-clock as well as recognising the growing importance of communications has created a strong need to add to our staff.“
“Certain that Tyler King is second to none in this area of expertise, we welcome him and look forward to the upgrade that his mastery will provide,” he added.
King was also a member of the 2015 Western Canada Cup bid committee that brought that event to Fort McMurray, and coordinated the video, website, broadcasting, and game-day operations for the event itself.
“I could not be more excited to join the Bandits for what I’m certain will be a banner year for the franchise,” said King. “The opportunity to help improve the already-stellar experience for an exceptional fan-base is one I’m delighted to take, especially with an organization that takes such pride in setting and achieving lofty objectives.”
“My goal will be to create an in-arena and online product that not only leads the way at the Junior A level, but rivals higher levels of hockey in its quality, and I can’t wait to get started.”
The Bandits would like to welcome Tyler to Brooks and expect further announcements on new initiatives in his purview to come throughout the 2015 off-season.