(Photo by Savannah Hollis/Seattle Kraken)
“I've never experienced a community like the one I experienced in Chico. I want to live a life with no regrets, but I regret going there for only two years. That place is magical.”
-Seattle Kraken Vice President of Communications Ben Guerrero
Ben Guerrero's professional hockey career has taken him from San Jose to Washington, D.C., back to the Bay Area, and now to Seattle, where he is vice president of public relations for the National Hockey League's newest franchise, the Kraken. But he says there's no place like Chico.
“I've never experienced community like I experienced in Chico,” Guerrero said. “I want to live a life with no regrets, but I regret going there for only two years. That place is magical.”
Guerrero grew up in San Jose with the expansion Sharks. He was five years old in the franchise's first season and attended his first game during his junior year.
“There's nothing like live hockey,” Guerrero said.
As a lifelong fan of the game, he spread his love for the Sharks to his classmates at Chico State University.
“I took my roommates to the game and they became fans,” Guerrero said. “If you see someone wearing a Sharks jersey, they'll ask you to come along. We've developed a small, niche community. It's been a good time.”
After graduating in 2008 with a degree in communications and a minor in broadcasting, Guerrero worked for the San Jose Giants and San Jose Sharks.
Although he has climbed the highest rung of the professional sports ladder, he still considers his time at Chico fundamental, in part because retired professor Bibi McEwen (Information and Communications) (Master's degree, '87), which he credits with giving him the impetus to serve in both positions.
“It was the last semester of my senior year, and I had dropped out,” Guerrero recalled. “But she made us understand our priorities and told us to explore whether the way we lived our lives matched those priorities. It was incredible. I still I live my life according to those concepts.”
McEwen also had students answer the phones and conduct informational interviews with people working in the industries they were considering. This is how Guerrero met his future manager, the San Jose Giants and the San Jose Sharks.
“I am very grateful to Professor McEwen,” he said. “Her influence on my life is immeasurable.”
Guerrero left his jobs with the Giants and Sharks when he was hired as media relations manager for the Washington Capitals. But eventually, he returned to his dream job with the Sharks, the team that taught him hockey.
As it turns out, he wasn't the only Wildcat to work for the Sharks. During Guerrero's second stint with the Sharks, he met Sean Madison (Communication Design, '97) and Paul Davis (Communication Design, '04). Madison is the producer of the Sharks' television broadcasts in his area for NBC Sports Bay, and Davis is the director. The school most famous for the Sharks team plane wasn't a hockey school like Boston University or the University of Michigan. It was Chico State.
“The moment we realized we were all from Chico, it was like we were best friends,” Guerrero said. “There’s always a special bond when you meet a Chico State graduate.”
While Madison and Davis still work for the Sharks and are involved in other projects, Guerrero surprised even himself by leaving in 2021 to work for the Kraken. But he has no regrets.
“I never thought I would ever leave the Sharks again, but when the opportunity came to help build an expansion team from the ground up, I had to take it,” he said. “Opportunities like this don't come around very often.”
The effort was similar to what Guerrero has always done: growing the sport of hockey, but on a larger scale. The results were enormous.
On January 1, 2024, the Kraken hosted the NHL Winter Classic in front of 47,313 fans, and each time the team scored en route to a 3-0 victory, the Kraken's beanie-wearing head was replaced with the song “Nirvana”. I hit it on lithium.
“It was one of those moments you'll never forget. It felt like the whole city existed for one reason, one purpose. It was amazing.”
-Guerrero
When asked about the experience, Guerrero said, “I get chills.” “It was one of those moments you'll never forget. The whole city felt like he was there for one reason, one purpose. It was amazing.”
Guerrero appears to have found his magic again.
Luke Reid (History, '04, Kinesiology, '09) is a content producer at University Communications.
