Jack Jablonski joins LA Kings as communications intern
Friday was a big day for Jack Jablonski, the USC student who was paralyzed in 2011 during a high school hockey game in his sophomore year.
He began working for an organization that’s won two of the last three Stanley Cups:
Jablonski is the new communications intern for the Los Angeles Kings and will work in the press box during games at Staples Center. As Rich Hammond of the Orange County Register writes, this gig is just the thing that further along his interest in the hockey industry:
Jablonski has already had an impact on hockey. His injury raised awareness about safety in youth games and the need to eliminate dangerous, blindside hits.
His mobility now limited to a motorized wheelchair, Jablonski isn’t focused on his limits. He has already spent two-plus years hosting a weekly hockey-talk radio show in Minnesota, and in January, Jablonski accepted a scholarship to attend USC and study journalism and communications.
Since his injury, Jablonski has experienced an outpouring of support from the hockey world.
Davis Drewiske, then of the Los Angeles Kings, used part of his day with the Stanley Cup in 2012 to spend it with Jablonski. He also successfully lured Zach Parise to come play for his favorite team, the Minnesota Wild. In 2013, he was drafted by the USHL’s Chicago Steel. His prom date? Michelle Beadle of ESPN. And finally, with the help of Jeremy Roenick, helped lead the world’s longest stick-tap last November in support of spinal research.
Like many interns, Jablonski isn’t sure exactly what he wants to do in the field, but certainly this opportunity with the Kings will introduce him to the different roles that makeup a professional sports franchise.
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