Bulldogs’ Lewis wins Ken McKenzie Award

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. … The American Hockey League has named Hamilton Bulldogs executive director of operations Brian Lewis the winner of the league’s Ken McKenzie Award for the 2004-05 season.

Recognizing the important role played by team management in building a successful franchise, the award is presented annually to an AHL team executive who most successfully promotes his or her own club.

A member of the Bulldogs’ staff since 1997, Lewis is responsible for running the team’s front office on a daily basis, overseeing the franchise’s sales, marketing, communications and administrative departments. Under his guidance, the Bulldogs had a record-setting 2004-05 season off the ice, setting franchise highs for revenues, attendance, community appearances and television exposure. Lewis has also been instrumental in creating one of the most interactive game experiences in the American Hockey League for Bulldogs fans at Copps Coliseum.

Over Lewis’s eight seasons in Hamilton, the Bulldogs have implemented many successful community initiatives, contributing positively to the community of Hamilton and its surrounding areas.

The AHL’s Ken McKenzie Award, first presented in 1978, honors Ken McKenzie, the founder and long-time publisher of The Hockey News and a 1997 media honoree by the Hockey Hall of Fame as the Elmer Ferguson Memorial Award winner. Mr. McKenzie, the NHL’s first publicity director and creator of its first media guide, passed away in 2003.

Previous winners of the AHL’s Ken McKenzie Award include Mike Emrick (1978), Roy Mlakar (1979), Bruce Landon (1980), Rick Peckham (1982), Dave Strader (1984), Dale Arnold (1985), John Forslund (1989), Glenn Stanford (1997), Chris Palin (1998), Rich Hixon (2000), Jim Sarosy (2002), Don Helbig (2003) and Chris Schwartz (2004).