SPRINGFIELD, Mass. … The American Hockey League has announced that goaltender Josh Tordjman of the San Antonio Rampage has been selected the winner of the Yanick Dupré Memorial Award as the 2009-10 American Specialty/AHL Man of the Year. The award is presented annually to an AHL player for his outstanding contributions to his local community and charitable organizations.
A fourth-year member of the Rampage, Tordjman continuously strives to make an impact both on the ice and in the greater San Antonio community. This season, one of his personal goals was to become fluent at reading, writing, and speaking fluent Hebrew, and for the third straight year, he shared his passion for learning a foreign language by teaching local students in an advance high school French class at East Central High School.
Tordjman and three teammates visited Christus Santa Rosa Children’s Hospital during the holiday season, personally delivering teddy bears to young patients at the hospital, including bedside visits to children in the intensive care unit. Through the Rampage’s Face-Off Against Kids Cancer program, Tordjman and his teammates paired with children from the hospital’s Centers for Oncology and Blood Disorders, and Josh developed a strong bond with his family, Connor, Mackenzie, and Brandy Lint. Through a series of social events over the course of the season, Tordjman and Connor have built a friendship that will last for years to come.
Among numerous other contributions to the community, Tordjman volunteered to present awards and recognize top athletic scholars at the annual Catholic Youth Organizations Sports Banquet, and he collected food and monetary donations for the KXTN Food Drive in support of the San Antonio Food Bank and their efforts to minimize hunger in the San Antonio community.
“Serving my local community is something I am very passionate about,” Tordjman said. “Whether I’m back home in Canada or playing hockey in San Antonio, I enjoy getting involved and helping others that are going through tough times and are less fortunate. I believe that we, as professional athletes, have been given a unique opportunity to help others and set a positive example.”
A 25-year old native of Montreal, Tordjman is 79-73-10 with eight shutouts in 170 career games for San Antonio, and he appeared in his first two National Hockey League contests with the Phoenix Coyotes last season.
The AHL’s annual Man of the Year award is named after the late Yanick Dupré, who passed away in 1997 at the age of 24 following a 16-month battle with leukemia. A second-round draft pick of the Philadelphia Flyers in 1991, Dupré played four seasons in the AHL with the Hershey Bears, and participated in the 1995 AHL All-Star Game.
In operation since 1936, the AHL continues to serve as the top development league for all 30 National Hockey League teams. More than 85 percent of today’s NHL players are American Hockey League graduates, and more than 6.5 million fans per season have attended AHL games across North America since 2001. Over the past 74 years, the AHL has been home to more than 100 honored members of the Hockey Hall of Fame.
