AHL announces Man of the Year finalists

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. … The American Hockey League announced today the individual team winners of the American Specialty/AHL Man of the Year awards, given to one player from each AHL member team for his outstanding contributions to his local community and charitable organizations during the 2004-05 season.

From this list of 28 finalists, representatives from American Specialty and the AHL will choose the winner of the 2004-05 Yanick Dupre Memorial Award. The AHL’s annual Man of the Year award is named after the late Yanick Dupre, who died in August 1997 at the age of 24, following a 16-month battle with leukemia. Dupre, an AHL All-Star in 1995, played four seasons with the Hershey Bears, registering 169 points in 207 AHL games. He also skated in 35 NHL games with the Philadelphia Flyers.

Headquartered in Roanoke, Ind., American Specialty is the industry leader in providing risk services for the sports and entertainment industry.

This year’s winners of the American Specialty/AHL Man of the Year awards are:

  • Brett Clouthier, Albany River Rats
  • Andy Hedlund, Binghamton Senators
  • Graham Belak, Bridgeport Sound Tigers
  • Karl Stewart, Chicago Wolves
  • Zenon Konopka, Cincinnati Mighty Ducks
  • Matt Carkner, Cleveland Barons
  • Rocky Thompson, Edmonton Road Runners
  • Joey MacDonald, Grand Rapids Griffins
  • Duncan Milroy, Hamilton Bulldogs
  • Dominic Moore, Hartford Wolf Pack
  • Eric Perrin, Hershey Bears
  • Ray Giroux, Houston Aeros
  • Danny Richmond, Lowell Lock Monsters
  • Jeff Giuliano, Manchester Monarchs
  • Lee Goren, Manitoba Moose
  • Brandon Segal, Milwaukee Admirals
  • Ajay Baines, Norfolk Admirals
  • Ben Stafford, Philadelphia Phantoms
  • Nolan Yonkman, Portland Pirates
  • Jay Henderson, Providence Bruins
  • Jason Botterill, Rochester Americans
  • Serge Payer, San Antonio Rampage
  • Shane Willis, Springfield Falcons
  • Brendan Bell, St. John’s Maple Leafs
  • Brandon Sugden, Syracuse Crunch
  • Sheldon Keefe, Utah Grizzlies
  • Matt Murley, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins
  • Jeff Hoggan, Worcester IceCats