SPRINGFIELD, Mass. … The American Hockey League announced today that Troy Grosenick of the Milwaukee Admirals has been selected as the winner of the Yanick Dupre Memorial Award as the 2019-20 IOA/American Specialty AHL Man of the Year.
This award has been presented annually since 1998 to an AHL player for his outstanding contributions to his local community and charitable organizations. The Yanick Dupre Memorial Award winner is selected by the AHL and representatives from IOA and American Specialty from among 31 individual team Man of the Year honorees.
The first player born and raised in the Milwaukee area ever to play for the Admirals, Grosenick has a uniquely special bond with the community. Among the extended campaigns Grosenick has participated in this season are Make a Save, Save a Life, pledging $1 for every save he made this season to the MACC Fund (Midwest Athletes Against Childhood Cancer) to help fund research for childhood cancer and related blood disorders. His Be an Admirable Teammate program, launched with fellow goaltender Connor Ingram, encouraged kids to be good teammates on and off the ice. Grosenick was also the Admirals’ representative for the Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin’s Act Now! anti-bullying program, educating students and teachers alike on how to combat bullying in the classroom and beyond.
Grosenick’s long list of community activities also included participation in a celebrity softball game that raised over $100,000 for the MACC Fund; working with Elmbrook Youth Hockey and the Milwaukee Jr. Admirals, programs he participated in as a kid growing up in Brookfield, Wis.; joining his teammates as a celebrity waiter to raise money for Prevent Blindness of Wisconsin; working with the Milwaukee Fire Department for a winter coat drive for thousands of inner-city and underprivileged kids; delivering presents to Ronald McDonald House; and participating in a “polar plunge” to raise money for Special Olympics Wisconsin.
The AHL’s annual Man of the Year award is named after the late Yanick Dupre, 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, Dupre played four seasons in the AHL with the Hershey Bears and was an AHL All-Star in 1995.
In operation since 1936, the American Hockey League continues to serve as the top development league for all 31 National Hockey League teams. Nearly 90 percent of all players competing in the NHL are AHL graduates, and through the years the American Hockey League has been home to more than 100 honored members of the Hockey Hall of Fame.
