Six members of the hockey community have been revealed as finalists for an award honoring one of the game’s trailblazers.
On Monday, the NHL announced the six finalists for the 2024 Willie O’Ree Community Hero Award.
This is the second year there will be winners from both Canada and the United States. This year’s Canadian finalists are Mark Burgin (Vancouver, B.C.), Mark DeMontis (Toronto, Ont.), and Allen Hierlihy (Hamilton, Ont).
Burgin is the founder of the Diversity Athletics Society, which is a nonprofit that provides athletic development and mentorship to keep kids in sports. DeMontis founded Canadian Blind Hockey–formerly Courage Canada. A gold medalist with the Canadian National Blind Hockey Team, DeMontis, who lost his vision at the age of 17, founded the organization to build a greater blind hockey community. Hierlihy is a volunteer with the Hamilton District Sledge Hockey Association. He has been with the organization for eight years, teaching sled hockey to boys and girls of all ages.
The American finalists are Jerry DeVaul (Colorado Springs, Colo.), Kelsey McGuire (Philadelphia, Pa.) and Estela Rivas-Bryant El Segundo, Calif.).
DeVaul is the president of the Colorado Sled Hockey Association. He is a U.S. Army vet who is a double amputee, but also a competitive sled hockey player. McGuire is the founder of the first and only blind hockey organization in the City of Brotherly Love, Philadelphia Blind Hockey. The organization provides students between the ages of six and 13 with free blind hockey programming. Rivas-Bryant is the founder of The Empowerment Effect, an organization for young girls in Los Angeles that focuses on mentorship and hockey by providing kids with coaching, free equipment and ice time.
Each winner will receive a $25,000 prize that is to be donated to the charity of their choice. The remaining four finalists will each receive a $5,000 prize.
Fans can vote for who they believe should receive the award, with voting closing on May 19. Award winners will be announced in June.
The award pays homage to Hockey Hall of Famer Willie O’Ree, the former Boston Bruin who broke the league’s color barrier in 1958 and became one of the game’s greatest ambassadors.
More must-reads: