NHL Expands Scope Of Its Willie O’Ree Community Hero Award For 2023

With an expanded reach and a new title sponsor in Canada, public voting is now open for the 2023 Willie O’Ree Community Hero Award.

Since 2018, the award has been presented annually given to an individual who, through the sport of hockey, has positively impacted his or her community, culture or society.

The award’s namesake, Willie O’Ree, became the first Black player to compete in the NHL back in 1958, despite having lost sight in his right eye at a young age, and played professional hockey for 21 years. Now 87, he has served as the NHL’s diversity ambassador. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2018 and has travelled extensively to share his story and promote messages of inclusion, dedication, and confidence.

With the program now in its seventh season, award winners will be named in both Canada and the United States for the first time this year. Each will be chosen from a pool of three finalists.

U.S. Finalists (Willie O’Ree Community Hero Award)

• Jason McCrimmon of Detroit, Michigan. A retired player, McCrimmon is the president and founder of the Detroit Ice Dreams Youth Hockey Association and the associate head coach, GM and owner of the USPHL’s Junior A Motor City Gamblers. Part of the NHL Coaches’ Association’s BIPOC coaches program, McCrimmon works to minimize barriers for access to ice hockey for underrepresented communities and provide community support in Detroit, where he grew up.
• Karen Ota-O’Brien of Coconut Creek, Florida. Ota-O’Brien is the founder of the South Florida women’s hockey program, the Lucky Pucks hockey club and co-founder and current president of the Florida Women’s Hockey League. Over nearly three decades, Ota-O’Brien has overseen women’s hockey in Florida as it has grown to 14 teams and 350 participants from all over the state, with an emphasis on community and support for players of all skill levels.
• Marty Richardson of Littleton, Colorado. Richardson is the founder of Dawg Nation Hockey Foundation, a Colorado non-profit dedicated to giving back to hockey families who have been impacted by hardship. Their flagship event is a hockey tournament called the ‘Dawg Bowl,’ which most recently featured 900 participants. Since 2011, Dawg Nation has raised more than $4 million for players and families in need, including $900,000 in the last year alone.

Canadian Finalists (Willie O’Ree Community Hero Award Presented by Hyundai)

• Derek Klein of Shellbrook, Saskatchewan. Klein is the CEO of Big River First Nation, a Cree Nation. For more than 25 years, Klein has worked to promote and grow the game of hockey on the reservation. His crowning achievement has been spearheading the development of the CAD$42-million Jim Neilson Sports Complex, a modern facility which serves Big River First Nation and surrounding First Nation and non-First Nation communities. It is named after former defenseman Jim Neilson, a member of Big River First Nation who played more than 1,000 NHL games between 1962 to 1978.
• Dean Smith of Halifax, Nova Scotia. Smith has dedicated himself to creating systemic change in hockey through his involvement in numerous diversity and inclusion programs in his home province. He is the driving force behind Hockey Nova Scotia’s Halifax-based Black Youth Ice Hockey Program, which strives to increase diversity in the game.
• Saroya Tinker of Toronto, Ontario. Tinker plays defense for the Toronto Six of the Premier Hockey Federation (PHF). She also serves as executive director of Black Girl Hockey Club Canada and is the founder of Saroya Strong. She serves as a hands-on mentor for young Black women in sports and is working to make hockey more inclusive for Black women and their families, friends and allies.

Winners will be determined by a public fan vote, which is open until April 16, along with weighted votes from a judging panel which will include Willie O’Ree, the NHL and, for the award in Canada, representatives from new title sponsor Hyundai Canada.

Each winner will receive a $25,000 USD prize, which will be donated to a charity of their choice. The four remaining finalists will each receive a $5,000 USD prize, also to donated to a charity of their respective choice.

Here are the past winners:

• 2018 – Darcy Haugan, the late head coach of the Humboldt Broncos
• 2019 – Rico Phillips, founder of the Flint Inner-City Youth Hockey Program
• 2020 – Dampy Brar, co-founder of Apna Hockey, an initiative that provides a network and support for South Asian hockey players.
• 2021 – Kevin Hodgson, executive director of HEROS, empowering at-risk youth, and SuperHEROS, which provides boys and girls living with physical and cognitive challenges an inclusive and safe hockey environment
• 2022 – Noel Acton, found of the Tender Bridge Foundation, a non-profit organization that has is focused on getting kids off the street and into sports programs

Voting is now open at NHL.com/OReeAward. The Canadian winner will be announced on a Sportsnet broadcast during the 2023 Stanley Cup Final. The U.S. winner will be announced at the NHL Awards in Nashville on June 26.