Winners
| Charlie Conacher Memorial Trophy | |
|---|---|
| Sport | Ice hockey |
| Awarded for | NHL player who makes an outstanding contribution to humanitarian or community service projects. |
| History | |
| First award | 1968 |
| Final award | 1984 |
The Charlie Conacher Humanitarian Award (or Charlie Conacher Memorial Trophy) was an award given to a National Hockey League (NHL) player who made "outstanding contribution to humanitarian or community service projects". [1] It was established in 1968 in the memory of Hockey Hall of Fame player Charlie Conacher, who died of throat cancer in 1967, and featured an annual benefit dinner that raised money for the Charlie Conacher Research Fund for Cancer. [2] The award was not affiliated with the NHL, though it was given to one of the league's players. [3]
Toronto Maple Leafs captain George Armstrong was the first winner, named following the 1968–69 season. [4] Co-winners were named on two occasions, as Jean Beliveau and Bobby Orr shared the award in 1971, [5] as did Jimmy Peters, Jr. and Gary Bergman in 1973. [6] Calgary Flames forward Lanny McDonald was announced as the winner of the award at the 1983 Conacher Hockey Awards dinner, [7] though he was actually the runner-up to Boston Bruins defenceman Brad Park. The mistake was cleared up a few days after the dinner. [8]
Calgary's Jim Peplinski was named the final recipient of the award in 1984, after which the trophy was retired and put on display at the newly constructed Charlie Conacher Research Centre for cancer at the Toronto General Hospital. Former Chicago Blackhawks star Stan Mikita was given a special award at that final banquet in recognition of his work with the hearing impaired. [9] The benefit dinners held in conjunction with the award raised over $2 million towards throat cancer research in the 17 years that they were held. [9] Two years after the Conacher Award was retired, Maple Leafs owner Harold Ballard presented the NHL with the King Clancy Memorial Trophy, also to be given to the league's top humanitarian. [10] The new trophy was first awarded in 1988. [3]
The King Clancy Memorial Trophy is a sports award given annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) player who best exemplifies leadership qualities on and off the ice and who has made a significant humanitarian contribution to his community. The winner is chosen by "a special panel of representatives" from the Professional Hockey Writers' Association and the NHL Broadcasters' Association.
Lanny King McDonald is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player for the Toronto Maple Leafs, Colorado Rockies and Calgary Flames of the National Hockey League (NHL). He played over 1,100 games during a 16-year career in which he scored 500 goals and over 1,000 points. His total of 66 goals in 1982–83 remains the Flames' franchise record for a single season.
Joseph Nieuwendyk is a Canadian former National Hockey League (NHL) player. He was a second round selection of the Calgary Flames, 27th overall, at the 1985 NHL Entry Draft and played 20 seasons for the Flames, Dallas Stars, New Jersey Devils, Toronto Maple Leafs, and Florida Panthers. He is one of only 11 players in NHL history to win the Stanley Cup with three or more different teams, winning titles with Calgary in 1989, Dallas in 1999 and New Jersey in 2003. A two-time Olympian, Nieuwendyk won a gold medal with Team Canada at the 2002 winter games. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2011 and his uniform number 25 was honoured by the Flames in 2014. Joe Nieuwendyk was inducted into the Ontario Sports Hall of Fame in 2014. In 2017 Nieuwendyk was named one of the '100 Greatest NHL Players' in history.
Francis Michael "King" Clancy was a Canadian professional ice hockey player, referee, coach and executive. Clancy played 16 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Ottawa Senators and Toronto Maple Leafs. He was a member of three Stanley Cup championship teams and won All-Star honours. After he retired in 1937, he remained in hockey, becoming a coach for the Montreal Maroons. Clancy next worked as a referee for the NHL. He joined the Maple Leafs organization and worked in the organization as a coach and team executive until his death in 1986. In 2017 Clancy was named one of the '100 Greatest NHL Players' in history.
Lionel Pretoria Conacher, MP, nicknamed "The Big Train", was a Canadian athlete and politician. Voted the country's top athlete of the first half of the 20th century, he won championships in numerous sports. His first passion was football; he was a member of the 1921 Grey Cup champion Toronto Argonauts. He was a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs baseball team that won the International League championship in 1926. In hockey, he won a Memorial Cup in 1920, and the Stanley Cup twice: with the Chicago Black Hawks in 1934 and the Montreal Maroons in 1935. Additionally, he won wrestling, boxing and lacrosse championships during his playing career. He is one of three players, including Joe Miller and Carl Voss, to have their names engraved on both the Grey Cup and Stanley Cup.
James Desmond Peplinski is a Canadian former National Hockey League (NHL) player. He played ten seasons in the NHL and won the Stanley Cup in 1989. He represented Canada at the 1988 Winter Olympics as a member of the national hockey team.
Joel Stuart Otto is an American former professional ice hockey center in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Calgary Flames and Philadelphia Flyers. An undrafted player, Otto signed with the Flames as a free agent in 1984 and played 11 seasons with the team. He was one of the top defensive centers in the league during his career and one of the NHL's best at faceoffs; Otto was a two-time finalist for the Frank J. Selke Trophy. He was known for his confrontations with Mark Messier as part of the Flames' rivalry with the Edmonton Oilers and was a member of Calgary's 1989 Stanley Cup championship winning team. He joined the Flyers in 1995, with whom he played three seasons.
Roy Gordon Conacher was a Canadian professional ice hockey left winger who played 11 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Boston Bruins, Detroit Red Wings and Chicago Black Hawks. He was the NHL's leading goal-scorer in 1938–39, his first season in the league. Conacher was a member of two Stanley Cup winning teams with the Bruins and scored the championship winning goal in 1939. He won the Art Ross Trophy in 1948–49 season as the NHL's leading point scorer and was named a first team All-Star.
Maxwell Herbert Lloyd Bentley was a Canadian ice hockey forward who played for the Chicago Blackhawks, Toronto Maple Leafs, and New York Rangers in the National Hockey League (NHL) as part of a professional and senior career that spanned 20 years. He was the NHL's leading scorer twice in a row, and in 1946 won the Hart Trophy as most valuable player. He played in four All-Star Games and was twice named to a post-season All-Star team.
Charles William "The Big Bomber" Conacher, Sr. was a Canadian professional ice hockey forward who played for the Toronto Maple Leafs, Detroit Red Wings and New York Americans in the National Hockey League. An early power forward, Conacher was nicknamed "The Big Bomber," for his size, powerful shot and goal scoring. He led the NHL five times in goals, and twice led in overall scoring. Over five seasons from 1931-32 to 1935-36 Conacher was named to three NHL First All-Star Teams and two NHL Second All-Star Teams. He is an Honoured Member of the Hockey Hall of Fame. In 2013, Charlie Conacher was inducted into the Ontario Sports Hall of Fame. In 2017 Conacher was named one of the '100 Greatest NHL Players' in history.
Lawrence Kwong was a Canadian professional ice hockey forward who was the first non-white and Asian descent player in the National Hockey League (NHL). He broke the NHL's colour barrier when he debuted with the New York Rangers in 1948, playing a short shift at the end of the third period. Although denied much playing time in the NHL, Kwong was a top player in senior hockey leagues outside the NHL throughout his entire career and battled the likes of Jean Beliveau for the scoring race in Quebec.
Charles William "Pete" Conacher, Jr. is a retired professional ice hockey player who played 229 games in the National Hockey League.
The 1988–89 Calgary Flames season was the ninth season for the Calgary Flames and 17th for the Flames franchise in the National Hockey League (NHL). They won their second consecutive Presidents' Trophy as the NHL's top regular season club and went on to win the first Stanley Cup championship in franchise history, defeating the Montreal Canadiens in the 1989 Stanley Cup Final. Al MacInnis won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player of the playoffs.
The 1987–88 Calgary Flames season was the eighth National Hockey League season in Calgary and the 16th season in the NHL for the Flames franchise. The Flames finished atop the Smythe Division standings for the first time in team history, en route to winning their first ever Presidents' Trophy as the top club in the NHL.
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