The Ken McKenzie Award is presented annually to an individual who accomplished the most during the season in promoting his or her American Hockey League team, by marketing and public relations. The award is named for Ken McKenzie, the co-founder and longtime president and publisher of The Hockey News .
The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 season, every team in the league has an affiliation agreement with one NHL team. When NHL teams do not have an AHL affiliate, players are assigned to AHL teams affiliated with other NHL teams. Twenty-six AHL teams are located in the United States and the remaining five are in Canada. The league offices are located in Springfield, Massachusetts, and its current president is Scott Howson.
The Syracuse Crunch are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL). They play in Syracuse, New York, at the Upstate Medical University Arena at Onondaga County War Memorial. They are the primary development affiliate of the National Hockey League's Tampa Bay Lightning.
The Orlando Solar Bears were a professional minor league ice hockey team based in Orlando, Florida. The Solar Bears played in the International Hockey League's Eastern Conference. They played their home games at the Orlando Arena.
The Maine Mariners were an ice hockey team in the American Hockey League. They played in Portland, Maine, at the Cumberland County Civic Center.
The Hockey News (THN) is a Canadian-based ice hockey magazine. The Hockey News was founded in 1947 by Ken McKenzie and Will Côté and has since become the most recognized hockey publication in North America. The magazine has a readership of 225,000 people per issue, while the magazine's website counts two million total readers. It is the top-selling hockey magazine in North America and is available through subscription in North America and digitally to the rest of the world. The Hockey News is also available at many newsstands in North America.
The Moncton Golden Flames were a professional ice hockey team based in Moncton, New Brunswick, playing home games at the Moncton Coliseum. The team operated in the American Hockey League between 1984 and 1987. The new franchise was purchased by a group of 6 local business men after the previous franchise known as the Moncton Alpines moved to Halifax to become the Nova Scotia Oilers. The Golden Flames were the minor league affiliate of the Calgary Flames, and for their final two seasons, had an additional affiliation with the Boston Bruins. The team boasted a number of future NHL stars including Brett Hull, Joel Otto, Mike Vernon, Bill Ranford, Bob Sweeney, Gary Roberts, Lyndon Byers, Dave Reid, Brian Bradley and others. In 1987, team marketing executive Larry Haley was awarded the Ken McKenzie Award for outstanding work.
Derek MacKenzie is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who most notably played for the Atlanta Thrashers, Columbus Blue Jackets and the Florida Panthers of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was drafted 128th overall by the Atlanta Thrashers in the 1999 NHL Entry Draft. He also played in the American Hockey League (AHL) for Columbus' and Atlanta's farm teams, the Syracuse Crunch and Chicago Wolves respectively. While with the Wolves, MacKenzie was part of a Calder Cup championship team in 2002 and also spent time as the team's captain. He set franchise records in career shorthanded goals for both AHL teams. His father, Ken MacKenzie, is the assistant general manager of the Ontario Hockey League's Sudbury Wolves. He is currently an assistant coach for the Florida Panthers, whom he previously served as captain of from 2016 to 2018.
The Ken McKenzie Trophy was awarded annually to the Central Hockey League's leading points scorer in the regular season. The award was named for Ken McKenzie, the co-founder and longtime president and publisher of The Hockey News.
The 1978–79 AHL season was the 43rd season of the American Hockey League. The league inaugurated the Ken McKenzie Award, for the most outstanding marketing executive, showing its commitment to marketing and public relations.
Bruce Landon is a retired professional ice hockey goaltender who was the longtime part-owner, president and general manager of the Springfield Falcons of the American Hockey League.
Paul John Fenton Jr. is an American former ice hockey forward and executive. He has previously served as the general manager for the Minnesota Wild. Before joining the Wild, he had worked as assistant general manager with the Nashville Predators.
Kevin David Wortman was an American hockey player.
Ken McKenzie was a Canadian newspaper publisher and sports journalist. He served as publicity director of the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1946 to 1963. In 1947, he published the first NHL press and radio guide, and co-founded The Hockey News with Will Cote and C$383.81. McKenzie bought out his partner and later sold an 80 per cent share of The Hockey News for a reported $4-million in 1973. He stayed on as its publisher and a columnist until 1981. He also published Canadian Football News, Ontario Golf News, and the magazines Hockey Pictorial and Hockey World.
The Ken McKenzie Trophy was awarded annually by the International Hockey League to the American-born player judged to be most outstanding in his first season. The award is named for Ken McKenzie, the co-founder and longtime president and publisher of The Hockey News.
The Texas Stars are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL) based in Cedar Park, Texas, near Austin, with home games at the H-E-B Center. They are owned by the National Hockey League's (NHL) Dallas Stars and are the team's top developmental affiliate.
John Forslund is an American sports announcer who is the television play-by-play announcer of the Seattle Kraken. He had previously filled the same role for the Carolina Hurricanes and was with the team since 1991 and called games from 1995 to 2020.
Cary Kaplan is the president and co-owner of the sports marketing firm Cosmos Sports & Entertainment with his wife Amelia Kaplan, which launched in 2003. The company specializes in consulting for sports teams and leagues in sales, marketing and business operations. High-profile clients have included the NHL CFL, MLS, the Chicago Cubs the Houston Rockets and the Phoenix Suns.
Doug Yingst is an American ice hockey executive. He was the president and general manager of the Hershey Bears of the American Hockey League, a dual-position he held from the 1998–99 AHL season to the 2015–16 AHL season.
Curtis McKenzie is a Canadian professional ice hockey forward. He is currently playing with the Texas Stars of the American Hockey League (AHL). McKenzie was selected by the Dallas Stars in the 6th round of the 2009 NHL Entry Draft.
The 2020–21 AHL season was the 85th season of the American Hockey League. Due to the ongoing restrictions in the COVID-19 pandemic, the start of the regular season was pushed back to February 5, 2021, and the league championship Calder Cup was not awarded for the second consecutive season. The Hershey Bears won the Macgregor Kilpatrick Trophy for the best regular-season record, their eighth regular-season championship. This was the first season under Scott Howson as the league's president after David Andrews announced his retirement after 26 years in the position.