Lawrence Mel Brooks (born February 26, 1950 in New York City) [1] is an American hockey journalist for the New York Post , covering the New York Rangers in the National Hockey League. [2] He served as president of the Professional Hockey Writers' Association from 2001 to 2003. [3] He was awarded the Elmer Ferguson Memorial Award from the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2018. [4]
From 1982 until 1992, he was a senior Vice President with the New Jersey Devils organization. [5]
The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in New York City. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home games at Madison Square Garden in the borough of Manhattan, an arena they share with the New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). They are one of three NHL teams located in the New York metropolitan area; the others being the New Jersey Devils and New York Islanders.
The Stanley Cup is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, and the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) considers it to be one of the "most important championships available to the sport". The trophy was commissioned in 1892 as the Dominion Hockey Challenge Cup and is named after Lord Stanley of Preston, the Governor General of Canada, who donated it as an award to Canada's top-ranking amateur ice hockey club. The entire Stanley family supported the sport, the sons and daughters all playing and promoting the game. The first Cup was awarded in 1893 to Montreal Hockey Club, and winners from 1893 to 1914 were determined by challenge games and league play. Professional teams first became eligible to challenge for the Stanley Cup in 1906. In 1915, the National Hockey Association (NHA) and the Pacific Coast Hockey Association (PCHA), the two main professional ice hockey organizations, reached a gentlemen's agreement in which their respective champions would face each other annually for the Stanley Cup. It was established as the de facto championship trophy of the NHL in 1926 and then the de jure NHL championship prize in 1947.
Herbert Paul Brooks Jr. was an American ice hockey player and coach. His most notable achievement came in 1980 as head coach of the gold medal-winning U.S. Olympic team at Lake Placid. At the Games, Brooks's American team upset the heavily favored Soviet team in a match that came to be known as the "Miracle on Ice."
The Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA) is a professional association for baseball journalists writing for daily newspapers, magazines and qualifying websites.
In ice hockey, power forward (PWF) is a loosely applied characterization of a forward who is big and strong, equally capable of playing physically or scoring goals and would most likely have high totals in both points and penalties. It is usually used in reference to a forward who is physically large, with the toughness to dig the puck out of the corners, possesses offensive instincts, has mobility, puck-handling skills, may be difficult to knock off the puck or to push away from the front of the goal and willingly engage in fights when he feels it is required. Possessing both physical size and offensive ability, power forwards are also often referred to as the 'complete' hockey player.
Michael Alfred Gartner is a Canadian former professional ice hockey right winger who played 19 seasons in the National Hockey League for the Washington Capitals, Minnesota North Stars, New York Rangers, Toronto Maple Leafs and Phoenix Coyotes. He also played one season in the defunct World Hockey Association for the Cincinnati Stingers. In 2017 Gartner was named one of the '100 Greatest NHL Players' in history.
Henrik Lundqvist is a Swedish former professional ice hockey goaltender. He played his entire 15-season career with the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League (NHL). Before winning the Vezina Trophy in 2012, he was nominated in each of his first three seasons, and is the only goaltender in NHL history to record eleven 30-win seasons in his first twelve seasons. He holds the record for most wins by a European-born goaltender in the NHL. His dominating play during his rookie season resulted in the New York media and Rangers fans giving him the nickname "King Henrik". During the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy, he led the Swedish men's team to their second Olympic gold medal.
Louis P. Lamoriello is an American professional ice hockey executive who is the president of hockey operations and general manager for the New York Islanders of the National Hockey League (NHL). He is also the former general manager of both the New Jersey Devils and the Toronto Maple Leafs. Lamoriello's tenure as general manager of the New Jersey Devils from 1987 to 2015 was the third-longest by an NHL general manager with a single team, following those of Conn Smythe and Art Ross. Lamoriello resigned from New Jersey on May 4, 2015, and became the 16th general manager of the Maple Leafs on July 23 of the same year.
John Arthur Davidson is a Canadian-American professional ice hockey executive and former player, who serves as President of Hockey Operations and alternate governor for the Columbus Blue Jackets of the National Hockey League (NHL). As a goaltender, he played in the NHL for the St. Louis Blues and New York Rangers. He is also well known as a long-time hockey broadcaster, and was honored by the Hockey Hall of Fame with the 2009 Foster Hewitt Memorial Award for his contributions to broadcasting.
Helene Elliott is an American sportswriter for the Los Angeles Times who is a general sports columnist. She is the first female journalist to receive the Elmer Ferguson Memorial Award in 2005 for bringing "honor to journalism and to hockey". She served as president of the Professional Hockey Writers' Association from 1999 to 2001.
The National Sports Media Association (NSMA), formerly the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association, is an organization of sports media members in the United States, and constitutes the American chapter of the International Sports Press Association (AIPS).
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.
The Elmer Ferguson Memorial Award is an accolade presented annually to a print newspaper columnist or reporter in recognition of their achievements covering the game of ice hockey. The award is "to recognize distinguished members of the newspaper profession whose words have brought honor to journalism and to hockey." The Hockey Hall of Fame established the accolade in 1984 and named it after the Montreal-based Canadian newspaper sports journalist Elmer Ferguson. Early in the year, the recipient is chosen by a committee of members from the Professional Hockey Writers' Association. The winner receives the award from the Hockey Hall of Fame at a ceremony held at BCE Place, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Each recipient receives a 12 by 12 feet glass plaque that is put on display on two glass columns in the media section of the Hockey Hall of Fame. The ceremony associated with the accolade takes place separately to the induction of players into the Hockey Hall of Fame as media honorees are not considered full inductees.
James Thomas Kelley Jr. was a professional sports news columnist from South Buffalo. His 30-year career focused primarily on the Buffalo Sabres of the National Hockey League, and the greater Buffalo area. He started covering the Sabres in 1981 for The Buffalo News, and also went on to cover the Stanley Cup Finals for 23 straight years. He pursued other media besides newspaper writing. He originated the weekly "Hockey Night in Buffalo", as well as "Sharpshooters" on WNSA with partner Mike Robitaille. From time to time he continued to contribute various hockey articles to ESPN.com and FOXSports.com. His experience and knowledge of hockey led The Hockey News to proclaim him in 2002–03 as one of the "100 People of Power and Influence in Hockey."
Rick Hummel is an American author and sports columnist best known for his work for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Hummel was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York in 2007 when he was honored with the J. G. Taylor Spink Award for baseball writing. Known throughout baseball by his nickname "The Commish", he is a former president of the Baseball Writers' Association of America.
The Professional Hockey Writers Association (PHWA) is a North American professional association for ice hockey journalists writing for newspapers, magazines and websites. The PHWA was founded in 1967 and has approximately 180 voting members. The association was founded as the National Hockey League Writers' Association, then renamed itself to the Professional Hockey Writers' Association in 1971, to distinguish itself from National Hockey League (NHL) teams.
Cam Cole is a Canadian sports journalist. During his career, Cole has worked for the Edmonton Journal,National Post, and Vancouver Sun. After retiring in 2016, Cole was awarded the Elmer Ferguson Memorial Award by the Hockey Hall of Fame and Golf Canada’s Distinguished Service Award.