MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – Junior Dylan Lugris (Buffalo, N.Y.) was presented the 2024 Hockey Humanitarian Award by the Hockey Humanitarian Foundation during a ceremony on Friday night at the RiverCentre in Saint Paul at the Men's Frozen Four.
Lugris is the 29th honoree of the award, the 14th Division I male to win the award and the fourth male from a Big Ten school to be honored. He was recognized during the Friday night NCAA Men's Frozen Four awards ceremonies, alongside the recipients of the Derek Hines Unsung Hero Award, the Mike Richter Award and the Hobey Baker Memorial Award.
The Buffalo, New York native was one of five finalists all being recognized for the first time in their respective careers joining Hank Kempf (Wilmette, Ill.) of Cornell and Jack Quinn (Lancaster, Mass.) from LIU along with a pair of women's hockey student-athletes in Raice Szott (Daysland, Alberta) of Merrimack and Sarah Thompson (Ottawa, Ontario) from Syracuse.
"First, I'd like to recognize and congratulate the other nominees for their contributions to their local and global communities this year. Being a part of this group is an incredible honor. I'm truly grateful for being recognized as a Hockey Humanitarian," commented Lugris. "I didn't do this for the award, but I'm very proud that sled hockey is growing and getting the recognition it deserves. The Coyotes have a special place in our programs heart, and we look forward to continuing this relationship for years to come."
The award is presented annually to college hockey's finest citizen — a student-athlete who makes significant contributions not only to his or her team but also to the community-at-large through leadership in volunteerism.
Lugris wasted little time getting involved in the local State College community once arriving in Hockey Valley in January 2021. Almost instantly Dylan formed a bond with the local sled hockey organization, the State College Coyotes. Dylan began attending weekly practices eventually having teammates join him as he learned more and more about the sport of sled hockey and the Coyotes organization.
In an effort to make a difference for a struggling organization, that only practiced once a week and did not compete in actual games, Dylan came up with the idea of the Penn State Sled Hockey Classic last January. His mission is to grow the game of hockey while bringing awareness and knowledge to the sport of sled hockey and to provide the Coyotes the means necessary for organizational growth and competition.
The idea was a charity sled hockey scrimmage between the Coyotes and the Penn State men's hockey team at Pegula Ice Arena in front of the passionate Penn State fanbase. The event is spearheaded by Dylan with the help of his Penn State teammates from the planning and organization through the execution of the event itself, every aspect of the event is handled by a member of the Penn State men's ice hockey team.
Since the initial Penn State Sled Hockey Classic in February 2023 to now the Coyotes have more than doubled in roster size and are proud members of the Northeast Sled Hockey League competing in multiple games per month thanks in large part to the nearly $50,000 Dylan and his Penn State teammates have raised for the Coyotes organization over the past year. Dylan and his teammates are excited to continue the growth of the event in years to come as it is now a winter staple within the Hockey Valley community.
Penn State head coach Guy Gadowsky, a 24-year collegiate coaching veteran, is no stranger to the Hockey Humanitarian Award as he is now the only head coach to roster multiple Hockey Humanitarian recipients as Lugris joins former Princeton forward Eric Leroux, the 2006 Hockey Humanitarian Award winner.
"The Hockey Humanitarian Award is an awesome award, it's an award that was started because of the culture of hockey and the community involvement associated with the sport, and for Penn State Hockey, specifically Dylan Lugris, to be a part of this award is a tremendous accolade," commented head coach Guy Gadowsky. "I'm really proud of Dylan, I'm really proud of the team, I'm really proud of this community and I'm really proud that our program gets to be associated with this great award."
On Friday night, the Hockey Humanitarian Award Foundation presented Lugris, alongside Coyotes Co-Founders DJ and Alexis Wilson and team captain Sara Becker, with a check for $3,000. The other four finalists each received $500 for their respective designated charities. These donations from the HHA Foundation are made possible through the generous support of the awards partners and donors.
For more information about the award, visit www.hockeyhumanitarian.org.
