Scooter Vaughan named AHL’s Man of the Year

By @StefanKubus –

Scooter Vaughan is best known for being a hockey player, but it’s what he’s done off the ice that’s earning him prestigious recognition.

The American Hockey League named Vaughan, a University of Michigan alum, its 2018 Yanick Dupre Memorial Award winner as AHL Man of the Year. Since 1998, the award has been given to an AHL player for his outstanding contributions to his local community and charitable organizations.

Vaughan was involved with a number of charitable events for his Chicago Wolves, including the likes of Kids for Camps and Swaggy Cause – two charities he, himself, founded.

More from the AHL release:

A 29-year-old native of southern California and the only child of a chemical engineer father and an attorney mother, Vaughan spent four years at the University of Michigan developing passions ranging from business to music; he is an aspiring guitarist and entrepreneur in addition to his hockey career that has seen him play 293 AHL games over the last five seasons with Chicago and Bridgeport.

The AHL’s annual Man of the Year award is named after the late Yanick Dupre, who passed away in 1997 at the age of 24 following a 16-month battle with leukemia. A second-round draft pick of the Philadelphia Flyers in 1991, Dupre played four seasons in the AHL with the Hershey Bears and was an AHL All-Star in 1995.

In operation since 1936, the American Hockey League continues to serve as the top development league for all 31 National Hockey League teams. More than 87 percent of all players competing in the NHL are AHL graduates, and through the years the American Hockey League has been home to more than 100 honored members of the Hockey Hall of Fame. The 2017-18 regular season ends Sunday, and then 16 clubs will continue to vie for the league’s coveted championship trophy when the 2018 Calder Cup Playoffs get underway next week.

The Yanick Dupre Memorial Award winner is selected by the AHL and representatives from IOA and American Specialty from among 30 individual team Man of the Year honorees.