Flames, Panthers named winners of Dillman Award

The Professional Hockey Writers Association (PHWA) is delighted to announce that the Florida Panthers and the Calgary Flames are the recipients of the Dick Dillman Award, given each season to the top public relations department in each conference.

This is Florida’s first Dillman award, and it’s no coincidence that it coincides with the arrival of Chris Wojcik, who left the Arizona Coyotes and joined the Panthers this season. Kudos to Chris and his staff – media relations coordinator Michael Lewis, Director of Digital Media Addie Biedenback and public relations coordinator Chrissy Parente – for their diligence and cooperation.

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A farewell to the daily miracle

At the end, the personal effects from my desk and a filing cabinet fit into two banker’s boxes, neither bulging at the seams.

The memories, if they weren’t abstract, would have filled a moving van.

After almost 30 years spent during two stops, after several thousand bylined stories and a few million words, I took my leave from the Montreal Gazette mid-afternoon last Friday.

Amid lengthening shadows stretching down Ste. Catherine St., the city’s decades-ago “usual-route” Stanley Cup parade path, I considered my new writing home two blocks to the east and one to the north – the 26th-floor Montreal offices of the National Hockey League.

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McKenzie honored with 2015 Elmer Ferguson

Hockey Hall Of Fame announces NHL Media Awards

Scott Burnside, President of the Professional Hockey Writers’ Association, and Chuck Kaiton, President of the NHL Broadcasters’ Association, announced today that Bob McKenzie will receive the Elmer Ferguson Memorial Award for excellence in hockey journalism and Nick Nickson will receive the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award for outstanding contributions as a hockey broadcaster.

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Inside stories on hockey, life and love for the game

McKenzie presents enjoyable variety in “Hockey Confidential”

When Bob McKenzie set out to write his second book he had one main focus: a series of stories for the hardcore hockey fan, but on subjects such as family and life that transcend the game itself.

In “Hockey Confidential: Inside Stories From People Inside the Game,” he met that goal.

In “Hockey Confidential,” McKenzie presents 11 stories about various figures around the game. There are recognizable names from the rising star in Connor McDavid, the Subban family with a trio of NHL talent, the elite goal-scorer John Tavares and the notable Don Cherry. But there are also stories about people behind the scenes from the creators of fancy stats (or #fancystats as McKenzie refers to them) and Mark Lindsay, a man with magic, healing hands. While these subjects represent a portion of McKenzie’s subject matter, their stories all speak about hockey and life beyond the game.

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Positional clarifications for voting

Attention PHWA members:

Here are five positional clarifications, for those members voting on NHL Awards. When selecting your All-Star teams, vote for the following players at the position listed ONLY:

• Alex Ovechkin, WSH – LW
• Jiri Hudler, CGY – RW
• Dustin Byfuglien, WPG – D
• Rick Nash, NYR – LW
• Nick Foligno, CBJ – RW

Portzline earns APSE honor

Columbus Dispatch reporter Aaron Portzline earns first-place award

In the infancy of the 2014-15 season, Aaron Portzline delivered a story that almost seemed impossible. Today, it became an award-winner.

On Nov. 20, 2014, Portzline’s “Blind-sided: Blue Jackets’ Jack Johnson is bankrupt; who led him there is biggest shocker,” rocked the hockey — and sports — world; a hockey player was bankrupt, partially at the hands of his parents.

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Flyers, Stars winners of 2014-15 Dillman Award

Dillman Committee names this season’s top PR staffs.

Zack Hill (center) and the Philadelphia Flyers were named the top PR staff in the Eastern Conference.

The PHWA is proud to announce that the Dallas Stars and Philadelphia Flyers are this season’s recipient of the Dick Dillman Award, given annually to the top PR department in each conference.

The Flyers win ends a two-year streak for Matt Chmura and the Boston Bruins PR department and is Philadelphia’s second Dillman award in four years. The tireless work and constant cooperation of senior director Zack Hill and his staff that includes Joe Siville and Brian Smith in a demanding market earned Philadelphia the recognition of the Dillman committee.

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Stevens pens fun, personal fantasy memoir

The PHWA lifetime member shares love for music, personal experience in latest novel

When Neil Stevens sat down to write a novel he had two goals: to write something for his grandchildren and to simply have some fun.

From the beginning, it’s clear Stevens had his fun. Described as a “fantasy memoir,” Stevens melds real life experience, fact and fiction in “Eddie’s Top 100.” Loosely based on Stevens’ own life, Eddie is a retired sportswriter who hits the jackpot, winning a $50 million dollar lottery. Rather than go crazy with the money, Eddie pays off some family debt, updates a few things in his home and then decides to leave the money alone for an entire year. During that year, he dedicates himself to creating a list of his top 100 favorite songs. Naturally, hijinks unfold along the way.

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