Category: News

It is with a profound sadness that members of the Professional Hockey Writers Association (PHWA) say goodbye to one of our own, Jason Botchford, and send our heartfelt condolences to the Botchford family.

If there is an enduring quality of Jason’s, it is his sheer combativeness, a hallmark of so many upper echelon journalists. Jason was a bulldog who was never afraid to break a few eggs in making his omelette, and in his innovative, signature work — The Provies, followed later by The Athletties — Jason earned his huge and loyal following by refusing to bow to convention while telling Vancouver Canucks readers what was right or wrong about their team.

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Columbus Blue Jackets left winger Nick Foligno, New York Islanders goaltender Robin Lehner and San Jose Sharks center Joe Thornton have been named finalists for the 2019 Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy, which is awarded “to the player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey.”

The local chapters of the Professional Hockey Writers Association (PHWA) submitted nominations for the Masterton Trophy at the conclusion of the regular season and the top three vote-getters were designated as finalists. The winner will be announced Wednesday, June 19, during the 2019 NHL Awards show.

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SAN JOSE, Calif. — The Professional Hockey Writers Association announced today the winners of 10 Midseason Awards, as the hockey world descends on the Bay Area to mark the halfway point of the 2018-19 NHL season.

The Midseason Awards returned for a second straight season, making a once annual staple a regular feature on the hockey calendar again. Historically, the PHWA voted on “Half Season” Awards through 1968, but the practice fell off the radar after the advent of the modern-day All-Star Game until it was revived in 2018.

Half of the PHWA’s 2018 Midseason Award winners mirrored the end-of-season results which followed in June.

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The Professional Hockey Writers Association (PHWA) is proud to announce Isabelle Khurshudyan of The Washington Post has won the 2018 Red Fisher Award, which recognizes to the top overall beat reporter from the 2017-18 season, as voted by her peers.

Khurshudyan was recognized out of a group of nominees which included Mark Lazerus of The Athletic Chicago, Aaron Portzline of The Athletic Columbus, Arthur Staple of The Athletic New York and Ken Wiebe of the Winnipeg Sun.

“First of all, I was really honored to even be nominated with those guys who have way more experience than I do and are really, really great writers and reporters,” said Khurshudyan. “But the coolest thing for me is that it’s something my colleagues, other hockey beat writers, voted on. It’s a most special thing that you’re getting recognition from people that you work alongside a lot of times and really respect. That means a lot again.”

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The Professional Hockey Writers Association is proud to announce Matt Klinkenberg as 2018 winner of the Jim Kelley Memorial Scholarship.

Klinkenberg is the son of PHWA member Marty Klinkenberg a staff writer of the Globe and Mail based in Edmonton.

Matt Klinkenberg won the scholarship after submitting an essay detailing his father’s devotion to writing about hockey.

It’s a passion they both share.

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LAS VEGAS — The Professional Hockey Writers Association has been proud to select the winners of six major NHL Awards as well as the end-of-season All-Star and All-Rookie teams since 1967.

For the last 49 seasons, those Awards have been determined by secret ballot.

For the first time, PHWA members voted overwhelmingly in March to join their brethren covering other major professional sports to reveal the ballot of each individual voter in the interest of full transparency.

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LAS VEGAS — Washington Capitals winger Alex Ovechkin was selected as the 2018 Conn Smythe Trophy winner as Stanley Cup playoffs MVP by a panel of Professional Hockey Writers Association members.

Ovechkin received 13 of a possible 18 first place votes to edge linemate Evgeny Kuznetsov, the playoff’s points leader, who garnered the other five available votes. Capitals goaltender Braden Holtby finished third in Conn Smythe voting.

Ovechkin became just the fourth non-North American born player to win in the award’s 53-year history.

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The Professional Hockey Writers Association is pleased to announce that the Philadelphia Flyers and the Dallas Stars are the 2018 winners of the Dick Dillman Award, presented annually by the PHWA to honor the work of outstanding NHL public relations staffs in each conference.

Both the Flyers and the Stars previously won the Dillman award three season ago. In fact, this is the third time in six years that the Flyers have earned the honors, in large part because of the continued diligent work of Zack Hill, the team’s senior director of communications, and his chief lieutenants Joe Siville (director of public relations) and Brian Smith (manager of Broadcasting and Media Services.

The runner-up in the Eastern Conference was the Carolina Hurricanes, led by Mike Sundheim, the team’s long vice president of communications and team services.

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New Jersey Devils center Brian Boyle, Florida Panthers goaltender Roberto Luongo and Carolina Hurricanes center Jordan Staal have been named finalists for the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy.

Members of the Professional Hockey Writers Association (PHWA) vote on the trophy which is awarded “to the player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey,”

Each local chapter of the PHWA nominates a player at the end of the regular season. The top three vote-getters are selected as finalists for the trophy.

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Ken Hitchcock was a coach who shared his vast knowledge of the game of hockey, far beyond the routine of normal head coach media availabilities. In doing so, he taught many of us at the Professional Hockey Writers Association nuances, tenets and characteristics of the game that we may never have had access to.

We learned more, so our readers learned more.

When you clicked on your recorder to ask ‘Hitch’ about a player, a situation, or often something going on a Conference away, he rewarded you with wisdom and humour, and a conversation that made your article better — every single time. And although it was always us asking the questions and him answering, Hitchcock never made you feel that he knew more about hockey than you, even though that was clearly the case.

We at the PHWA extend our gratitude and well wishes as Ken Hitchcock announces his retirement from coaching. The game will go on without you Hitch, but the press conferences won’t be as much fun.

– PHWA President Mark Spector