By Stretch Jenkinson

NHL Public Relations

NEW YORK (June 13, 2024) – Mark DeMontis (Toronto, Ont.) is the winner of the annual Willie O’Ree Community Hero Award presented by Hyundai. The Award is given to an individual who – through the sport of hockey – has positively impacted their community, culture, or society.

DeMontis is the founder of Canadian Blind Hockey (formerly Courage Canada) and is a gold medalist with Canada’s National Blind Hockey Team. DeMontis, who lost his vision at 17-years old, founded Canadian Blind Hockey to help build a bigger blind hockey community, and to help more kids play the sport. Today, the organization changes the lives of people who are blind or partially sighted by providing learn to play programs, development camps, as well as regional and national competitions. Click here to watch a video feature.

Other finalists for this year’s honor were Mark Burgin (Vancouver, B.C.), founder of Diversity Athletics Society, a nonprofit that provides mentorship and athletic development to help keep kids in sports, and Allen Hierlihy (Hamilton, Ont.), a volunteer with the Hamilton District Sledge Hockey Association which is committed to teaching sledge hockey to boys and girls of all playing abilities.

“Every year the group of Community Hero Award finalists continues to inspire me with the unique ways they uplift their hockey community,” said Willie O’Ree. “It’s encouraging to see how people channel adversity into a greater good. Congratulations to this year’s winner Mark who, like me, suffered loss of sight at a young age. Not only did Mark ensure it didn’t stop him from playing the game he loved, he also paved a way to make it easier for generations that followed, across the country. Mark is a community, and Canadian, hero.”

“Life throws unexpected challenges our way, and Mark DeMontis is a role model to us all in how we can boldly face these challenges and make the world a better place in the process,” said Christine Smith, Director of Marketing at Hyundai Auto Canada. “Mark has opened a whole new universe of possibilities for blind and partially sighted youth to play hockey, and also a place for them to feel safe and included. Mark’s courage and determination to drive the game forward is an inspiration for the hockey community and beyond. Congratulations to Mark, and to the finalists, Mark Burgin and Allen Hierlihy, for their tireless pursuit of making hockey more inclusive and accessible to all.”

DeMontis will receive a $25,000 prize and Burgin and Hierlihy will each receive a $5,000 prize, each of which will be donated to a charity or charities of their choice. Fans submitted candidates at NHL.com/OReeAward. The winner was determined by a committee consisting of Willie O’Ree, NHL executives, representatives from Hyundai, and a public fan vote.

The winner of the Willie O’Ree Community Hero Award presented by Discover (U.S.) will be announced on Friday, June 28 on ESPN’s studio show The Point leading into the 2024 Upper Deck NHL Draft in Las Vegas.

The Willie O’Ree Community Hero Award presented by Hyundai honors former NHL forward Willie O’Ree, who on Jan. 18, 1958, became the first black player to compete in the League. O’Ree, who lost sight in his right eye at a young age, went on to play professional hockey for 21 years. For more than two decades he has served as the NHL’s Diversity Ambassador, traveling across North America to schools and hockey programs to share his story and experiences as well as to promote messages of inclusion, dedication, and confidence. O’Ree has used hockey as a platform to build character and teach life skills and has used his influence to foster positive values through the sport. In 2018, O’Ree was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.

For more about the Willie O’Ree Community Hero Award, including past winners, click here.

COURTESY NHL PUBLIC RELATIONS & NHLmedia.com