NHL Foundation Player Award

The NHL Foundation Player Award is awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) player "who applies the core values of (ice) hockey—commitment, perseverance and teamwork—to enrich the lives of people in his community". The winner is given a grant of US$25,000 to help causes that the winner supports. The recipient of the NHL Foundation Player Award is decided by a panel that consists of NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and NHL executives Pat Flatley, Bernadette Mansur and Kenneth Martin, Jr. Many players have been awarded as a result of large charitable contributions to their community. For instance, Vincent Lecavalier received the award in 2008 for committing US$3 million to build The Vincent Lecavalier Pediatric Cancer and Blood Disorder Center at All Children’s Hospital in St. Petersburg, Florida.

Eleven players have won the NHL Foundation Player Award since its inception. Kelly Chase was awarded the inaugural NHL Foundation Player Award in 1997. Vincent Lecavalier and Trevor Linden are the most recent winners of the award and are the only players to have won the award in the same season. No player has ever won the award twice, nor has any team been represented twice by winners. The award is closely related to the King Clancy Memorial Trophy, as both are awarded to a player who has made a significant humanitarian contribution to his community. Only three of the eleven NHL Foundation Player Award winners—Darren McCarty, Marty Turco, and Joe Sakic—have failed to win the King Clancy Memorial Trophy at least once in his career. German Olaf Kolzig is the only non-Canadian winner, and Ron Francis is the only winner to have been elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame.