MURPHY NAMED CHECKERS 2010-11
IOA/AMERICAN SPECIALTY AHL MAN OF THE YEAR
CHARLOTTE, N.C – The Charlotte Checkers are proud to announce that Mike Murphy has been named the team’s winner of the IOA/American Specialty AHL Man of the Year award for his outstanding contributions to the Charlotte community during the 2010-11 season.
Murphy has gone above and beyond what is expected of a professional athlete and is one of the best ambassadors to the game of hockey in Charlotte.
In addition to attending most of the team’s formally scheduled appearances, Murphy has, on his own time, visited with Presbyterian Children’s Hospital patients and has participated in local youth hockey clinics.
On his own accord, Murphy has also been actively engaged in utilizing social media to promote team fundraising initiatives. He was active in promoting the Checkers’ Facebook fundraiser for Zach Bennett and during the 'Pink in the Rink' jersey auction, he Tweeted that the winning bidder would be treated to dinner.
Murphy is now one of 30 finalists for the AHL’s 2010-11 Yanick Dupre Memorial Award, honoring the overall IOA/American Specialty AHL Man of the Year. The league award is named after the former Hershey Bears forward and AHL All-Star who died in 1997 following a 16-month battle with leukemia. The winner of the Yanick Dupre Memorial Award will be announced by the American Hockey League in the coming weeks.
The Checkers (41-25-2-7) head out on the road for two games next weekend and will return home to host the Admirals on Monday, Apr. 4.
For every new ‘like’ the Checkers get on their Facebook page between now and Apr. 1, the team will donate $2 to Zach Bennett and his family, who plan to move to Charlotte for better medical care and to be closer to the team. Visit www.gocheckers.com or head to www.facebook.com/charlottecheckers.
Notes: Zach Boychuk has 10 points (5g, 5a) in the last four games...Chris Terry has seven goals in the last eight games and is now one goal shy of the league lead…Matt Pistilli's goal seven seconds into the second period was the quickest goal to start a period this season for Charlotte…Jacob Micflikier has netted multiple points in three of the last four games.
