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AHL San Diego Gulls

Joe Piskula Named San Diego Gulls 2015-16 IOA/American Specialty AHL Man of the Year

March 31, 2016 - American Hockey League (AHL)
San Diego Gulls News Release


SAN DIEGO - The San Diego Gulls are proud to announce that Joe Piskula has been named the team's winner of the IOA/American Specialty AHL Man of the Year award for his outstanding contributions to the San Diego community during the 2015-16 season.

Piskula, the club's captain, has led the team both on and off the ice, participating in community events and activities touching men and women in uniform and their children, underprivileged kids, schools, youth hockey, disabled children and cancer patients. In the club's inaugural AHL season, Piskula is also credited with helping to establish a fan-friendly culture, in which players frequently interact with fans, in particular the club's season ticket holders, at games and other special events.

As a capstone, Piskula partnered with the Gulls' front office and two external organizations (City of Hope and the University of Wisconsin Department of Neurosurgery) to put together and host "Hockey4Hope," an event that will raise substantial funds and awareness for Brain Cancer research and support. In planning the event, Piskula reached out to friends, teammates and other contacts across the hockey community to gather auction items, which include memorabilia from former University of Wisconsin hockey players (including Joe Pavelski, Brian Elliott and 1980 US Olympian Mark Johnson), as well as experiential opportunities such as private hockey lessons with Piskula or dinner with his Gulls teammates.

Joe is now one of 30 finalists for the AHL's 2015-16 Yanick Dupré 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 Dupré Memorial Award will be announced by the American Hockey League at a later date.

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