Roy Boe Honored By AHL
July 2, 2004 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Bridgeport Islanders News Release
BRIDGEPORT, CT â The American Hockey League's Bridgeport Sound Tigers, top affiliate of the National Hockey League's New York Islanders, have announced Founder and President Roy Boe has won the 2003-04 Thomas Ebright Award. Boe and Jack Kelley have been recognized for their career contributions to the AHL as co-winners of the Ebright Award, which honors the former owner and governor of the Baltimore Skipjacks and Portland Pirates who passed away in 1997.
Boe is among the country's premier sportsmen of the past three decades. As the founder the Islanders, he is credited with helping to build the foundation of the team's run of four consecutive Stanley Cup Championships in the early 1980's. Also the founder of basketball's New Jersey Nets, Boe spearheaded the merger of the National and American Basketball Associations, thrusting players like Julius "Dr. J" Erving, who played for the Nets, into the national spotlight.
After leaving the professional sports arena for over a dozen years, Boe organized a group of central Massachusetts investors to bring the Worcester IceCats into the AHL in 1994. The IceCats' remarkable attendance through their first six years of play surprised many as professional sports had never succeeded in Worcester prior to the hockey team's arrival.
After divesting his interest in the IceCats, Boe founded the Sound Tigers and was instrumental in the building of the team's home, Bridgeport's state-of-the-art Arena at Harbor, which is located less than fifteen minutes from his Fairfield residence. A Yale graduate, Boe has spent the majority of his life in Fairfield County and considers the development of the Sound Tigers to be among his proudest achievements.
Kelley, a member of the US Hockey Hall of Fame since 1974, won three Calder Cup Championships as director of hockey operations for the Adirondack Red Wings and also served as president of the Pittsburgh Penguins and general manager of the Hartford Whalers in the NHL.
Manchester Monarchs President Jeff Eisenberg has won the 2003-04 James C. Hendy Award as the AHL Executive of the Year while Linesman Dan Murphy has been named the recipient of the 2003-04 Michael Condon Memorial Award for outstanding contributions by an on-ice official. The James C. Hendy Award is named for the late hockey hall of famer and long-time statistician and historian for the AHL who won four Calder Cup Championships as general manager of the original Cleveland Barons. The Michael Condon Memorial Award was instituted in 2002 following the sudden passing of veteran linesman.
The 2004-05 season will be the Sound Tigers' fourth in Bridgeport and fourth as the top affiliate of the Islanders. Information regarding 2004-05 Sound Tigers season tickets and sponsorship opportunities is available by calling 203-334-GOAL or logging on to www.soundtigers.com. Groups, organizations, companies, etc. that are interested in having a member of the Sound Tigers appear at an event are invited to call 203-334-GOAL or email amy@soundtigers.com.
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American Hockey League Stories from July 2, 2004
- Roadrunners flatten Cats 11-3 - Edmonton Road Runners
- Eisenberg Named AHL's Executive Of The Year - Manchester Monarchs
- Roy Boe Honored By AHL - Bridgeport Islanders
- IceCats List Jerseys for Auction - Worcester IceCats
- AHL honors quartet for contributions to the league - AHL
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