BINGHAMTON, NY – The Binghamton Senators are proud to announce that Matt O’Connor has been named the team’s winner of the IOA/American Specialty AHL Man of the Year award for his outstanding contributions to the Broome County community during the 2016-17 season.
O’Connor is always willing to help out in the community through the team and on his own time. O’Connor will be teaming up with Catholic Charities to host a food drive at the B-Sens’ remaining home games for children in the Southern Tier who are unable to afford meals outside of school. In addition, O’Connor purchased food himself to personally donate to the cause.
Movember is another example of O’Connor’s involvement this season. The goaltender recorded a video to promote his Movember page in an effort to raise awareness of men’s health issues, such as prostate cancer, testicular cancer and men’s suicide.
During March’s Reading Day Across America, the Toronto, Ont. native traveled to MacArthur Elementary School to promote reading, answer questions, and assisted students through books.
O’Connor is now one of 30 finalists for the AHL’s 2016-17 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 at a later date.