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Buffalo Sabres History: King Clancy Award Winners

By Melissa Kania

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The National Hockey League will hold its annual year-end awards ceremony this year on June 24 in Las Vegas. The league will celebrates its top players in both on-ice and off-ice performances, rewarding representatives from the top scorers to the best goaltenders and everything in between. As the NHL continues to announce its nominees for the yearly awards, we’ll take a look back at the history of each award and when – if ever – a member of the Buffalo Sabres franchise has won it.

Some of these awards have been given out for 90 years, while others are newer. Regardless, it’s a true honor for any player to receive these awards.

Today, we’ll look at the NHL’s King Clancy Memorial Trophy.

The King Clancy Memorial Trophy is awarded annual by the National Hockey League, given to the player who:

"“best exemplifies leadership qualities on and off the ice, and has made a noteworthy humanitarian contribution in his community.”"

The winner is chosen by members of the Professional Hockey Writers’ Association and the NHL Broadcasters’ Association.

The award was first given to the NHL in 1988 to honor Francis M. “King” Clancy. Francis Clancy was a former player with both the Ottawa Senators and Toronto Maple Leafs; he also coached with Toronto as well as the Montreal Maroons.

Historically, 26 players have been awarded the NHL’s King Clancy Memorial Trophy. One of those players was a member of the Buffalo Sabres.

Rob Ray – former NHLer, now broadcaster for the Buffalo Sabres – won the King Clancy Memorial Trophy after the 1998-1999 season.

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Though this may have come as a surprise to some people due to his conduct on the ice, Ray was incredibly involved with the Western New York community and wider community off the ice. Just to further demonstrate the difference between off-ice conduct and on-ice: Ray had 261 penalty minutes that season, averaging 3.57 penalty minutes per game.

Some of the charities he was involved with included: the Make-a-Wish Foundation, Walk America and March of Dimes. He also worked with both Roswell Park Cancer Institute and Children’s Hospital.

Due to its nature, no player has ever won the King Clancy award more than once. Lanny McDonald was the inaugural winner in 1988 for his support of numerous charities in both Toronto and Calgary.

Active NHL players who have won the award include Jarome Iginla, who won it in 2004 for his involvement in Calgary’s community programs; Vincent Lecavalier (2008, Tampa Bay) for his work with the Vincent Lecavalier Foundation and Shane Doan (2010) for his Phoenix charity work.

Patrice Bergeron won it in 2013 for his work with charitable programs including “Patrice’s Pals,” which brings hospital patients and children’s groups to Bruins games. Andrew Ference is the most recent winner for his involvement in many charities, including the November Project.

Other big names that have won it historically include Brendan Shanahan, Saku Koivu, Ray Bourque and Adam Graves.

Next: Revisiting the 2005 NHL Draft

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