Quebec’s Jimmy Oligny received Thursday’s Yanick-Dupré trophy for American Hockey League (AHL) Man of the Year thanks to his commitment to helping underprivileged youth and foster families in Manitoba.
The 30-year-old defender has sported the Moose colors since 2019. For the fourth time he was one of the finalists for this humanitarian award.
“I’m very proud and honored, but this is a community effort,” the Saint-Michel native responded on Twitter. So many people work within this organization to help us implement ideas and create new opportunities for us to do good deeds in the community. This reward is also yours. A big thank you to everyone involved.”
We couldn’t be prouder of our captain!
Congratulations to Jimmy Oligny (@jimtweets7) to win the Yanick Dupré Memorial Award 2023 as @TheAHL man of the year
Our team and community are better when you are away from them. pic.twitter.com/cLRcUqoVfK
— x – Manitoba Moose (@ManitobaMoose) May 4, 2023
Oligny helped develop a new program in partnership with the Kinship and Foster Family Network of Manitoba organization. This initiative allows adoptive parents to receive training and support to better care for the young people they take in.
The former Prince Edward Island Rocket and Rimouski Oceanic has also invited several host families to moose games.
In addition, Oligny continued his collaboration with the True North Youth Foundation and participated in Project 11. This allows French and English speaking students to ask questions about mental health issues.
In 2022-2023, Oligny only played 17 games. A serious injury, the nature of which is not yet known, saw him sidelined for the first three months of the campaign.
Known for his physical playing style, Oligny played 465 games in the AHL and also played with the Milwaukee Admirals and the Chicago Wolves. He scored 17 goals and 93 points.
Elsewhere, Oligny and the Moose lead the second-round series against the Admirals 2-1.