NHL Awards 2026

A national honour. A community achievement.

Doug Grandy received the Willie O’Ree Community Hero Award for work that has helped girls find opportunity, confidence, friendship, and belonging through hockey.

Read the story Watch the feature

What the award represents

This recognition belongs to a community creating more room on the ice and a stronger future for girls in hockey.

Recognition with purpose

The work behind the award.

The Willie O’Ree Community Hero Award recognizes people using hockey to make a meaningful difference. For Rink Rebels, the honour reflects a player first approach built around access, encouragement, development, and the belief that every girl deserves a place in the game.

Creating access

More welcoming opportunities give girls another way to begin, return to, and remain involved in hockey.

Building belonging

Programs and events connect players with teammates, mentors, and coaches who help them feel seen and supported.

Growing confidence

Skill development matters, but so do resilience, friendship, leadership, and belief in what comes next.

A community on the right track

From a local need to national recognition.

Rink Rebels began with a simple question: where could girls play when traditional hockey pathways did not feel like the right fit? Doug Grandy and the Rink Rebels community helped build an answer.

What followed was more than a training program. It became a place where girls could improve at their own level, make friends, learn from mentors, and feel that hockey belonged to them too.

The award recognizes Doug, but it also reflects every player, family, coach, volunteer, and partner who helped the community grow.

See the replica trophy at Willie O’Ree Place in Fredericton. Doug Grandy and Rink Rebels are also engraved on the permanent trophy at the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto, a lasting place in hockey history.

“We’re on the right track.”

“Doug Grandy’s passion for the game of hockey and his community personifies the spirit of this award. He has created a space where young athletes feel empowered to succeed. It’s an honor to celebrate his contributions and the lasting impact he’s making in Fredericton and beyond. Congratulations to Doug and this year’s finalists.”

Willie O’Ree

The official feature

See the impact in their own words.

The NHL feature introduces the people, purpose, and community behind Rink Rebels. Watch Doug Grandy and the Rink Rebels story directly on this page.

Watch and read

The story behind the recognition.

National coverage has helped bring the Rink Rebels mission to a wider audience and show what community led change can look like.

National Hockey League

Meet the community hero behind Rink Rebels.

Watch the NHL feature about Doug Grandy, the Rink Rebels community, and the impact of creating more opportunities for girls in hockey.

Watch the NHL feature

Sportsnet

“We’re on the right track.”

Read the Sportsnet profile exploring Doug’s recognition and the growth, purpose, and community behind Rink Rebels.

Read the Sportsnet story

The award is a milestone, not the finish line.

Rink Rebels will keep creating opportunities for girls to play, grow, lead, and see a future for themselves in hockey.

Explore Rink Rebels programs