SYRACUSE, N.Y. — The Syracuse Crunch are proud to announce that Eric Neilson has been named the team's winner of the IOA/American Specialty AHL Man of the Year award for his outstanding contributions to the Syracuse community during the 2014-15 season.
 
Neilson—Syracuse's man of the year the last three seasons—has been so honored seven times in his career. He won the AHL's Yanick Dupre Memorial Award in 2014 for his selfless dedication to community programs in Central New York.
 
Neilson's efforts have been highlighted by the creation of his "Breakfast with a Champion" program, designing, developing and executing his initiative to teach elementary school students the importance of nutrition and healthy eating. Neilson was involved in every step of the program's planning process, from pitching it to local schools to shopping for groceries to supplying students with tickets to Crunch games as reward for their participation.
 
Neilson has further demonstrated his commitment to children as the primary speaker at the Crunch's anti-bullying events, and as the team's main spokesman for Upstate University Hospital including their "safe kids" public service initiative about concussion prevention. Neilson also helped launch the "Change for Change" program to benefit pediatric cancer research by collecting spare change from fans and donating all proceeds to Upstate Golisano Children's Hospital.
 
Neilson is now one of 30 finalists for the AHL's 2014-15 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 later this month.
 

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After games in Hartford and Bridgeport this weekend, Syracuse hosts Bridgeport April 10 and Springfield April 11. Tickets are on sale at Ticketmaster, in person at the Crunch Box Office located at the War Memorial on 800 South State Street in Syracuse, or by calling the office at (315) 473-4444.

For the latest Crunch information, visit the team's official website, syracusecrunch.com, or follow the club on Facebook, facebook.com/syracusecrunch, Twitter, @SyracuseCrunch, and Instagram, @OfficialSyracuseCrunch.