Our country and world is emerging from the COVID 19 pandemic which disrupted so many lives these past two years.

Two years ago, we completed our regular season only to have the championship tourney cancelled.

Last year, there was no hockey season.

We launched this season with the hope and dream for all our skaters that they would have a full regular season and post-season.  Behind the scenes, there was a lot of work to be done, much of it reactionary and in real time because of the complexities the pandemic created for everyone.  Our conference made it to today, thanks to the work of many, but especially because of the heroic efforts of our Director of Hockey Operations, Richard Snizek.

We made it to today, thanks to his hard work, commitment and dedication to the sport, our conference, and all our student athletes.

Today will mark the inauguration of an annual award that will be made at the end of each season.  We can think of no higher honor than to make this the namesake award of our colleague and friend who has given so much of his time to the sport of hockey than Richard.

On behalf of the board, our coaches, skaters, fans, and parents, let’s give a big round of applause to recognize Rich and all his work that made this season and this weekend possible.