WAKEFIELD, Mass. - Ted Ryan has been named the recipient of the prestigious Joe Concannon Media Award, Hockey East Commissioner Joe Bertagna announced today from the league's annual media day at TD Garden. He becomes the first Burlington Free Press writer to win the award.
"Ted and I go back to Vermont's ECAC days so I have observed him up close for a while," said Bertagna. "His work and personal traits make him a fitting addition to the prestigio us list of past recipients of this award."
Ryan has covered collegiate sports in the state of Vermont for over 45 years, beginning his career at the Rutland Herald before moving to the Burlington Free Press in 1975. He served as sports editor of the Free Press until 2008, but continues to cover sports and Vermont Catamounts hockey for the paper as a correspondent.
The veteran reporter has been the primary beat writer for Vermont's hockey team for over 40 years, covering the men's program through its rise in the ECAC Division II in the 1960s and 1970s through the program's first Division I season in 1974 and during its move into Hockey East in 2005. While covering the men's program extensively, Ryan has also covered the women's Catamounts program, while also serving multiple other schools throughout the state of Vermont.
For his efforts, Ryan has been recognized with numerous awards, including the Vermont Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association State Sportswriter of the Year four times in 1974, 1978, 1985 and 1998. Ryan removed himself from the ballot after 1998, so other writers could also be honored with the award. Ryan was also bestowed with the Norwich University Athletics Media Award in 2005 and was inducted into the Vermont Principal Association Hall of Fame in May 2006.
Throughout his career, Ryan also has served as a voter for several national awards a nd polls, including all divisions of college hockey, the Hobey Baker Award, the Heisman Trophy, and the New England Hockey Writers awards.
ABOUT THE JOE CONCANNON HOCKEY EAST MEDIA AWARD: The prestigious honor, named in 2001 in memory of long-time Boston Globe sportswriter Joe Concannon, is bestowed annually upon a member of the media who has demonstrated a superior body of work in covering and promoting the Hockey East Association over an extended period of time.
Hockey East Media Award History |
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| 1992 | Larry Mahoney, Bangor Daily News |
| 1993 | Bob Whitelaw, New England Sports Network |
| 1994 | Bob Monahan, Boston Globe |
| 1995 | John Connolly, Boston Herald |
| 1996 | Charles Scoggins, Lowell Sun |
| 1997 | Bob Norton, New England Sports Network |
| 1998 | Joe Concannon, Boston Globe |
| 1999 | Dick Osborne, UNH Sports Network |
| 2000 | Bill Doherty, Huskies Radio |
| 2001 | Dave Hendrickson, U.S. College Hockey Online |
| 2002 | Roger Brown, Portsmouth Herald |
| 2003 | Bernie Corbett, Giant Sports Associates |
| 2004 | Rob Rudnick, Huskies Radio |
| 2005 | Eric Frede, NESN / CodRock Media |
| 2006 | Dan Hannigan, Maine Radio / CodRock Media |
| 2007 | Allen Lessels, New Hampshire Union Leader |
| 2008 | Mike Logan, Providence College Radio |
| 2009 | Bob Ellis, UMass Lowell Radio |
| 2010 | Brock Hines, UMass Sports Network |
| 2011 | Mike Machnik, Merrimack Radio, CHN & USCHO |
| 2012 | Jim Connelly, U.S. College Hockey Online (USCHO) |
| 2013 | Dan Parkhurst, UNH Radio/TV & Merrimack Radio |
| 2014 | Pete Webster, UNH Wildcat Sports Radio Network |
| 2015 | Nancy Marrapese-Burrell, The Boston Globe |
| 2016 | Ted Ryan, Burlington Free Press |