TORONTO — The NHL is renaming its award for the season's top general manager to the Jim Gregory General Manager of the Year Award.
The name change was unanimously approved today by league general managers at their annual November meeting.
The trophy was first presented in 2009-10 as the NHL General Manager of the Year Award. Don Sweeney of the Boston Bruins won the award last season.
Gregory, a 2007 Hockey Hall of Fame inductee in the Builders category, served as Toronto Maple Leafs general manager and a league executive for four decades.
He died Oct. 30 at age 83.
"This is a terrific tribute to a wonderful man by a group uniquely qualified to appreciate his many contributions to our game," NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said in a statement. "During his tenure as general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Jim Gregory transformed the art of team-building.
"Through the many years he spent at the League, our general managers regularly sought his counsel. They universally revere his lifetime of service to the NHL."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 19, 2019.
The Canadian Press
