July 1, 2010
USA Hockey players among ESPY nominees
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - USA Hockey will be well represented at the 2010 ESPY Awards on July 14 in Los Angeles. The 2010 U.S. Olympic Men's Ice Hockey Team, Steve Cash (Overland, Mo.), Blake Geoffrion (Brentwood, Tenn.) and Ryan Miller (East Lansing, Mich.) have been nominated for ESPY Awards for the Best Game, Best Male Athlete with a Disability, Best Male College Athlete and Best NHL Player, respectively.
Best game: The U.S. Olympic Men's Ice Hockey Team was nominated for its Olympic gold-medal showdown with Canada. Team USA's Zach Parise (Minneapolis, Minn.) scored with just 24 seconds remaining in regulation to tie the score, 2-2, and send the contest into overtime. Despite Team USA's eventual loss, the largest television audience for a hockey game in 30 years witnessed the U.S. capture its second silver medal in three Olympic Winter Games.
Best male athlete with a disability: During the 2010 Paralympic Winter Games, Cash backstopped the U.S. Paralympic Sled Hockey Team to its second-ever gold medal. He achieved what no other sled hockey goaltender has ever done by not allowing a single goal throughout the tournament. He turned aside all 33 shots faced in the five games of the Paralympics.
Best male college athlete: Geoffrion won the 2010 Hobey Baker Memorial Award, men's college ice hockey's top individual honor, after helping lead the University of Wisconsin men's ice hockey team to an NCAA Division I championship game berth. He was also named USA Hockey's College Player of the Year.
Best NHL player: Miller, a member of the 2010 U.S. Olympic Men's Ice Hockey Team and the most valuable player of the Olympic tournament, recently won the NHL's Vezina Trophy as the league's top goaltender in 2009-10. USA Hockey honored Miller with the 2010 Bob Johnson Award for outstanding performance in international play.
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