GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The Grand Rapids Griffins are proud to announce that Victor Brattstrom has been named the team’s winner of the IOA/American Specialty AHL Man of the Year award for his outstanding contributions to the Grand Rapids community during the 2022-23 season.

This season, Brattstrom offered patients at Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital the opportunity to design his goalie mask. Both in-patients and out-patients were given a flyer outlining the details of the contest, and the kids’ entries were given to equipment manager Brad Thompson, who chose three winners to have their artwork incorporated into Brattstrom’s mask. On Jan. 21, the three kids and their parents visited the Griffins’ locker room before the team’s morning skate to meet Brattstrom and present his new mask to him. Brattstrom went on to wear the mask for the final three months of the season.

Unrelated, Brattstrom made two appearances to the hospital this spring to visit with patients, and he participated in one of our team’s Random Acts of Kindness events, joining a few teammates to bake cookies and brownies and then deliver the sweet treats to local fire and police departments. He also participated in numerous team functions, including Tip-A-Griffin, the Great Skate Winterfest, the Griffins and Grand Rapids Sled Wings Sled Hockey Game, and Hockey, Hops & Hope.

Brattstrom is now one of 32 finalists for the AHL’s 2022-23 Yanick Dupré 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 Dupré Memorial Award will be announced by the American Hockey League on Thursday, May 5.

Photo by Macy Mineni/Griffins