Hockey Humanitarian Website

NIAGARA UNIV, N.Y. - Niagara men's hockey senior student-athlete Sam Goodwin is one of 23 individuals that have been named a nominee for the 2012 BNY Mellon Wealth Management Hockey Humanitarian Award, as announced on Friday. 

The honor is bestowed annually to one student-athlete who is deemed to be college hockey's finest citizen. Last season, seniors Paul Zanette from the men's hockey team and Jenni Bauer from the women's team represented Niagara as nominees, but neither made the finalists round.

The Communications Officer for Niagara's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee spent some time in Africa over this past summer, helping to teach the children English; a journey chronicled here by NHL.com.  

The Missouri native is currently in his fourth year of a team-initiative of mentoring children enrolled in the Niagara Junior Purple Eagles hockey program, as well as lending a hand to Habitat for Humanity, a program that all Niagara student-athletes took part in last year.

The communications and French dual major also supported former teammate David Ross, helping out with Niagara's "Fight Against Diabetes" campaign from the last two seasons.

Goodwin has been named to the Niagara Dean's List all seven semesters, having earned entry into Phi Sigma Iota, the foreign language honor society. The forward has been honored with inclusion on the 2009-10 College Hockey America All-Academic Team and the 2010-11 Atlantic Hockey Association All-Academic Team.

Finalists will be announced in late January and the award presented on April 6th at the 2012 Frozen Four in Tampa Bay, Fla.