Wild's Dumba wins King Clancy Trophy
Minnesota Wild defenseman Matt Dumba is the 2019-20 recipient of the King Clancy Memorial Trophy, the NHL announced Sunday.
The honor is awarded annually to the player "who best exemplifies leadership qualities on and off the ice and has made a noteworthy humanitarian contribution in his community."
Dumba is one of the most vocal NHL players on the subjects of racial injustice and inequality. In June, he co-founded the Hockey Diversity Alliance, whose mission is to eliminate systemic racism and intolerance in the game.
On Aug. 1, the 26-year-old gave a passionate speech addressing those issues and then became the first NHL player to kneel during the playing of "The Star-Spangled Banner" before a game between the Edmonton Oilers and the Chicago Blackhawks. One day later, he raised his fist during both anthems before Minnesota's matchup with the Vancouver Canucks.
Dumba started the "Rebuild Minnesota" project to help local businesses affected by protests stemming from the death of George Floyd in police custody. He pledged to match all donations up to $100,000 for that cause, according to the Star-Tribune's Randy Johnson.
The Wild rearguard also assisted over 60 families with COVID-19 support amid the outbreak of the pandemic and donated over $11,000 toward Australia's wildfire relief in January.
New Jersey Devils blue-liner P.K. Subban and New York Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist were the other two finalists.
This is the second straight year the award went to a Wild player - Jason Zucker, now of the Pittsburgh Penguins, took home the honor in 2019 while with Minnesota.