May 2, 2023
The Lehigh Valley Phantoms are proud to announce that Adam Brooks has been named the team’s winner of the IOA/American Specialty AHL Man of the Year award for his outstanding contributions to the Lehigh Valley community during the 2022-23 season.
Brooks has been an outstanding ambassador of the Phantoms in his first season in the Lehigh Valley by assisting in a variety of initiatives while leading the team with the most community appearances. The 26-year-old from Winnipeg was a delightfully positive influence via the wide variety of team initiatives he wanted to join including various school and hospital visits. He also helped foster the development of youth hockey in the Lehigh Valley skating with various teams while serving as a positive role model for area kids.
Brooks joined the Phantoms Charities Sled Hockey Team for several practices during its fifth-anniversary season and embraced the group’s continued mission of showing that hockey truly is for everyone including those with physical disabilities. He taught even more kids some fundamentals of hockey by going directly to the schools as part of the Phantoms Fit program through Phantoms Charities and he also got on the ice with Phantoms Youth teams at their practices in Bethlehem.
Brooks brought smiles to patients at Reilly’s Lehigh Valley Children’s Hospital while providing gifts for the kids going through some difficult times. He also visited children at Sheridan Elementary School to teach them about the importance of reading.
His efforts with the grown-ups did not go unnoticed. Brooks dedicated a night to proudly represent the Phantoms brand and interact with fans at the Lehigh Valley Auto Show and he surprised several delighted fans when he spent an afternoon making sales calls to Phantoms Premier members.
Known for staying late for autographs and photographs even after team appearance sessions were supposed to have been completed, Brooks always made himself available. Usually first to the sign-up sheet for any and all community appearances, Brooks brought kindness and energy to thousands with his frequent appearances all across the region.
Adam Brooks is now one of 32 finalists for the AHL’s 2022-23 Yanick Dupre 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 Dupre Memorial Award will be announced by the American Hockey League on Thursday, May 5.
