SPRINGFIELD, Mass. … The American Hockey League announced today that the defenseman of the Manitoba Moose Tyrel Bauer was chosen as the winner of Yannick Dupré Memorial Award for the 2025-26 season.
This award has been presented annually since 1998 to an AHL player for outstanding contributions to his community and charitable organizations. The winner of the Yanick Dupré Memorial Award is selected by the AHL and the IOA and American Specialty representatives among each team’s Man of the Year honorees.
A two-time recipient of the Moose’s IOA/American Specialty AHL Man of the Year honor, Bauer has cultivated lasting relationships in the Winnipeg community. Notably, Bauer’s work with the Kinship and Foster Family Network of Manitoba allowed several foster families during the season to attend Moose games, receive gift bags from the team and meet Bauer after the game. Bauer stays very close to a young fan named Noah, Bauer and Moose are gifted with custom-made gloves that will allow Noah to play the game he loves.
Bauer served as the coach of the U-11 boys team at the Winnipeg Jets Hockey Academy, a play-based program designed to increase enrollment and high school graduation rates in socially and economically challenged schools in Winnipeg. He has also made a series of appearances at Project 11 events — the True North Youth Foundation’s initiative to honor former Jets and Moose player Rick Rypien — to help educate youth about the importance of mental health, including speaking at the foundation’s annual gala.
Bauer’s additional community service this season included visiting a classroom at St.Amant, a non-profit organization that supports more than 5,000 Manitobans with developmental disabilities, autism and brain injuries. He has also participated in many team-wide volunteer efforts, including holiday gift drives, school reading appearances, autograph sessions and more. And in January, Bauer and his teammates played field hockey with the winners of the Moose Backyard Rink tournament.
Bauer, a 24-year-old native of Cochrane, Alta., played 214 games with the Moose over four pro seasons after being selected by the Jets in the sixth round of the 2020 NHL Draft.
The AHL’s annual Man of the Year award is named after the late Yanick Dupré, who died in 1997 at the age of 24 following a 16-month battle with leukemia. A second-round draft pick of the Philadelphia Flyers in 1991, Dupré played four seasons in the AHL with the Hershey Bears and was an AHL All-Star in 1995.
Operating since 1936 and celebrating its 90th season this year, the American Hockey League continues to serve as the top development league for all 32 National Hockey League teams. Nearly 90 percent of all players competing in the NHL are AHL graduates, and over the years the American Hockey League has been home to more than 100 honorary members of the Hockey Hall of Fame.
