Stars Captain Curtis McKenzie Earns Dupré Award, Named AHL's Man of the Year for Charitable Work

(Credit: Andy Nietupski/Texas Stars)

Curtis McKenzie earned yet another league-wide honor for himself in his long career across the American Hockey League with his selection as the AHL's Man of the Year for his charitable and humanitarian work in Cedar Park. McKenzie is the Stars' first ever winner of the Yanick Dupré Memorial Award.

McKenzie and his wife are on the board of the Stars Foundation and he has been selected as an individual team Man of the Year three times.

Most notably among his work is his Captain's Kids program. Two players join McKenzie postgame to do a private meet and greet with a child facing adversity, whether medical or otherwise. It has long been known that players actually clamor to do this postgame event and playfully argue with each other about who gets to do it. That's huge.

Here's the release: 

The American Hockey League announced today that Texas Stars forward Curtis McKenzie has been selected as the winner of the Yanick Dupré Memorial Award for the 2024-25 season.

This award has been presented annually since 1998 to an AHL player for his outstanding contributions to his local community and charitable organizations. The Yanick Dupré Memorial Award winner is selected by the AHL and representatives from IOA and American Specialty from among 32 individual team Man of the Year honorees.

McKenzie is a three-time recipient of the Stars’ IOA/American Specialty AHL Man of the Year honor, having distinguished himself in the Cedar Park and greater Austin communities for his dedication to connecting with fans and giving back in meaningful ways.

Along with his wife, Lucia, McKenzie serves on the board for the Texas Stars Foundation, the organization’s charitable arm that supports the local community through financial contributions, gifts in kind and volunteerism. McKenzie has taken an active role in the foundation’s efforts, including spearheading the support of a book drive that provided new books to every one of the 400 students at Bluebonnet Elementary School in Round Rock. He is prominent in the Stars’ player visits to local schools, hospitals and youth organizations, sharing his love for hockey while inspiring the next generation.

McKenzie has also created the Captain’s Kids program, which gives children facing adversity in their lives with an opportunity to enjoy a Stars game with their families and have exclusive interactions with players – including a pre-game fan tunnel experience and a post-game meet-and-greet. And he has been an advocate of Ronald McDonald House, an organization that once gave Curtis and his family assistance in a time of need, helping to purchase ingredients to turn into a warm meal for families in need.

A native of Golden, B.C., McKenzie is in his 12th professional season and eighth with Texas. He won a Calder Cup championship and the AHL’s rookie of the year award with the Stars in 2014, and this year he was selected by the league to serve as the captain of the Western Conference side at the 2025 AHL All-Star Classic – where he also participated in a volunteer community event at Abraham Lincoln Elementary School in Palm Desert, Calif.

The AHL’s annual Man of the Year award is named after the late Yanick Dupré, who passed away 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.