The Good Skate Award

On December 15, 2001, the Rye Rangers staged a memorial hockey game and fundraiser for the families of the three members of the club who died in the tragedy at the World Trade Center. These individuals are Tommy Palazzo, Teddy Maloney, and Ward Haynes. The day was a huge success.

At the Rye Rangers Memorial Cup, we dedicated an award called the “Good Skate Award.” What struck each of us as we remembered our friends was how genuinely good they were, how helpful they were to their friends, how loving they were with their families, and, generally, how much fun they were to be around. In rink jargon, each one was what you might call a “good skate.” A black granite trophy with an imbedded silver skate was created by one of our members, Gerry Baum, to remind us of this goodness and to inspire us to be better individuals.

The inscription on the Good Skate Award states that it is to be: “Presented annually to the member of the Rye Rangers Hockey Club voted by his/her peers as best epitomizing the human goodness of these special individuals. It shall be forever known as the “Good Skate Award.” Its enduring legacy is to serve as a reminder that we are all better human beings for having shared our lives, both on and off the ice, with these guys.”  

The past deserving recipients have been:

2002  Rocky Shepard

2003  Kevin Burke

2004  Bart Lawrence

2005  Frank Effinger

2006  Diane Holmes

2007  Jerry Baum

2008  Jay Altmeyer

2009  Marty Clague

2009  Bob Tucker

2010  Thom O'Grady

2011  Rich Guthrie

2012  Steve & Sharon Ketchabaw

2013  Eric Budke

2014  Peter S Duncan

2015  Mark Finnegan

2016  Bill Steers

2017  Rob Dorfman

2018 Sam Weinman

2019 Terry Morris

2020 Drew Shea

2021 Eric Bommer

2022 Rob Brown

2023 Jeremy Lynch

2024 Sean Edwards

2019 - Rye Rangers Award Winner, Evan Ketchabaw and Good Skate Award Winner, Terry Morris

2021 - Good Skate Award Winner, Eric Bommer

2024 - Good Skate Award Winner, Sean Edwards