The Cleveland Monsters are proud to announce that Owen Sillinger has been named the team’s winner of the IOA/American Specialty AHL Man of the Year award for his outstanding contributions to the Cleveland community during the 2025-26 season. Throughout five seasons in Cleveland and given his status as one of the team’s assistant captains, Sillinger has become a recognizable face for fans and this year, he used his profile and platform to keep the Monsters connected with the Northeast Ohio community.

One of Sillinger’s key community contibutions this season surrounded the team’s annual University Hospitals Rainbow Babies & Children’s Night on February 21st when the team wore specialty jerseys and walk-in hats, and sat beneath customized nameplates in their locker room stalls, all designed in part by UH Rainbow Babies & Children’s patients. Sillinger collaborated directly with ten-year old Armie Volkmer, who took part in the pregame VIP Puck Drop that night, on a Monsters logo recreation featured on the team’s custom hats. The jerseys, hats, and nameplates were all auctioned off following the event with proceeds benefitting UH Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital.

With Monsters captain Brendan Gaunce recalled to the NHL’s Columbus Blue Jackets during the Holiday season, Sillinger stepped up in a major way during the Monsters’ Holiday Adopt-a-Family initiative, ensuring local families in need received the gifts and support necessary to have a happy and healthy Holiday. During each of the Monsters’ annual in-season practices at local community rinks, dubbed Tour with the Monsters presented by University Hospitals Drusinsky Sports Medicine Institute, Sillinger was consistently the last player off the ice following public skates with fans, signing autographs and taking photos with each and every person that sought one.

At Friday home games, the Monsters honor local Veterans through the team’s Hockey For Heroes program featuring a moment of in-game recognition for a Northeast Ohio Vet and the chance for the servicemember and their family to enjoy a postgame meet-and-greet with a Monsters player. An active participant in the program over his years in Cleveland, Sillinger was a Hockey For Heroes stalwart again this season, creating lasting memories for numerous Cleveland-area Vets and their loved ones.

Sillinger is now one of 32 finalists for the AHL’s 2025-26 Yanick Dupré 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 passed away in 1997 following a 16-month battle with leukemia. The winner of the Yanick Dupré Memorial Award will be announced by the AHL at a later date.   

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