General Mark A. Milley, the 39th Chief of Staff of the United States Army and former player at Princeton, has been named the recipient of the American Hockey Coaches Association’s Lou Lamoriello Award for 2016.
The award — named in honor of the former Providence player, coach and athletic director (and current Toronto Maple Leafs GM) — will be presented during this year’s NCAA Frozen Four in Tampa. Established in 2004 by a group of retired college hockey coaches, the Lamoriello Award recognizes a former college hockey player or coach for their unique and distinguished professional career.
“It is with great humility and honor that I accept the Lou Lamoriello Award,” said General Milley in a statement. “I have lived by the motto ‘to win and win by the rules’ whether on the ice rinks of my youth, at Princeton, or on the battle field. Hockey taught me the values of teamwork, perseverance and sacrifice. I thank the American Hockey Coaches Association for this selection and my past teammates, coaches, mentors, and family for contributing to my success over the past 35 years of military service.”
“All of us in the hockey community are proud of the leadership qualities our players and coaches have long possessed,” added AHCA executive director Joe Bertagna. “However, I can say with some confidence that few people have personified ‘leadership’ to the degree that General Milley has over his distinguished career.”
General Milley assumed duty as the 39th Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army on August 14, 2015 after most recently serving as the 21st Commander of U.S. Army Forces Command at Fort Bragg, N.C. A native of Winchester, Mass., General Milley graduated and received his commission from Princeton in 1980 and has had multiple command and staff positions in eight divisions and Special Forces throughout the last 35 years.