Hawks extend support for Olcyzyk youth hockey grants

The Chicago Blackhawks organization will again partner with Blackhawks Charities and hockey analyst Eddie Olczyk to support the Eddie Olczyk Award, which provides grants to help offset the financial burden of youth hockey players and teams in Illinois.

In its inaugural year, the Eddie Olczyk Award issued $25,000 in grants, raised through Blackhawks Youth Hockey Summer Camps, to individuals and families in need of assistance for participation in an Illinois sanctioned team or organization, sanctioned teams in need of assistance for tournament expenses, as well as Amateur Hockey Association of Illinois organizations in need of assistance to run youth hockey programs.

In order to be considered for the grant process, letters of inquiry must be received by Dec. 14, 2012. Complete information can be found on chicagoblackhawks.com.

“I’m truly appreciative of the support and combined effort John McDonough, Jay Blunk and everyone at the Blackhawks have given to making hockey available to anyone in Illinois that’s interested,” Olczyk said. “We had a tremendous response to the launch of the award last year and look forward to another successful year in working directly with the community.”

A 2012 U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame inductee and native of Palos Heights., Olczyk also serves as the Head Instructor at Chicago Blackhawks Youth Hockey Camps. He is a veteran of 16 NHL seasons as a player, and now serves as the lead television analyst for Chicago Blackhawks games on Comcast SportsNet Chicago and WGN, and for national broadcasts on NBC.