Penticton Vees alumni Trevor Nill and Tanner House were each been nominated for the BNY Mellon Wealth Management Hockey Humanitarian Award for their work in the respective communities where they play college hockey and Nill has since been named a finalist.
Nill, who spent the 2007-08 season in Vees colours, is now a junior forward with the Michigan State Spartans. Motivated by his mother’s battle with cancer, at age 16 he and a friend organized Bike Across Michigan which raised over $2,500 for cancer research.
At Michigan State, he has taken the lead on charities like Shoot for a Cure (which raises money to fight children’s cancer), and the Spartan Buddies program, which was started by past HHA nominee (and current Detroit Red Wing) Drew Miller, and creates interaction between students and patients at Sparrow Hospital’s pediatric ward. Nill is the son of current Detroit Red Wings assistant GM Jim Nill.
House was with Penticton just ahead of Nill, playing with the Vees in 2005-06 and 2006-07. He scored exactly 100 points in 110 regular season games and has been the captain of the University of Maine Black Bears for the past two seasons.
Volunteer work in hospitals, schools, hockey clinics and work with Maine's student-athlete advisory committee keeps House busy when he's not hitting the books. The Cochrane, Alta. native has been a Hockey East Conference Academic Honour Roll student-athlete each season with the Black Bears and last year received the Dean Smith Award as the top scholar-athlete at the school.
The BNY Mellon Wealth Management Hockey Humanitarian Award is awarded annually to college hockey’s finest citizen and seeks to recognize college hockey players, Division I or Division III, male or female, who give back to their community in the true humanitarian spirit.
The 2011 award will be presented April 8 as part of the NCAA Frozen Four tournament in St. Paul, Minn.
