The Ontario Reign, in conjunction with the American Hockey League, announced Thursday that Akil Thomas has been named the team’s winner of the IOA/American Specialty AHL Man of the Year award for his outstanding contributions to the community during the 2023-24 season.

Thomas is currently with the Reign’s NHL affiliate, the LA Kings, after his first-career NHL recall on March 31.

Throughout the season, Thomas participated in multiple efforts both with the Reign and the Kings, aiming to positively impact the community in Southern California.

In January, he spent an afternoon working alongside former NWHL player and current Kings pro scout Blake Bolden at Black, Silver & Bold, a free development program fostering community for underrepresented elite youth hockey players and their families in Los Angeles. Kids in the program got a chance to meet Thomas and hear his story of success on and off the ice, discussing his hockey career and his apparel company, ZALE.

Thomas was also heavily involved in both the Reign and LA Kings celebration of Black History Month in February, including participation at a Cultural Panel after a game in Ontario which was attended by individuals from Black Sororities and Fraternities at schools across the Inland Empire. With the Kings, Thomas was closely involved in the design and production of the team’s Black History Celebration specialty jerseys for the third consecutive year. All proceeds raised from the team’s jersey auction benefitted 24 Degrees of Color, a diversity ice skating program in the LA area.

The fourth-year pro is now one of 32 finalists for the AHL’s 2023-24 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 died in 1997 following a 16-month battle with leukemia. The winner of the Yanick Dupré Memorial Award will be announced by the American Hockey League later this month.

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