Dartmouth senior Dan Shribman has been awarded the inaugural Derek Hines Unsung Hero Award, it was announced Friday at the Frozen Four.
The award was established by the Hockey Commissioners’ Association in honor of former Army hockey captain Derek Hines. A “consummate team player and team builder,” Hines was killed in the line of duty in Afghanistan in September of 2005. He was a four-year letterwinner for the Black Knights, graduating in 2003.
“Winning an award named in honor of Derek Hines is a huge honor,” Shribman said. “To be associated with the qualities that Derek represented is truly humbling and I want to thank the Hines family for considering me. I also want to thank all the people who helped make the last four years of Dartmouth hockey such an incredible experience.”
Dartmouth and the Hines family are familiar with each other as Derek’s younger sister Ashley is a member of the both the Big Green field hockey and women’s lacrosse teams.
“We are very pleased that Dan is getting this award,” said Steven Hines, Derek’s father. “Dan and our son Derek are very similar in their personalities. We were impressed with Dan’s decision to go to South Africa and work with children because that is something Derek would have done and it set Dan apart.”
In the spring of 2006, Shribman, a native of Swampscott, Mass., took the term off to travel to South Africa where he volunteered in several townships as a teacher and a soccer coach. Since the trip was not through Dartmouth, Shribman took the classes he was going to miss before he left, doubling his workload during the busy hockey season.
“My time in South Africa was mind-boggling,” Shribman said. “Going there and seeing how they lived completely changed my way of thinking.”
Shribman has been a mainstay in the Big Green lineup since the day he stepped on campus. He is a four-year letterwinner for hockey while earning one letter for men’s lacrosse. Shribman chipped in 11 goals and 16 assists in 118 career games. He racked up nine points this season, despite missing eight games due to an injury, the most significant amount of time he missed in four seasons.
He owns a 3.71 grade point average in economics and history. The forward is a three-time member of the ECAC Hockey League All-Academic team and was named Academic All-Ivy for 2006-07.
As a third- and fourth-line forward, Shribman instantly makes any line better, according to his teammates. For the last two years Shribman has been awarded Dartmouth’s Smoyer Unsung Hero Award, given to the player who has made an unusual contribution to Dartmouth hockey. The award is earned in large part by measure of the intangibles, those factors that cannot always be measured by statistics. The award is named in honor of Bill Smoyer, a varsity hockey and soccer player killed in Vietnam.
“Danny has a boundless amount of energy,” said head coach Bob Gaudet. “His ability to make every line he’s on better, his ability to chase down defenders, fight for loose pucks in the corner, his forechecking — all things that will be missed next season. He will always be one of my all-time favorite players. Dan has given his all for our program. He plays with so much energy, courage and passion. He can make so many things happen when he’s out there. He completely embodies what our team is about, both on and off the ice.”
Each of the six NCAA Division I hockey conferences submitted a nominee for the award that goes to the student-athlete who personifies Hines’ spirit and relentless commitment. The winner was chosen by sports information directors from the six conferences, along with representatives from Army hockey and the Hines family.
The award was established to recognize a fearless leader and beloved fan favorite who places his team first. The winner should display exemplary sportsmanship, be supremely competitive, intelligent and extraordinarily conditioned with an unmatched work ethic. The contributions of this individual, on and off the ice, cannot be measured by statistics alone.
The other nominees were: T.J. Jindra (Notre Dame), Mike Batovanja (Michigan Tech), Ryan Sullivan (Merrimack), Scott Follett (Canisius), Mike Forgie (Wayne State).
