SPRINGFIELD, Mass. … The American Hockey League announced today that Cal O’Reilly of the Milwaukee Admirals is the 2024-25 winner of the Fred T. Hunt Memorial Award as the AHL player who best exemplifies the qualities of sportsmanship, determination and dedication to hockey.
The award is voted on by coaches, players and members of the media representing each of the league’s 32 member cities.
O’Reilly returned to Milwaukee for what has been a memorable 19th pro season in 2024-25, with the highlight coming on Feb. 20 when he became the ninth player ever in the American Hockey League to skate in 1,000 career regular-season games. O’Reilly is also the leading scorer on the first-place Admirals with 48 points (11 goals, 37 assists) while posting a plus-9 rating and accruing just four minutes in penalties over 67 games.
The Toronto native now sits with 177 goals and 605 assists (sixth-most in AHL history) for 782 points in 1,021 games since he debuted with the Admirals on Apr. 14, 2006, and his 192 career penalty minutes – including zero majors or misconducts – equate to one minor penalty every 10.6 games over 19 seasons. O’Reilly is also one of 22 players ever to appear in 100 Calder Cup Playoff games, reaching the Finals with Milwaukee in 2006 and with Utica in 2015, and he has served as captain for four different AHL organizations during his career (Utica, Rochester, Iowa, Lehigh Valley).
Originally selected by Nashville in the fifth round of the 2005 NHL Draft, O’Reilly is the franchise leader in points (331), assists (254) and games played (398) for the Predators’ affiliate in Milwaukee. He has played 145 games in the National Hockey League with Nashville, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Buffalo and Minnesota.
O’Reilly, who was also honored in 2020-21, is the fourth two-time winner of this award, which was first presented in 1978 to honor the late Fred T. Hunt, a long-time contributor to the league who won three Calder Cup championships as a player and three more as a general manager during a career spent primarily with the AHL’s Buffalo Bisons and the NHL’s Buffalo Sabres. Previous winners of the award include Ross Yates (1983), Glenn Merkosky (1987, ’91), Bruce Boudreau (1988), Murray Eaves (’89, ’90), John Anderson (1992), Tim Tookey (1993), Ken Gernander (1996, 2004), Randy Cunneyworth (2000), Mike Keane (2007), Bryan Helmer (2011), Jake Dowell (2014), Tom Kostopoulos (2016), Craig Cunningham (2017), Brett Sutter (2019), John McCarthy (2020), Logan Shaw (2023) and Spencer Knight (2024).
In operation since 1936, the American Hockey League continues to serve as the top development league for all 32 National Hockey League teams. Nearly 90 percent of all players competing in the NHL are AHL graduates, and through the years the American Hockey League has been home to more than 100 honored members of the Hockey Hall of Fame.
The winner of the 2024-25 Louis A.R. Pieri Memorial Award (outstanding coach) will be announced on Monday.
