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Bjork Named A Hockey Humanitarian Finalist

Feb. 2, 2017

READ: Mr. B and Room 208 | Complete List of Finalists

By Dan Colleran


NOTRE DAME, Ind.
— Junior forward Anders Bjork has been selected as one of the five finalist for the 2017 Hockey Humanitarian award, which is presented annually to college finest citizen for leadership in community service.

Bjork was announced as one of 15 nominees for the award on Jan. 19 and then on Feb. 2, the committee announced the five finalists including, Bjork, Collin Delia (Merrimack), Danny Divis and Justin McKenzie (St. Michael’s), David Goodwin (Penn State) and Mike Nervick (Quinnipiac).

The 2017 Hockey Humanitarian Award recipient will be recognized in a ceremony on Friday, April 7, at the 2017 NCAA Division I Men’s Frozen Four, which is being hosted by the University of Notre Dame and the Chicago Sports Commission at the United Center in Chicago.

Heading into this weekend’s series against Vermont, Bjork has a team-best 38 points on 16 goals and 22 assists in 26 games this season. His 38 points rank fifth in Hockey East and eighth in the country, while his five game-winning goals are tied for the NCAA lead. He is averaging 1.46 points-per game, which ranks fifth in Hockey East and eighth in the country.

But Bjork’s efforts off the ice have made even more of a difference, especially just a few blocks south of campus at the Perley Fine Arts Academy in South Bend.

Perley teacher Courtney Baranay explains exactly why “Mr. B” has become a treasured figure not just in her third grade classroom but throughout the school:

Anders has helped mediate disagreements between the kids, taught them how to let things roll off their backs and not be so quick to judge. He will draw with the girls in the room (I have 16 this year) and sit and play Legos with all the boys (only seven this year). He will answer any question they have, he lets them wear his hat, he plays games with them at recess–and he has even gotten in trouble right along with the rest of the class for not paying attention to the gym teacher (you might not want to mention this either, I don’t think my principal knows about this).

This is only a fraction of the “things” Anders has done with and for these children. The most important thing this man has done for these children is to keep coming back. I have taught in inner-city schools for 10 years. I have had hundreds of people come through my classroom doors–volunteers, students doing field experiences and a few student teachers. They were all wonderful (some more than others).

But these children are used to people coming in and out of their lives. Volunteers stay for three or four months, coming once a week, and then their time is over. Field experience students usually come for 30 hours, and then they are off to another assignment. But Anders keeps coming back. It doesn’t matter if he only has 30 minutes to spare, he always comes back.

These children have experienced levels of disappointment and heartbreak that many of us will never have to live through. I can tell you stories of these children being removed from their homes, watching their parents getting shot right in front of them, and on and on. But Anders has been one of the most constant, loving figures in their young lives. He gives them what some of their own parents cannot–his time and love. If there is a child talking with Anders and Anders needs to get to hockey practice, he will wait until that child is finished with his/her story before he leaves. I sometimes cringe at the thought of Anders trying to explain to Coach Jackson that he was late because one of his “kids” had to finish an important story.

A fifth-round selection in the 2014 NHL Draft by the Boston Bruins, Bjork has posted 12 multi-point games this season, including four-point games against Arizona State (Oct. 8) and UConn (Oct. 28). He has been held without a point in just six of Notre Dame’s 26 games this season (one of which was the 0-0, two-period tie at Northeastern on Nov. 13). The Irish are 14-5-1 on the season when he notches at least one point.

A native of Mequon, Wisconsin, Bjork has 95 career points on 35 goals and 60 assists. His father, Kirt, was an All-American at Notre Dame following the 1982-83 campaign. Kirt posted 161 points (76 goals and 85 assists) in 141 career games for the Irish.

— ND —


Dan Colleran, associate athletics communications director at the University of Notre Dame, has been a part of Fighting Irish Media since August 2015 and coordinates all media and publicity efforts surrounding the Notre Dame hockey and golf programs. A native of Walpole, Massachusetts, Colleran spent the previous three years working with the men’s hockey and soccer programs at Providence College. Colleran also spent two years as an Assistant Executive Director of Communications & Championships at the Ivy League and is a graduate of Providence College (’06 & ’08G).