ESPN on Tuesday announced its nominees for the annual ESPY awards, and the Penguins are up for one of the honors.
The Penguins are nominated for the Sports Humanitarian Team of the Year award, along with the NFL’s Denver Broncos, NBA’s Miami Heat and the WNBA’s Seattle Storm.
The ESPYs will be shown live on ABC at 8 p.m. on July 20.
Initiatives taken on by the Penguins and the Penguins Foundation this season include the team's annual Pride Night, with proceeds benefitting organizations like Safe Haven, which aims to "provide safe shelter for LGBTQIA+ youth experiencing homelessness in Pittsburgh."
The Penguins also completed the first season of the first-of-its-kind Willie O'Ree Academy, created to provide unique training, social and mentorship opportunities for Black youth hockey players across the Pittsburgh area.
In April the Penguins hosted the team's annual Hockey Talks Game in support of mental health awareness.
Last week the Penguins Foundation distributed grants totaling $887,060 to various local organizations in the Greater Pittsburgh Area, including a $200,000 grant to the Braddock Carnegie Library. Other organizations benefitting from grants included Ronald McDonald House Charities of Pittsburgh and Morgantown, The Children's Home of Pittsburgh & Lemieux Family Center, Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy, Ryan Shazier Fund for Spinal Rehabilitation, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Pittsburgh and the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh, among others. Grants were also given to several hockey organizations, including Blind Hockey, Special Hockey, Sled Hockey and Warrior Hockey.
The Humanitarian Team of the Year award isn't a fan-voted award. All of the nominees for fan-voted awards and links to vote can be found here.
