Patrick Williams, TheAHL.com Features Writer
Anyone watching the Manitoba Moose quickly can see what Tyrel Bauer brings on the ice.
The Alberta-born defenseman is a throwback. Steady defensively and quick to defend his teammates, the 6-foot-4, 216-pound Bauer has become a fan favorite at Canada Life Centre, racking up 401 penalty minutes in 214 games.
In junior hockey, he was a captain by his third season in the Western Hockey League. And he has emerged as a leader with the Moose as well.
Off the ice, though, he’s a softie. That’s why the AHL, along with representatives from IOA and American Specialty, selected him the winner of the Yanick Dupré Memorial Award for this season. The award, given to a player for “outstanding contributions to his local community and charitable organizations,” honors Yanick Dupré, a Hershey Bears forward who passed away at only 24 years old in 1997 after a battle with leukemia.
Bauer has immersed himself in Winnipeg life through his four seasons in the city. He has twice been selected as Manitoba’s team winner of the IOA/American Specialty AHL Man of the Year award, and has joined Jimmy Oligny (2022-23) and Jimmy Roy (2002-03) as Dupré Award winners from the Moose.
“This is a really, really special award for a lot of reasons,” Bauer said. “When I got the call, I did some research on Yanick and what he meant to the community and his story. I’m very honored to be recognized and try to carry it out in his name.”
To start, the 24-year-old Bauer has collaborated with the Kinship and Foster Family Network of Manitoba on a program that brings foster families to Moose home games. There, they meet with Bauer and also take home gift bags from the team.
Then there is Project 11, a major deal in and around the Jets organization and Winnipeg. It’s part of the late Rick Rypien’s legacy, and several long-time members of the organization had strong relationships with Rypien going back to his days with the original incarnation of the Moose in the city. Part of the True North Youth Foundation, Project 11 stresses education on mental health. Bauer dove into that initiative as well, coaching an under-11 boys team at the Winnipeg Jets Hockey Academy, plus serving as a speaker at TNYF’s annual gala.
Geography means that the Moose have one of the AHL’s most demanding road schedules, and time can be difficult to find during the 72-game regular season. But Bauer also fit in a classroom visit with St. Amant, a non-profit that helps people in the province handling developmental disabilities, autism, and acquired brain injury. His community itinerary also holiday gift drives, classroom, autograph sessions, and playing at the Moose Backyard Rink Contest.
It’s a heavy workload beyond an already-demanding schedule, but Bauer takes it on happily.
Oligny was captain of the Moose during Bauer’s rookie season and made a strong impression.
“As much as I learned on the ice, I learned from him off,” Bauer recalled of his former defense pairing partner. “A really good man…at building relationships, bringing young guys in, and welcoming me and making me feel like a part of the team.
“And then seeing him at these community events and how he interacted with people, how he interacted with kids or adults or fans in just such a genuine way really taught me a lot, enough that I wanted to when Jimmy did leave, I took over his foster family program. I asked him, I said, ‘Hey, what are you planning to do with this? Could I take it over in your name?’ And he was all on board. You could see the excitement just to see the program keep going because of what it meant to the community.”
Bauer also recognizes a very cut-and-dried fact: nothing in the hockey business works without the fans and communities that support the support at every level. Whether that is grassroots work out on the ice with kids or a Jets game at Canada Life Centre, fans make this sport go.
“As a hockey player,” Bauer said, “we are in a really unique position to give back to the community. I mean, our job is to play hockey, but we wouldn’t have that if it wasn’t for the fans in the community cheering us on and supporting us. So, to be able to give back to them and just show our genuine appreciation for what they do for us is special.”
AHL players like Bauer are young, healthy, pursuing a life’s dream, and have a bright future. But as Dupré’s passing in 1997 drove home, life can turn difficult quickly – whether it’s because of illness, addiction, financial stress, or other pain. For all of his early success and just being one call-up away from the NHL, Bauer has remained quite cognizant of those realities outside of the rink.
“Everybody is going through something else, something in their life,” Bauer said. “They have their own challenges unique to them. People just want to feel connected. They want to feel heard. They want to feel seen, and that’s a universal experience for everybody. Being able to interact and have fun and just have some laughs or a smile can really go a long way.”
Like Oligny, Bauer now is one of those veteran voices inside the Moose dressing room. He will continue to spread that message he heard when he first came to the Moose.
“It’s really about bringing the community together, and I’m just really grateful to have that opportunity. We all have a lot of pride to play in Winnipeg.”