University of Maine hockey senior defenseman and co-captain David Breazeale has been named one of 14 nominees for the 2025 Hockey Humanitarian Award.
The award goes to college hockey’s finest citizen, a student-athlete who makes significant contributions not only to his or her team but also to the community at large through leadership in volunteerism.
When Breazeale isn’t anchoring UMaine’s defense corps and going to school, he can be found involved in a number of community events throughout the Orono and greater Bangor area. He has done everything from helping build the haunted house at the Old Town YMCA to picking up trash along the Penobscot River. He also reads to children in elementary schools and spends time working with youth teams throughout the year and at summer camps.
The finalists for the award will be announced in February and the recipient will be named on Friday, April 11, at the Frozen Four weekend in St. Louis.
This is the 30th anniversary of the award. Forward Jim Leger is the only Black Bear to win it, in 2000.
Breazeale richly deserves to be included in the field, UMaine head hockey coach Ben Barr said.
“I can’t imagine anyone having as much of an impact on a whole community as he has,” Barr said, adding that the players and coaches look up to the always-smiling Breazeale.
“There isn’t anything he won’t do for the program, the school or the community. He is a great person and we are fortunate to have him here.”
Breazeale, a member of the school’s student-athlete advisory committee, carries a double major in Sport Management and Marketing and is a six-time Dean’s List recipient, a three-time Presidential Scholar and a two-time Scholar-Athlete medalist.
He also is a three-time American Hockey Coaches Association All-American Scholar, a three-time member of the Hockey East All-Academic Team and a two-time member of the Hockey East All-American All-Star Team, which is earned by having the highest grade point average in the conference at the student-athlete’s position.
Breazeale, a two-year captain after being an alternate captain his sophomore year, has played in 127 career games for the Black Bears and has tallied eight goals and 35 assists.
The Grandville, Michigan, native has scored a career-high three goals already this season, two of which were game-winners, and he has also notched two assists in leading the 15-4-2 Black Bears (7-2-2 in Hockey East) to the top of the league standings and a No. 5 ranking in the weekly U.S. College Hockey Online poll.
UMaine is currently third in the Pairwise Rankings, which emulate the NCAA Tournament selection committee’s rankings.
Forward Luke Wheeler from Bowdoin College is also a nominee.
The other nominees are Boston College’s Keri Clougherty, Bemidji State’s Kendra Fortin, the University of New Hampshire’s Alex Gagne, Cornell’s Hank Kempf, St. Cloud State’s Josh Luedtke, Stonehill College’s Cameron Mannion, Merrimack College’s Raice Szott, St. Lawrence University’s Sarah Thompson, the University of Michigan’s Jacob Truscott, Minnesota-Duluth’s Clara Van Wieren, Ohio State University’s Makenna Webster and the University of Minnesota’s Audrey Wethington.
