AHL President Howson Presents Firebirds' LaMont With Ellery Media Award
Gino LaMont, host and producer of "Hockey Night Coachella Valley," received the AHL's oldest media honor during a Firebirds home game Sunday.
AHL President Scott Howson traveled to Coachella Valley to present Gino LaMont with the 2024-25 James H. Ellery Memorial Award during a Firebirds home game, recognizing the broadcast producer and host for outstanding media coverage of the American Hockey League.
The James H. Ellery Memorial Award is the AHL's longest-running media honor, first presented in the 1964-65 season. It is named for Jim Ellery, who served the league for 17 years as secretary and publicity director before his death in 1964. The award is presented annually to recognize excellence in AHL media coverage.
LaMont serves as the pre-game, intermission and post-game host on the Firebirds' local telecasts of every home regular-season and playoff game. He also produces all aspects of the "Hockey Night Coachella Valley" broadcasts, a role that encompasses creating rundowns, booking interview guests and researching the Firebirds, their opponents and the broader AHL to deliver informed analysis each broadcast night.
His background in the region runs deep. LaMont has spent nearly three decades in the Palm Springs-area media market, including a stint as news director at KMIR-TV in Palm Springs. The American Hockey League noted that his extensive broadcast experience and his passion for the Firebirds have helped educate Coachella Valley's fan base about hockey and the AHL, a significant task for a franchise that is still building its audience in a non-traditional hockey market.
The Firebirds announced the presentation on both Threads and Instagram as it happened, with the team's accounts posting about presenting LaMont with the 2024-25 James H. Ellery Memorial Award for outstanding media coverage of the American Hockey League. The league simultaneously published the announcement from its Springfield, Mass. headquarters.
For a franchise that entered the AHL only in 2022 as the affiliate of the Seattle Kraken, having its primary broadcast voice recognized with the league's top media award underscores how quickly LaMont has established "Hockey Night Coachella Valley" as a credible and compelling production within the AHL landscape.
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