National Hockey League Communications Executive Receives Public Relations Pro of the Year Honors from PRSA

Business Wire, June 9, 2006

NEW YORK -- For her efforts in directing the communications efforts throughout the National Hockey League's (NHL) labor dispute and rebounding from the fallout of the cancellation of the 2004-05 hockey season, Bernadette Mansur has been recognized as the "Public Relations Professional of the Year" by the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA). Mansur, senior vice president of communications, NHL, received the award during the annual PRSA Silver Anvil Awards Evening held last night at the Equitable Tower in New York City.

"Bernadette Mansur effectively used her public relations skills to help guide the NHL through the crisis of the lock-out and the subsequent challenge of making the league a winning brand again for the fans, media and sports business community," says Kelly Womer, APR, chair of the PRSA Honors and Awards Committee and partner, Carmichael Lynch Spong. "For her successful PR counsel and leadership, PRSA is proud to recognize Bernadette with its 2006 Public Relations Professional of the Year Award."

Ensuring that fans understood and supported the League's position, and that the brand was not severely damaged by a season-long lock-out, the NHL needed to prove to media, fans and the sports business community that the NHL was back-- and better than ever. Mansur developed a non-traditional, creative, Web-based communication campaign to relaunch the NHL brand. A league-wide rebranding campaign was launched which sought to put a new face on the 2005/2006 hockey season. "My NHL" positioned its return to the ice as big, bold and relevant.

"The entire NHL and its 30 member Clubs worked in unison to address our issues and to reinvent our business model while communicating with our fans every step of the way," Mansur said. "While I am honored and proud to receive this award from PRSA, it is not a singular recognition. I accept it as an acknowledgement of a remarkable team effort."

In attendance during the presentation were NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly. "Bernadette Mansur's strong relationship with sports, business and entertainment media have helped generate increased interest in the sport of hockey and the NHL as a global brand," explained Bettman. Also making a special appearance was the famed Stanley Cup.

The Public Relations Professional of the Year Award, initiated in 2000, represents the highest achievement in the practice of public relations by an individual(s) in a given year. The recipient(s) must have shown outstanding leadership and management skills by establishing a mutually beneficial relationship between an organization and the public upon whom its success or failure depends. Past recipients of the award include Charles D. Connor, Darren Irby and Deborah S. Daley (2005), Grace Chen Trent and Brad Burns (2004), Victoria Clarke (2003), Tim Doke (2002), James E. Murphy (2001) and Rick Kaufman, APR (2000).

About the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA)

The Public Relations Society of America (www.prsa.org), based in New York City, is the world's largest organization for public relations professionals. The Society has more than 29,000 professional and student members. PRSA is organized into 112 Chapters nationwide, 19 Professional Interest Sections, along with Affinity Groups, which represent business and industry, counseling firms, independent practitioners, military, government, associations, hospitals, schools, professional services firms and nonprofit organizations. The Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) has 272 Chapters at colleges and universities throughout the United States.