To earn the award, Tassone had to be nominated as the Lightning’s candidate, then earn the most votes from the community. Voting took place between March 1 and April 1.
He was nominated by Jordan McKenzie, the Lightning’s community and hockey development manager for ball hockey, who said Tassone was “the first person who came to mind” when deciding on who to nominate for the award.
“It’s just the impact that he has and that we hear about,” McKenzie told NHL.com. “He’s an all-around great human being, so it was just an easy selection.”
Each of the 32 NHL teams nominated one teacher for the award.
McKenzie has gotten to know Tassone over the last four years through the Lightning’s ball hockey tournaments, and he made the trip out to the pep rally to celebrate the Most Valuable Teacher.
“It was incredible,” McKenzie said. “Very special seeing all the students excited. A great little surprise.”
Tassone – who was quick to thank the Lighting and the community for voting for him – earned his nomination by running ball hockey tournaments in the community as well as implementing hockey into his PE curriculum.
“I’m a huge Lightning fan, so I talk about hockey,” Tassone said. “The kids just love it, running around with a stick in their hand. This school is just a fantastic school with a lot of great kids, and they just eat it up. It’s so much fun and they’ve really taken to it.”
The 10-year educator said he started the community ball hockey clubs eight years ago, starting by enrolling one team in the Lightning’s development tournament. Now, he has enough participation to submit three full teams into the tournament.