2026 | Connecticut |

Westhill-Stamford Boy’s Hockey | Black Knight |

JJ Denison is the kind of player every coach hopes walks into the room, and that’s exactly why he’s being awarded our Hobey Baker High School Character Award. This award isn’t just about what happens on the scoresheet. It’s about the person behind the helmet: integrity, leadership, sportsmanship, and the willingness to put the team first every single day. JJ embodies those standards in a way that’s consistent, genuine, and impossible to ignore. He represents our program the right way, and he makes everyone around him better.

What makes JJ’s story even more meaningful is that he scored his first high school goal as a senior, and nobody in our room was surprised by the moment. Not because it was overdue, but because he earned it the right way, through years of showing up, working, and doing the unglamorous things that help a team win. He’s finally being rewarded for the hard work he’s poured into this program, and he handled it with the same humility and gratitude he brings every day. JJ is proof that character matters, that perseverance pays off, and that the best leaders are often the ones who never ask for attention, they just keep doing things the right way.