Senior goalie Matt Grinde was selected to be a part of the Chicago Blackhawk Alumni Association (CBBA) all-star team on March 7.

The CBBA allows players to receive $7,500 annually over the course of four years. Candidates are determined from a variety of characteristics that the CBBA defines. Traits such as talent, leadership and hard work are specifically outlined by the organization. The process begins after all applications are submitted, and the selection committee from the CBBA reviews all applicants.

Once all of the forms are gathered from each applicant, a selection committee from the CBBA will review all of the candidates and then select the three recipients. According to Grinde, his coach, Jim Philbin, informed him that he would be receiving an e-mail but didn’t tell him what it was for. Grinde said he was completely surprised once he found out what he had received.

“I was pretty shocked because I had no idea that this [even existed],” Grinde said. “My coach actually texted me and said, ‘Let me know when you get an email.’ He didn’t even tell me what was going on.  I was in school the next day and my dad texted me that he had gotten an email from the Blackhawk Alumni Association, so it was a pretty big surprise.”

Grinde has been goalie for the GBS varsity hockey team for three seasons, and this year he continued as a captain. 

“It’s pretty cool, [and] I worked pretty hard during high school,” Grinde said. “[The scholarship requires] both dedication and leadership on and off the ice. I was a captain this year, and I had a good season personally. I think I am the only goalie in the state who is a captain as well, so that’s something that was a pretty big factor in me getting this. It’s a really big honor, and I’m just really happy to have been noticed.

Grinde attended the Blackhawk Alumni Association banquet on Monday, March 8. According to Grinde, current and former Blackhawks players attended the ceremony.

“The All-Star team was introduced at the beginning of the ceremony, and then the alumni gave out awards to Hawks player of the year,” Grinde said.

Before the banquet, Grinde went to the United Center to meet the other members of the all-star team. Six men and six women are selected; each team with three forwards, two defensemen, and a goalie.

“We went to [the United Center], and the Blackhawks had their morning skate before they got onto their charter plane to go to Detroit,” Grinde said. “We got to meet Marian Hossa because he was injured, so he wasn’t going on the roadtrip.”