ADDITIONAL INFO: HHA Release | Schedule | Roster | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio State graduate forward Emma Maltais has been named a nominee for the 2023 Hockey Humanitarian Award, the Hockey Humanitarian Foundation announced Wednesday. Maltais is one of 15 student-athletes across men’s and women’s hockey who were selected to the list of nominees.
The award, is presented annually to college hockey’s finest citizen – a student-athlete who makes significant contributions not only to his or her team but also to the community-at-large through leadership in volunteerism.
Throughout her five-year career at Ohio State, Maltais has been committed to serving the Columbus, Ohio State, hockey and sport communities. With over 700 hours served in her college career, she has committed to growing the game through her involvement with learn to skate programs in Columbus and in Canada while also taking what she has learned in her sport and using it to help educate and motivate younger, aspiring athletes.
In the Columbus community, Maltais has been an active volunteer with the 2nd and 7 Foundation for the entirety of her Buckeye career. The foundation provides literacy outreach to elementary students in Central Ohio. Maltais joins student-athletes from around central Ohio to read to students while also teaching them lessons learned through sport, like teamwork, healthy habits, kindness, diversity and more. She also serves as a classroom facilitator for the organization.
This winter, she helped coordinate a clothing drive benefitting the Star House, an organization that helps aid youth experiencing homelessness in Columbus. The drive collected over 600 articles of clothing for the organization from student-athletes, athletic training, coaching and strength and conditioning staff.
The Burlington, Ont. native has also taken her service global, becoming involved with the VOICEINSPORT (VIS) Foundation, committing nearly 500 hours to the foundation over the last six months. The foundation serves with a mission to advocate for girls and women in sport. In her original internship role, she helped grow the reach of the platform and demonstrated creativity by finding unique ways to build a community around advocating for women in sport.
Maltais created the VIS Mentors for Team Canada, which is expected to launch in 2023. The initiative will further the foundation’s reach to Canadian athletes, bringing role models and mentorship across all sports to girls around the world.
She has even brought VIS to her Ohio State student-athlete community, starting a VIS Chapter at the university. While still in the development stages, Maltais has already organized numerous meetings and has a board of five student-athletes. She hopes to create a space for women in sport at Ohio State to discuss issues but also progress and talk about how they can make differences in sport.
On the ice for Ohio State, Maltais is the program record holder for career assists and points. She was a member of Ohio State’s first NCAA tournament and Frozen Four team in 2017-18 and helped the program to its first WCHA Final Faceoff Championship in 2020. This season for the Buckeyes, she is third on the team in points with 29 on 24 assists and five goals.
#GoBucks
