An enthusiastic ambassador for hockey, Dennis Bushy continues to leave an indelible mark not just locally, but throughout Minnesota as a coach, administrator and grassroots builder.

A native of East Grand Forks, Minn., Bushy developed an early passion for hockey, but his plans were altered by Uncle Sam, so Bushy’s ice dreams simmered through a three-year hitch in the United States Army. After a tour in Vietnam, Bushy finished his service in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where he happily found himself back in the rink.

He returned to his home state in 1972, launching a youth hockey program in the small town of Benson. In 1977, he moved to Moorhead, where he began coaching 14U hockey. It was the beginning of a legendary career, one that continues today with as much passion and

love for the game as ever.

Bushy has served in many roles with USA Hockey, Minnesota Hockey and the Moorhead Youth Hockey Association. He is currently Minnesota’s District 15 director and general manager of the Moorhead Youth Hockey Arena. In his coaching role, he helped groom six future NHL players.

Beyond churning out high-end Spuds, he also served as his district’s high-performance coach for more than 18 years and as a coach in the Minnesota Hockey summer camps.

Those behind the bench also benefitted from Bushy’s dedication. In 2011, he concluded a 20-year stint as a Minnesota Hockey associate coach-in-chief, having helped hundreds of coaches develop their skills.

Through the decades, Bushy never stopped learning and serving, shaping countless lives and lifting hockey to new heights in Moorhead and beyond. In 2014, he earned the Walter Yaciuk Award for his contributions as part of USA Hockey’s Coaching Education Program, and tonight, he is recognized for the full scope of his grassroots contributions as USA Hockey’s Thayer Tutt Award recipient.

The Wm. Thayer Tutt Award is presented to a volunteer who, during many years of service, has displayed selfless dedication to the enhancement of ice hockey at the grassroots level in the United States.