The Foster Hewitt Memorial Award, created in 1984, recognizes excellence in the field of hockey television or radio broadcasting. Clement is the third hockey broadcaster who did extensive work in the Philadelphia market to receive the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award. The late Gene Hart received the honor from the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1997, followed by Emrick in 2008. Clement is the first Flyers Alum player who later went onto broadcasting to be recognized by the broadcasters' wing of the HHOF.
"On behalf of the Flyers organization, I congratulate Al Morganti and Bill Clement on this tremendous, well-deserved honor," said Dave Scott, Chairman and CEO of Comcast Spectacor and Governor of the Philadelphia Flyers. "Al and Bill are legends on and off the ice here in Philly and all around the hockey world. They've made amazing contributions to the game, and we are so proud to call them members of the Flyers Family."
After a solid NHL playing career that included winning the Stanley Cup twice with the Flyers and playing in a pair of NHL All-Star Games, Clement became one of the NHL's most highly acclaimed television broadcast analysts both at the national (ESPN, NBC, ABC, SportChannel America) and local levels and also was a broadcaster for hockey and other sports in the Olympics. He forged long-running broadcast partnerships with Mike "Doc" Emrick, Gary Thorne and, later, Jim Jackson.
Clement retired from broadcasting in 2021 and later relocated to North Carolina after many years as a Bucks County resident.
The Elmer Ferguson Memorial Award, also created in 1984, recognizes excellence in hockey print journalism. Morganti is the second former Flyers beat writer to be honored with the Elmer Ferguson Award. The first was the late Jay Greenberg, who was the 2014 recipient.
Although many younger hockey fans know Morganti more as a television studio hockey analyst and/or as a local radio personality, he first made his name as an outstanding beat writer who worked for the Boston Globe, Atlanta Constitution (covering the former Atlanta Flames) and Philadelphia Inquirer. He gained a reputation for asking tough questions as needed but for being fair and balanced in his coverage.
