The Buffalo Sabres today announced that Tom Barnett has been named the recipient of the 2026 J. Michael Duffett Memorial Award, presented each year to the coach whose contributions to amateur hockey in Western New York “best exemplify the knowledge, teaching, love of the game and gentle humanity of Mike.”
Barnett is the 40th recipient of the J. Michael Duffett Memorial Award and he will accept the award at tonight’s Sabres game against the Vancouver Canucks.
Barnett rejuvenated the Buffalo Shamrocks Hockey Club in 2001, a nonprofit organization that places its focus on sportsmanship, team play and personal responsibility. Now in its 25th season, the Shamrocks program began with just 30 players and now includes more than 300 participants supported by more than 60 volunteer coaches. Through Barnett’s leadership, the organization has reestablished eight different levels of hockey and a robust girls hockey program.
In 2009, Barnett received the NHL’s inaugural Mark Messier Youth Leadership Award. This past June, he was honored with USA Hockey’s Wm. Thayer Tutt Award. The Tutt Award is presented annually to a volunteer, who, during many years of service, has displayed a selfless dedication to the enhancement of ice hockey at the grassroots level in America. Currently, Barnett is a USA Hockey national development camp evaluator, a member of NYSAHA’s Grow the Game initiative and a Buffalo Sabres Learn to Play partner.
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About the J. Michael Duffett Award
Mike Duffett was a student of the game and a coach with the Buffalo Bisons and the Amherst Hockey Association. A standout player at Nichols School and Clarkson University, Duffett was working in the Sabres’ hockey department under Scotty Bowman and Roger Neilson at the time of his death following a battle with cancer. The Sabres established the J. Michael Duffett Award in 1984 in his memory.
