Teddy Westrick wins 2026 Coach Sauer Award

Teddy Westrick, a senior from Stevens Point Area High School, has been named the ninth recipient of the Jeff Sauer Humanitarian Award, the Coach Sauer Foundation announced. The award was presented Thursday at the Wisconsin High School Coaches Association dinner in Middleton.

The annual award hopes to encourage community service among girls and boys high school hockey players in the state of Wisconsin. It is named after the legendary former University of Wisconsin coach and hockey ambassador who passed away in February, 2017. The Jeff Sauer Award’s goal is to recognize good high school hockey players being great people.

Westrick is a prime example.

Westrick, who has scored 10 goals and has 26 points for the state tournament-bound Panthers, has been active in the Boys Scouts among his many community service activities in Stevens Point and has been a hockey official since he was 11 years old when not playing the game. He plans to attend the University of Wisconsin in Madison.

The other finalists for the award were Addy Benson, a senior forward from Superior; Makenna Hutchison, a senior goalie who plays for the Hayward co-op; and Kaitlyn Juneau, a sophomore forward from Cedarburg who plays for the Lakeshore Lightning.

The Jeff Sauer Award is modeled after the Hockey Humanitarian Award, which is presented annually to college hockey’s finest citizen and seeks to recognize players, male or female, who contribute to local communities in a true humanitarian spirit.

After retiring from college hockey, Jeff worked extensively with disabled hockey players, He coached the U.S. sled hockey team to a gold medal at the Winter Paralympics in 2014 and in his seven years as coach, Team USA won two gold medals at the Sledge Hockey World Championships.

Additionally, Sauer was president of the American Hearing Impaired Hockey Association. He helped select the last five U.S. Deaflympic Ice Hockey Teams and led the team as head coach at three Winter Deaflympics, including a gold medal at the 2007 Deaflympics in Salt Lake City, Utah.

The Coach Sauer Foundation was very impressed with all the candidates and their stories of student athletes who deserve notice for reasons that ultimately are more important than mere personal statistics.

Madison Ice Arena displays a replica of the Jeff Sauer Award in its lobby to honor Westrick and all past winners. Stevens Point Area High School will also receive a plaque to display and commemorate Teddy’s achievements.