The Chicago Blackhawks named Jason Krasavage, freshman right wing, Player of the Month for November.  The award recognizes players for their achievements on and off the ice.

Krasavage was presented with the award at the Blackhawks’ game on December 11 and will get to attend their practice and go in the locker room on December 28.

“[At the game] they showed the full version of the ceremony on the jumbotron, a clip from my practice, talked about my off-ice achievements, and played an action shot with my name under it,” Krasavage said.  “Everyone in the whole stadium got to see it.”

Krasavage was presented with the award before the game, and the footage was shown during the first intermission, between the first and second period.

“It was really cool because everyone was wearing red at the game, and of course there were a couple Sharks jerseys, and I had my LZ jacket on,” Krasavage said.  “Some people looked at me after first intermission and figured that I was the player of the month and congratulated me.  Everyone looked at me and knew that I’m from LZ.  It’s a huge step for the program to have not just me, but the LZ Bears announced at a sold out premium game.”

Krasavage was nominated for the award by his coach, Dan Mergens.  Mergens nominated Krasavage for the award not only because of his on ice accomplishments, but also because of his various other achievements.         

“He’s the epitome of what we want our players to be on the ice, in the classroom, and in the community,” Mergens said in a December TribLocal article.

Krasavage started playing hockey in third grade and began playing for the Bears this year, his freshman year.             

“Before the award, I kind of wanted to make a difference in the things I do, including my hockey team, but being a freshman it’s kind of hard to make a difference,” Krasavage said. “Winning the award is really recognition of being able to make a difference for my team.”

Krasavage attributes his accomplishments to the help of his coaches and teammates.  Krasavage was able to bring three people to the Blackhawks game with him, and he chose to bring his coach, his dad, and his teammate, Kolton Durment.

 “Without all of my teammates, and without all the guys on my line, and just in general everyone on my team, I wouldn’t have been able to get the goals that I did and the assists that I did,” Krasavage said,  “so I thank all the guys on my team.”

Aside from his on-ice achievements, Krasavage has been very involved in numerous academic and extracurricular activities.

Last year, Krasavage became involved with the Young Entrepreneur’s Academy (YEA). His involvement with YEA helped him start his own business, Modern Media Conversions.

“I basically just take old style media like VHS tapes, cassette tapes, and records and turn them into CDs and DVDs,” Krasavage said.

He also says that starting his own business has helped him learn various life lessons. 

“[It’s] lots of planning goes into it and commitment. I can’t just get someone’s order and hold onto it for a long, long time and keep procrastinating and don’t do it [because] they’re never going to get it back,” Krasavage said.

While the Player of the Month award recognizes his numerous off-ice achievements, it also awards his success as a hockey player.  For Krasavage, this recognition means a lot.

Overall, Krasavage says that earning this award has helped him realize the importance of his accomplishments and has encouraged him to keep up his involvement.

“After the game, coach sent me a text saying that I should keep doing everything I’m doing on and off the ice,” Krasavage said.  “Everything I do shows that I’m part of the program.  I take away that I should keep on doing good things that represent the program positively.”