On Friday, February 13, former Hockey Manitoba President, Frank McKinnon, was inducted into the Order of Canada.

McKinnon served two decades on the executive board of the Hockey Manitoba, including five as president in the 1970s. He was also president of the Carman-Dufferin Minor Hockey Association.

McKinnon also served as commissioner for 10 years of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League (1992-2002) and was known for his charisma and vast knowledge of MJHL history.

He also left his mark beyond Manitoba. As a trustee, he helped create the Centennial Cup (now RBC Cup) in 1971. He was a member of the congress of the International Ice Hockey Federation and part of the committee that organized the first IIHF World Junior Championship in 1974.

In 1979, McKinnon became the first chairman of the board of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (now Hockey Canada), a post he would hold until 1982. His contributions to growing the game at the grassroots levels weren’t unnoticed. In 1981, he was awarded the Gordon Juckes Award for efforts in developing amateur hockey at the national level. Two years later he was named Hockey Canada’s Volunteer of the Year. He received a third award from Hockey Canada, the Order of Merit, in 1991.

McKinnon also made a difference beyond hockey, serving two years as director of the Sports Federation of Canada and four years as vice-president of the Canadian Olympic Association. In 1993, McKinnon was named a Life Member of Hockey Canada.

He’s also been made a Life Member of the Canadian Junior Hockey League and Hockey Manitoba, and been inducted into the Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame and Manitoba High Schools Athletic Association Hall of Fame.