The Flyers and Stars PR department each won the Dillman Award in 2015, and this marks the third time in six years Philadelphia has been recognized, led by senior director of communications Zack Hill and assisted by director of public relations Joe Siville and manager of broadcasting and media services Brian Smith.

The Philadelphia Flyers and Dallas Stars are the 2018 recipents of the Dick Dillman Award, presented annually by the Professional Hockey Writers Association (PHWA) to honor the work of outstanding NHL public relations staffs in each conference.

Dallas' PR department is led by vice president of communications Tom Holy, assisted by manager of media relations Ben Fromstein and manager of corporate communications Joe Calvillo.

The Eastern Conference runner-up was the Carolina Hurricanes, led by Mike Sundheim, the Hurricanes long-time vice president of communications and team services and assisted by manager of communications and team services Pace Sagester.

The Anaheim Ducks were named as the runners-up in the West, led by Alex Gilchrist, the Ducks long-time director of media and communications, assisted by media and communications manager Steve Hoem and publicist Keren Lynch.

The Dillman Award is presented annually to honor of the work of the late Dick Dillman, who headed the Minnesota North Stars public relations department.

The committee is chaired by Eric Duhatschek of The Athletic and includes a blue-ribbon panel of senior members of the PHWA.

"The goal of any successful public relations staff is to assist, not obstruct," Duhatschek said. "What we discussed internally was how all four staffs honored here - with a win or a runner-up finish - did just that. You always had the sense they were prepared to go the extra mile. In a changing media landscape, the help they provided was appreciated, across the board, by members of our association."

The Dillman awards will be presented to the winners at the 2018 NHL Draft in Dallas on June 22-23.