McGILL SPORTS HALL OF FAME PROFILE: All-Canadian David Urquhart

By: Earl Zukerman

David Urquhart

Men's Hockey | 7/18/2018 12:05:00 AM

MONTREAL – Each Wednesday for a six-week period from mid-June to mid-July, we are profiling one of our 2018 inductees to the McGill Sports Hall of Fame. This week, meet all-Canadian hockey rearguard David Urquhart from Thorold, Ont.

Born Nov. 10, 1984, Urquhart went on to attend St. Charles elementary school in Thorold and Denis Morris high school in nearby St. Catharines before being admitted to McGill, where he graduated with a commerce degree in 2008. He skated for the Welland Cougars, a junior B team, and defied all odds by eventually making his way to the collegiate ranks and then the American Hockey League, where the six-foot, 195-pound rearguard played 130 games for Hartford and Hamilton, scoring six goals and 23 points to go along with 78 penalty minutes.

During his McGill career, he was a three-time OUA all-star in four seasons with the Redmen from 2004-05 to 2007-08. He became the team's third defenceman to merit all-Canadian honours, earning a berth on the second team in 2006-07 and concluded a brilliant university career with 23 goals and 107 points, along with 330 penalty minutes, in 147 career games overall. He is currently tied with Mike Babcock as the eighth-highest point-scoring defenceman in McGill history, trailing Marc-André Dorion (192 points), Gilles Hudon (152), Martin Routhier (135), Ryan McKiernan (117), David Bahl (110), Bryan Larkin (109) and Luc Latulippe (109).

Named to the OUA all-rookie squad during his freshman year, Urquhart won the Bobby Bell Trophy as team MVP as a junior and then went on to captain McGill to a Queen's Cup championship in his senior campaign, the team's first league title since 1946. He was a two-time OUA conference nominee for the Randy Gregg trophy, awarded nationally for combining hockey ability with academics and citizenship. He made the Principal's Student-athlete Honour Roll, merited Academic All-Canadian honours, won the Richard Pound Trophy for leadership over his McGill career and received the University's prestigious Gretta Chambers Award for leadership.

Urquhart, who is fluent in three languages -- including French and Italian -- became the eighth McGill player to skate in the AHL and also had pro stints in the East Coast Hockey League with Charlotte and Wheeling. He then headed overseas to play pro in Italy, where he skated for teams in Valpellice and Pontebba before guiding Ritten-Renon to a league championship in 2014. After signing a contract extension that summer, he made a difficult decision to retire from pro hockey at the age of 29 in order to accept a full-time assistant coaching position at McGill while pursuing a master's degree in sport psychology. He also served as head coach of the Serbian national team at the IIHF Div. 2 world hockey championships in 2018.

Other 2018 laureates for the McGill Sports Hall of Fame include Olympic rower Doug Vandor, soccer All-Canadians Danielle Day of Ile-Bizard, Que., and Adam Mar of Pointe Claire, Que., along with all-star hockey centre Shauna Denis of Stittsville, Ont. Inducted in the team category will be the 2007-08 McGill Martlets hockey squad, which became the first McGill women's team to win a CIS national championship.

The hallowed hall now has 145 honoured members, 25 of them Olympians, since the pantheon was initiated in 1996.

The 23rd annual induction luncheon will kick-off the University's 2018 Homecoming Week celebrations on Thursday, Oct. 11. About 200 tickets will be available for the ceremony, scheduled to be held at the Windsor Ballroom on Peel Street. Tickets are $80 and can be reserved online at http://myalumni.mcgill.ca beginning in August or by contacting the McGill Alumni Association at 514-398-8288.

Profiles of each new inductee will be posted online at www.mcgillathletics.ca each Wednesday from mid-June to mid-July. Biographies of all previous inductees to the McGill Sports Hall of Fame are available online at http://www.mcgillathletics.ca/hof.aspx

Submissions for next year's induction can be made by completing an online nomination at the above website link and submitting it by March 1, 2019.

SOURCE:

Earl Zukerman
Communications Officer
Athletics & Recreation
McGill University
514-398-7012
www.mcgillathletics.ca
earl.zukerman@mcgill.ca
@EarlZukerman (twitter)

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Players Mentioned

#08 Ryan McKiernan: D; 6' 0"; Fourth Year; 4

Players Mentioned

#08 Ryan McKiernan
: 6' 0"; Fourth Year; 4
: D

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McGILL SPORTS HALL OF FAME PROFILE: All-Canadian David Urquhart

Players Mentioned

#08 Ryan McKiernan

Players Mentioned

#08 Ryan McKiernan