Urquhart grabbed by Gulls, becomes ninth McGill grad to coach in AHL

By: Earl Zukerman

Josh Blatt

McGill assistant coach David Urquhart (right) and head coach Kelly Nobes

Men's Hockey | 8/27/2018 6:03:00 PM

MONTREAL – David Urquhart, an assistant coach with the McGill University Redmen, has been appointed to the coaching staff of the San Diego Gulls, an American Hockey League affiliate of the Anaheim Ducks. He will serve as an assistant to bench boss Dallas Eakins, along with Brett Ferguson, Sylvain Lefebvre and goaltending coach J.F. Labbé.

A 33-year-old native of Thorold, Ont., who is slated for induction to the McGill Sports Hall of Fame on Oct. 11, Urquhart becomes the ninth McGill graduate to coach in the AHL, seven of whom skated for the Redmen. He has served the past four years as a full-time assistant to Kelly Nobes at McGill and most recently, was head coach of the Serbian national team at the 2018 IIHF Div. 2 world hockey championship.

Nobes is expected to announce his 2018-19 coaching staff later this week.

Urquhart had a solid playing career, including stints in the AHL with Hartford (2008-10) and Hamilton (2010-11), where the six-foot, 195-pound rearguard played 130 regular season games, scoring six goals and 23 points to go along with 78 penalty minutes.

He skated for the Welland Cougars, a junior B team, and defied all odds by eventually making his way to the collegiate level, graduating from McGill's Desautels school of management in 2008, majoring in finance and entrepreneurship. He also enrolled in a master's degree in sports psychology at McGill, which he is expected to complete in 2019. During his McGill career, Urquhart was a three-time OUA all-star in four seasons 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 in his third collegiate season and then went on to captain McGill to a Queen's Cup championship in 2008, 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 patrolled the blueline 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.

Other McGill grads to coach in the AHL include Bryan Murray (Hershey, head coach, 1980-81), Doug Carpenter (New Brunswick, 1980-81; St. Catharines, 1982-84; Halifax 1988-89 & 1991-92; New Haven, 1991-92), George Burnett (Cape Breton, 1992-94; Binghamton, 1995-97), Jamie Kompon (Baltimore, 1996-97), Mike Babcock (Cincinnati, 2000-02), Guy Boucher (Hamilton, 2009-10), Martin Raymond (Hamilton, asst. coach, 2009-10; Syracuse, head coach, 2012-13) and Dan Jacob (Laval, assistant coach, 2018-present).

SOURCE:

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

Print Friendly Version

Scoreboard

McGill University Athletics

Urquhart grabbed by Gulls, becomes ninth McGill grad to coach in AHL