MONTREAL – Each Wednesday for a six-week period from May 20 to June 24, one of the 2020 inductees to the McGill Sports Hall of Fame will be profiled. In our second installment, meet hockey's Vanessa Davidson.

Born on Aug. 15, 1984 and raised in Montreal's West Island suburb of Kirkland, Que., "Vinny" Davidson, attended Seignory elementary school in Pte. Claire, Que., before moving on to John Rennie high school and John Abbott College. A product of the Lakeshore Hockey Association, the 5-foot-8 power forward skated five seasons for the McGill Martlets before graduating in 2010 with a degree in physical education.
 
A four-time Quebec conference all-star, the high-scoring centre also merited All-Canadian honours on each occasion, including a pair of CIS first-team selections in both 2007 and 2008, followed by CIS second-team laureates in 2009 and 2010. She joins goaltender Kim St-Pierre as the only other Martlets player to merit four All-Canadian selections.
 
A two-time Team MVP, Davidson was named as the team's most dedicated player in her fifth and final campaign. During her sophomore year, she set single-season school records for goals, assists and points, posting a stellar 39-29-68 mark in 42 games overall. In her senior year, she became McGill's all-time leader in games played, goals, assists and points, with a 145-158-303 record in 203 games overall. In regular season play, she posted a 57-82-139 mark in 84 contests.
 
A double recipient of the Gladys Bean Trophy as McGill female athlete of the year, Davidson was voted to the all-tournament team at the 2008 nationals, was twice-named as the Quebec league's player of the year in 2006-07 and in 2007-08. She served as team captain in her final season and led the conference in scoring three times in five years. Davidson also helped lead Canada to gold at the 2009 world university FISU Games in China, where she scored eight points, including four goals, in four games.
 
In February of 2007, she received the Club de la Medaille d'Or sports excellence merit award, presented annually to the top players at the university, collegiate, junior major, junior AAA and midget AAA levels, who best combine on-ice ability with academics, enthusiasm and sportsmanship.

The bulk of her collegiate career was played during McGill's historic 86-game win streak, the longest such sequence in CIS hockey history, a streak that was snapped in her final varsity game, a 2-0 loss to Alberta in the national championship final on March 14, 2010.
 
During her stint at McGill, the Martlets won five consecutive Quebec league crowns, reached the national gold medal game four times and skated away with two national championships (2008, 2009). After graduating, she played for the Montreal Stars in the Canadian Women's Hockey League, where she registered a 52-59-111 record in 91 games and won a pair of Clarkson Cup national titles (2011, 2012).
 
She is currently an elementary and physical education teacher at Pierre Elliot Trudeau school in Vaudreuil, Que.  A product of John Abbott College, she returned to her old stomping grounds in 2015, where she currently serves as an assistant coach of the women's hockey team.

Other new laureates joining Davidson in the 2020 McGill induction class include basketball All-Canadian Nasko Golomeev, football all-star Glenn Miller of Beaconsfield, Que., and soccer All-Canadian Odile Desbois, a current Montrealer from Sherbrooke, Que., plus All-Canadian hockey player Bryan Larkin of Saskatoon, Sask. Elected in the builder category is Michael Richards, a resident of Westmount, Que., who originally hails from Estevan, Sask.

The hallowed Hall now has 157 honoured members, 27 of them Olympians, since the pantheon was initiated in 1996.
 
The 25th annual induction luncheon was expected to kick-off the University's 2020 Homecoming Week celebrations in late September but the coronavirus pandemic has resulted in a probable postponement for a date to be announced later. Profiles for all previous inductees to the McGill Sports Hall of Fame are also available online at: www.mcgillathletics.ca/hof.aspx


SOURCE:
Earl Zukerman
Communications Officer
Athletics & Recreation
McGill University
514-398-7012 (Tel.)
m.athletics.mcgill.ca (mobile website)
www.mcgillathletics.ca
earl.zukerman@mcgill.ca