MONTREAL – The McGill University men's hockey program collected three major awards and a trio of all-star berths as the OUA East honours were announced, Thursday. Defenceman Scott Walford of Coquitlam, B.C., was named winner of the division's True Sport Award and merited a berth on the first all-star squad. Joining him on the first team was forward William Rouleau of Ste. Basile de Portneuf, Que., while forward Eric Uba of Kitchener, Ont., earned second-team honours. The other major awards for McGill were handed out to forward Alexandre Gagnon of Gatineau, Que., – for combining leadership, academic and hockey excellence – and David Urquhart of Thorold, Ont., who was voted coach of the year in the nine-team division.
 
Walford, a 25-year-old economics senior from Coquitlam, B.C., becomes the sixth McGill player to merit the division's most sportsmanlike honour (including his back-to-back awards), which was previously presented to Tim Iannone (1987), Todd Marcellus (1996), David Burgess (2000) and Evan Vossen (2011).
 
The 6-foot-1, 195-pound defenceman was a third-round draft choice by Montreal Canadiens in 2017 and was invited last summer to participate in two rookie camps with the NHL's Tampa Bay Lightning (June 2023 and Sept. 2023). This season, Walford averaged over 25 minutes of ice time per contest and led all OUA rearguards with 1.20 points per game. Despite missing eight games due to a preseason injury, he posted a 4-20-24 record with 26 penalty minutes in 20 games, only one point shy of being the league's top-scoring defencemen. Over his three seasons at McGill, the workhorse blueliner has only been penalized 14 times in 59 OUA games. Perhaps the most impressive statistic was that three of his four goals were overtime winners. An alternate captain and two-time team MVP, Walford tied for second among OUA defencemen this season with 12 power-play points. He was also selected to play for a U SPORTS all-star squad in a two-game series against the Canadian world junior hopefuls last December.
 
An Academic All-Canadian and member of the Principal's Student-athlete Honour Roll, Walford helped lead Canada to gold at the 2023 FISU World University Winter Games in Lake Placid, N.Y. Last fall, he was a recipient of McGill's 1938 Champions Award (Nov. 2023), presented for combining leadership with athletic and academic excellence. Among Walford's off-ice contributions was organizing team participation in a "Run for the Cure" fundraiser, in honour of his roommate's mother who passed away from cancer (Oct., 2022). He has served as a team mentor for freshmen and volunteered for a McGill Athletics "thank-a-thon", calling donors to thank them for their support. Also, during the COVID-cancelled season (2020-21), while studying remotely from B.C., Walford stepped in as a volunteer assistant coach of a local under-15 hockey team after his former coach/mentor tragically took his own life.

Rouleau, a six-foot, 166-pound left-winger, topped the team in scoring for the second straight season  and finished sixth among the OUA scoring leaders with 37 points, including 14 goals, in 28 regular season contests. He only had six penalty minutes. The 23-year-old management sophomore tied for the league lead in both, game-winning goals (5) and power-play assists (12). Rouleau, a fleet-footed sniper, was recruited out of the QMJHL, where he played for Rouyn-Noranda and Chicoutimi..

Uba, a six-foot, 200-pound right-winger, finished second on the team in points and eighth among the league's scoring leaders with 34 points, including a team-leading 16 goals, in 26 contests. He had 43 penalty minutes and scored six power-play markers in addition to three game-winners. With one game left to play in the OUA playoffs, the 23-year-old management senior leads the OUA post-season scoring race with a 6-3-9 record in five games. Uba was recruited out of the OHL in 2020, where he skated for the Flint Firebirds and Guelph Storm.

Gagnon becomes the conference nominee for the national Randy Gregg Award. This marks the seventh time that a McGill player has merited this laureate from the OUA, following in the wake of Mathieu Darche (2000), David Burgess (2001), David Urquhart (TWICE: 2007 & 2008), Eric L'Italien (2009) and Nathan Chiarlitti (2018).
 
An alternate captain, Gagnon is a 25-year-old physical and health education senior, who has had the luxury of playing alongside his younger brother Mathieu, for the past two seasons. He has achieved a lofty 3.97 cumulative grade point average (out of 4) to earn Academic All-Canadian honours and a berth on the Principal's Student-athlete Honour Roll. The 5-foot-11, 177-pound defensive forward scored six goals and 17 points in 24 league games this season, with only six penalty minutes. He played a key role on McGill's stifling penalty-killing unit which led the nation with an 89 per cent success rate. Gagnon, who won the team's Albert Fyon Trophy as most improved player last season, has served as the team representative on the Varsity Council in the capacity of VP-Community Affairs. He also volunteered as project leader for the team's McGill-24 crowdfunding project (2023), represented the hockey team at the Residence Welcome Week event, served as a team mentor for the younger players, was chosen for the University's National Philanthropy Day video, and volunteered for a "McGill Athletics Thank-a-thon", which involved calling donors to the hockey program.
 
Gagnon is the recipient of multiple academic honours, including the 2023 Walter & Mary Marsh Scholarship (community involvement and outstanding leadership), the Tomlinson Undergraduate Award (academic excellence and mentorship), the Phi Delta Kappa Prize (exceptional extra-curricular and community involvement), a Minister of Education Excellence Scholarship (MEES Award), the John Chomay Award (academic and athletic excellence) and a 1938 Champions Award (leadership, academic excellence, athletic achievement).

Urquhart, a  39-year-old native of Thorold, Ont., guided his troops to a division-leading 21-5-2 record and a berth at the U SPORTS national championship tournament. His special teams boasted the top penalty-killing (89.2%) and power-play (34.0 %) units in the OUA, which also ranked first and second, respectively, in the country. This is the eighth time that a McGill hockey coach has merited this OUA award, including once by Jean Pronovost (1994), four times by Martin Raymond (2000, 2005, 2006, 2009) and twice by Kelly Nobes (2011, 2018).
 
A 2018 inductee to the McGill Sports Hall of Fame, Urquhart was appointed in 2021 as the 30th bench boss in team history and the 13th former McGill player to take the helm of the historic program, which was founded 147 years ago in 1877. A graduate of McGill's Desautels school of management in 2008, Urquhart played defence (2004-2008), while majoring in finance and entrepreneurship. In 2019, he completed a master's degree in sports psychology at McGill. He began his coaching career as a full-time associate coach under Kelly Nobes at McGill (2014-2018), followed by a three-year stint as an assistant with the AHL's San Diego Gulls (2018-2021).
 
As a player, Urquhart was recruited to McGill in 2004 out of the GHJHL, where he skated for the Welland Cougars (2001-2004) and Thorold Blackhawks (2000-2002). During his McGill playing career, Urquhart was named to the OUA all-rookie squad and was a three-time OUA all-star. He also merited 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 games overall. Urquhart won the Bobby Bell Trophy as Team MVP in his third season. In his senior year, he captained McGill to the OUA conference championship (2008), which marked the team's first Queen's Cup league title since 1946. Urquhart went on to a solid professional playing career, including stints in the AHL (2008-2011), the ECHL (2008-2011) and overseas in Italy (2011-2014).

The complete list of 2023-24 OUA men's hockey award winners and all-stars is as follows:

Most Valuable Player (East) – Simon Lafrance, UQTR
Most Valuable Player (West) – Jacob Roach, Brock
Defenceman of the Year (East) – David Noel, UQTR
Defenceman of the Year (West) – Zach Taylor, Brock
Goaltender of the Year (East) – Francesco Lapenna, Ottawa
Goaltender of the Year (West) – Connor Ungar, Brock
Rookie of the Year (East) – Francesco Lapenna, Ottawa
Rookie of the Year (West) – Connor Ungar, Brock
Coach of the Year (East) – David Urquhart, McGill
Coach of the Year (West) – TJ Manastersky, Brock
Randy Gregg Award (East) – Alexandre Gagnon, McGill
Randy Gregg Award (West) – Cole Purboo, Toronto
Champion of EDI Award (West) – Amanda Stefanile, Lakehead
True Sport Award (East) – Scott Walford, McGill
True Sport Award (West) – Chris Playfair, TMU

First Team All-Stars (East)

F – Simon Lafrance, UQTR
F – William Rouleau, McGill
F – Dalton Duhart, Queen's
D – David Noel, UQTR
D – Scott Walford, McGill
G – Francesco Lapenna, Ottawa

First Team All-Stars (West)

F – Jacob Roach, Brock
F – Kyle Bollers, TMU
F – Nick Wong, Toronto
D – Zach Taylor, Brock
D – Holden Wale, Windsor
G – Connor Ungar, Brock

Second Team All-Stars (East)

F – Luka Verreault, Ottawa
F – Jonathan Yantsis, Queen's
F – Eric Uba, McGill
D – Sean Larochelle, Concordia
D – Jacob Paquette, Queen's
G – Alexis Gravel, UQTR

Second Team All-Stars (West)

F – Harrison Caines, Nipissing
F – Jake Durham, Windsor
F – Tyler Burnie, Brock
D – Aaron Hyman, TMU
D – Colin Van Den Hurk, Lakehead
G – Kai Edmonds, TMU

All-Rookie Team (East)

F – Luka Verreault, Ottawa
F – Pier-Olivier Roy, UQTR
F – Derek Hamilton, Queen's
D – Edouard Cournoyer, UQTR
D – Nolan Seed, Carleton
G – Francesco Lapenna, Ottawa

All-Rookie Team (West)

F – Nick DeGrazia, Lakehead
F – Riley Gannon, Brock
F – Daniil Grigorev, TMU
D – Jonah Boria, Brock
D – Isaac Sookal, Wilfrid Laurier
G – Connor Ungar, Brock

SOURCE
Earl Zukerman
Sports Information Officer
Athletics & Recreation
McGill University
514-983-7012 (cell.)
www.mcgillathletics.ca
earl.zukerman@mcgill.ca