2003-04 McGill Athletics Press Release #127
Thursday, June 24, 2004
Olympic hurdler and legendary NHL builder, head list of 2004 inductees to the
McGill Sports Hall of Fame
MONTREAL -- Seven inductees, including one woman and a team, have been selected
for enshrinement to the McGill Sports Hall of Fame, increasing the total number
of honourees to 66 since the Hall opened in 1996.
All-Canadian hockey player Mark Reade, a 41-year-old native of Willowdale,
Ont., who now resides in Minnesota and graduated in 1986 as McGill's all-time
scoring leader, becomes the youngest male inductee to Hall. Other honourees
include Doug Heron, 79, of Montreal, a star fullback on the Redmen football
team and an all-star defenceman on the hockey team from 1945 to 1949. Also selected
was Anne Turnbull, 71, a four-sport athlete originally from St. John, N.B.,
who resides in Kingston, Ont. At McGill, she captained the basketball, soccer,
archery and sailing teams between 1952 and 1955.
Three individuals will be inducted posthumously, including Frank Patrick, a
member of hockey's legendary Royal family who graduated in 1908 and was inducted
into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1958. The Honorable Sydney Pierce was a Montrealer
who competed as a hurdler for Canada at the 1924 Paris Olympics and went on
to serve three decades in numerous countries as an ambassador to Canada. Also
chosen is the late Dr. Leo Konyk of Winnipeg, ahockey and football star at McGill
in the early 1960s.
The final selection is the 1932-33 Redmen ski team, winners of the British
Langlauf Clun championship, plus an international European university ski meet
known as the Akademische and the Kandahar trophy race.
The induction luncheon is scheduled for Oct. 14 as part of the University's
Homecoming Week celebrations. Submissions for future McGill inductions can be
made by obtaining a nomination brochure from the department of athletics. Biographies
of previous inductees can be found on the Internet at the McGill Athletics website
(www.athletics.mcgill.ca).
MORE DETAILED BIOGRAPHIES OF THE 2004 INDUCTEES FOLLOW:
Reade joined the Redmen from the OHL¹s Kingston Canadiens and played four
seasons at centre for McGill (1983-87). Reade was the first McGill player to
win the Guy Lafleur trophy as the Quebec university hockey player who best combines
hockey with academic performance. He served as co-captain with Mike Babcock
in 1986-87 and had a stint with Team Canada in 1987. A two-time winner of the
Forbes Trophy as McGill male athlete of the year (1985-86 and 1986-87), he was
the second player in McGill hockey history to earn All-Canadian status. He graduated
in 1987, with 14 school records, including most goals in a season (34) and game
(6), most points in a game (8), most shorthanded goals in a season (4), most
consecutive games scoring at least one goal (13). He became McGill¹s all-time
leading point-scorer with a 97-121-218 record in 157 games, a record, which
stood until 1990. A two-time Quebec league all-star and two-time winner of the
Bobby Bell Trophy as Team MVP, he was voted conference nominee for Sullivan
Trophy in 1986-87 as the most outstanding player in nation.
Heron, who stood 6-foot-1 and weighed 230 pounds, was dominant force on the
playing field. He was one of the few McGill athletes to start four consecutive
years with both the football and hockey teams. He lettered as a fullback and
kicker with the football team (1945-48) and as a defenceman in hockey (1945-49).
Heron, who graduated in 1949, also played a prominent role on McGill¹s
1945-46 Queen¹s Cup championship hockey team, which won the title in a
sudden-death game before a packed house at the Montreal Forum.
Turnbull transferred to McGill from the Maritimes in 1952 and competed for
three years, culminating with the Muriel Roscoe Award in 1954-55 as the top
graduating McGill female athlete. She established a McGill women¹s basketball
record with 44 points in an inter-city game, won the 1955 WIAU league scoring
title in archery and also received intramural champion letters in six sports,
including swimming, rifle shooting and badminton. She served on the McGill Women¹s
Sports Athletics Association for three years. In 1965, she became the first
woman in Canada to receive national coaching certification in cross-country
skiing. In 1991, Turnbull was a co-recipient of the OUA¹s Honour Award,
presented to an administrator for contribution to university sport in addition
to reflecting outstanding ethics, integrity and honesty. Turnbull went on to
a long coaching and administrative career at Queen¹s University and was
elected to the Queen's Coaching Hall of Fame in 2003.
Patrick, who graduated in 1908 and died in 1960 at the age of 75, playing at
cover-point (now known as defence), he helping McGill win the 1904-05 Queen¹s
Cup championship alongside his brother Lester. Frank once scored four goals
against the Toronto Varsity Blues on Feb. 16, 1906 and bettered that with a
five-goal effort in an 8-2 win at Harvard on Feb. 9, 1907. He was active as
an on-ice official, and at age 20, was a referee in his first Stanley Cup game.
The NHL rulebook carries 22 pieces of legislation originated by him, including
the introduction of the blue line and he earned a place in history as one of
the most visionary and influential figures in hockey. He was also inducted to
the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1958 and the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame in 1975.
Pierce, who died in 1992 at age 91, helped lead McGill to five consecutive
intercollegiate championships in track and field. A football player at McGill
in the early 1920s, he tried out for the track team and quickly mastered hurdles.
In 1923, after only three months of practice, he won both the Canadian amateur
and collegiate high hurdles championships. The following year, he won the high
and low hurdles college titles, setting McGill records in both events. He competed
for Canada in the 110-yard hurdles at the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris. Following
his athletic career, Pierce entered government service and later became the
Canadian Ambassador to Mexico, Brazil, and Belgium. He also served as a Foreign
Minister to the United States and Luxembourg, in addition to a stint as Deputy
High Commissioner to the United Kingdom.
Konyk was an outstanding hockey player for Montreal Jr. Canadiens (1954-55)
and once turned down an offer from Sam Pollack to play with the Montreal Canadiens.
He played seven seasons for the Redmen (1955-58 and 1959-62) at both forward
and defence and also played football for five years (1958-62), completing a
B.Sc. in 1958 and a degree in dentistry in 1962. Konyk won the Lois Obeck trophy
as most improved player on the football team in 1956 and later won the Forbes
Trophy as McGill male athlete of the year in 1957-58. He was a member of McGill¹s
1960 Yates Cup and Churchill Bowl championship football squad. With the hockey
team, Konyk served as captain for three consecutive seasons (1959-62). In his
final game, University officials honoured him with a "Leo Konyk Night"
before a record standing-room-only crowd at McConnell Arena, where he was presented
with an award in recognition of his outstanding contributions to McGill.
The 1932-33 ski team played a major role in making McGill an international
skiing power. The squad was composed of Harry Pangman (athlete-coach), George
Jost (athlete-coach), Jack Houghton (manager), Frederick Taylor (asst. manager),
Stirling Maxwell, Frank Campbell, Walter Dorken, Peter Renold and Bill Ball.
SOURCE: Earl Zukerman, Communications Officer, McGill Athletics (514) 398-7012
