HIGH ACHIEVERS: Hall of Fame tradition continues to grow for uOttawa varsity sports

By Martin Cleary

The 2024-25 varsity sports season will be a year of celebration at the University of Ottawa for at least three different reasons.

In early September, the first-year and returning students will see a new director of recreation and varsity sports to replace Sue Hylland, who will retire in June after eight years of dedicated service.

Read More: uOttawa, Carleton athletic directors Sue Hylland, Jennifer Brenning preparing for June retirement

In late March, the university will play host to the 2025 U Sports University Cup men’s hockey championship at The Arena at TD Place, which will be a first for the school.

Somewhere in between hiring a new athletic leader and having eight teams play for the hockey trophy named after Canada’s 28th Governor-General David Johnston, uOttawa will pay tribute to its outstanding athletes from the past in four separate hall of fame induction ceremonies.

While most universities will have a single hall of fame for its most accomplished athletes, coaches, builders and teams, uOttawa has five existing halls of fame and will add three new halls in the coming 2024-25 athletic season.

Since its first hall of fame induction ceremony for football in 1973, uOttawa has introduced similar athletic shrines for men’s hockey in 2005, women’s basketball in 2009, women’s volleyball in 2016 and men’s basketball in 2024.

uOttawa will celebrate milestone seasons in 2024-25 for three of its women’s sports by inducting the inaugural hall of fame classes this fall in soccer, rugby and hockey.

At the end of March, uOttawa announced four new members to its men’s hockey hall of fame – forward Joey St. Aubin (1991-94), goalkeeper Phil Comtois (1992-94) and defenceman Chris Boucher (2001-05) as well as head coach Mickey Goulet (1989-2003).

The public can complete and submit a nomination form for consideration of an athlete, coach, builder or team to the women’s soccer, rugby and hockey halls of fame via the Gee-Gees’ website.

The deadline for the women’s soccer and women’s rugby submissions is May 15 and May 30 for the women’s hockey program.

Women’s soccer is one of the most successful programs in Canada with 11 U Sports championship medals, including two national titles, 11 OUA conference championships, 132 OUA all-stars and 37 All-Canadians. The program started in 1994-95 and is entering its 30th season.

The women’s rugby program, which also debuted in the 1994-95 season, won the U Sports national title in 2017 and has earned seven RSEQ conference championships. Canada’s national 15s and sevens squads have selected 11 former Gee-Gees in the past.

The women’s hockey program turns 25 years old and since its start in 1999-2000 has made four national championship tournament appearances, won a silver medal and one RSEQ conference title. The program also has had 49 RSEQ all-stars and four All-Canadians.

Meanwhile, the men’s hockey program will celebrate its latest inductees on Sept. 14 as part of the Gee-Gees men’s hockey golf tournament.

Mickey Goulet was the Gee-Gees’ head coach for a record 14 years from 1989-2003. It was his longest stint as a coach with one team, after spending 10 seasons with Colby College in Waterville, Maine, from 1977-82 and 1984-89 and three seasons at New England College in Henniker, New Hampshire, from 1974-77.

He led the Gee-Gees to three first-place finishes in the OUA, the provincial East Division final, and four Far East Division championship games. Goulet was a four-time conference coach of the year and took the Gee-Gees to the playoffs in 10 of his 14 seasons.

After his coaching career with the Gee-Gees, which saw him set a record for most wins at 182, he coached the Italian men’s team at the 2006 Winter Olympics.

Joey St. Aubin had an outstanding final season with the Gee-Gees in 1993-94, scoring an OUA-leading 21 goals in 24 games, counting 42 points and being named a conference all-star and All-Canadian. During his three-year career, he had 39 goals and 64 assists and played on back-to-back first-place teams.

As a junior, he played the 1987-88 season with the Ottawa 67’s and the following three years with the Kitchener Rangers, compiling a career record of 250 games played, 107 goals and 205 assists.

Phil Comtois spent his first two university years at Clarkson before he played his final two years (1992-94) as the Gee-Gees’ goalkeeper. In his first uOttawa season, he was named the OUA East MVP and an All-Canadian, a program first in both cases. He had a nation-leading goals-against average of 2.36.

The Ottawa native posted a 2.55 goals-against average in 1993-94 to give the Gee-Gees their two best back-to-back goalkeeping seasons ever, which triggered a pair of first-place conference finishes. Comtois later served as the uOttawa goalie coach.

One of only two four-time OUA all-stars, Chris Boucher was captain of the Gee-Gees’ team when it reached the national championship tournament in the 2003-04 season.

A defensive defenceman, Boucher played on regular-season, pennant-winning teams in 2001-02 and 2003-04, and anchored the team’s lowest-ever goals-against average at 2.33 in 2001-02. Boucher played 99 games for the Gee-Gees, scored 10 goals and added 43 assists.

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