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Bob Gainey laughs with Abbey Fraser (left), Emily Davies (centre) and Gabrielle Davidson after handing out bursaries.
Local players cash in with Habs
Gainey hands out bursaries to promising up-and-coming players
John Meagher
The Gazette
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Bob Gainey laughs with Abbey Fraser (left), Emily Davies (centre) and Gabrielle Davidson after handing out bursaries.
Some West Island hockey players are a $1,000 richer after receiving bursaries from the Montreal Canadiens Scholarship Program.
Habs GM Bob Gainey awarded 28 bursaries worth $1,000 each to amateur hockey players at a ceremony at the Bell Centre last week.
Among the eight members of the Quebec women’s team receiving bursaries were locals Emily Davies of Ste. Anne de Bellevue, Pointe Claire’s Gabrielle Davidson and Abbey Fraser from Hudson.
On the boys’ side, Pointe Claire’s Michael Matheson, a 15-year-old member of the Lac St. Louis Lions, was one of 20 midget Triple-A players awarded a bursary.
Recipients were chosen based on their hockey performances and scholastic achievements at the high school or CEGEP levels.
“I’m going to put my bursary toward my education or hockey,” said Davies, a Grade 10 honours student at St. Thomas High School, where she also stars for the girls’ hockey team.
Davies, who played for the Quebec under-18 women’s team last fall, would like to continue her hockey career at the university level someday.
Besides her high school team, Davies is also playing for the Lac St. Louis midget Elites girls’ team, coached by Larry Moffat.
“So far our team has won two of three tournaments,” said Davies, whose Elite teammates include Davidson, a speedy 16-year-old centre.
The Canadiens Scholarship Program, managed by the Quebec Foundation for Athletic Excellence in partnership with the Hockey Québec and the midget Triple-A league, is a support program to help the most promising young male and female amateur players in the province.
“As a professional sports franchise, it is our duty to support the development of hockey and to encourage up-and-coming players,” said Gainey.