Russ McConnell was an inaugural inductee to the McGill Sports Hall of Fame in 1996.
Born Russell Henry McConnell on Jan. 7, 1918 in Montreal, he was one of the most prolific hockey players in McGill history, scoring 116 goals with 95 assists for 211 points in 94 games. He studied commerce from 1935 to 1939, was a member of four McGill hockey championship teams, and played two seasons of senior football.
McConnell won two scoring titles in the International Intercollegiate Hockey League and in 1938-39, received the Ken Stewart Cup as the most valuable player in the Quebec Senior Hockey League. Appointed captain in his senior year, he established McGill career records for goals, assists and points which stood for four decades.
Among his other feats was notching two goals in seven seconds and scoring 40 goals in the 1938-39 season. But he saved his most impressive achievement for his last few weeks in a McGill uniform. In February of 1939, he set a McGill record for most points in a game (10) and accomplished this feat twice during a five-day period (seven goals, three assists vs. Harvard and five goals, five assists vs. U. of Montreal).
He served in World War II and was killed in action when his ship was torpedoed on Sept. 7, 1942 in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
Many years later, in a Remembrance Day article that was published in the Globe & Mail, author Tom Hawthorne wrote:
"Sub-Lieutenant Russ McConnell of the Royal Canadian Navy Volunteer Reserve had an assignment that seemed posh, recalled Merifield, his teammate. He was posted to a yacht in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Poor guy. On the evening of Sept. 6-7, 1942, the armed yacht HMCS Raccoon was escorting a convoy when a Greek merchant vessel was struck by a torpedo. Raccoon pursued the German submarine. The converted yacht was never seen again, believed to have been obliterated by two torpedoes fired by U-165. Raccoon sank with all hands. One month later, on Oct. 9, a body washed up at Ellis Bay on the western end of Anticosti Island. McConnell was identified by a school ring..."
