LONDON, Ont. – The Western Men's Hockey Wall of Honour Inductions took place on Saturday, April 26 with 12 former Mustangs inducted. This year's inductees included Bill L'Heureux Sr., Steve Kopp and Tim Pearce inducted in the Builder category and Jake Avery, Peter Kelly, Gary Coons, Mike Gazdic, Brian Hanson, Sean Basilio, Paul Thomas and John Corbett all being inducted in the Player category.

CHRW's John Urban served as the night's Master of Ceremonies as the inductees were honoured at The Great Hall in Somerville House at the Wall of Honour Dinner alongside family, friends, and alumni. 

More information on this year's class of Wall of Honour inductees is available below.

Builders

Bill L'Heureux Sr. BA'68 – Bill coached the first Western varsity hockey team to the Final Four of the times in 1963-64. He went on to serve as the second Dean of the Faculty of Physical Education from 1977-82. He was a widely respected scholar, hockey coach, teacher, and sportsman, and was chairman of the National Advisory Council on Fitness and Amateur Sport from 1965-70 for the first Canada Winter Games in Quebec City. He was inducted into Western's "W" Club Athletic Hall of Fame as a builder in 1992.

Steve Kopp BA'82 MSc'84 – Steve first started covering the Mustangs hockey team in the 1979-80 season as a sports reporter for the Western Gazette. In 1980, Kopp joined the campus radio station CHRW, and formed the first sports department alongside Scott Weldon and Bernie Morrow. This past season marked Steve`s 34<sup>th</sup> season as being a part of the Mustangs hockey broadcasts on CHRW. Along with Steve`s contributions to the Mustangs hockey program, he continues to have an academic influence within Western`s campus as well. After gradutating with two Western degrees, an undergraduate degree in Economics and Math, and a Masters` degree in Statistics, Steve has been a Western educator himself, teaching Actuarial Science and Statistics since 1984.

Tim Pearce – Tim has been involved with the Mustangs hockey program since 1984, and has been a consistent volunteer to the program for the past 30 years. Tim got his start with the Mustangs hockey program when he was brought on to assist with game-day operations. He quickly became the program's statistician and balanced both game-day operations and statistician duties well into the 1990's. In addition to these positions, Tim was also present at many of the team's practices, assisting both team members and coaches by fixing skates, filling water bottles, and sewing jerseys. Today, Tim can still be found at every Mustang home game, coming early to review strategy and line combinations with the coaches prior to warm-up.

Players

Jake (John) Avery HBA'52 – Jake was a smooth skating centre-man throughout his four year intercollegiate career with the Mustangs hockey team. In the 1950-51 season, Jake set himself apart from the rest as he became the team`s leading scorer, an achievement he also held in the following season, and he also had the honour of becoming the captain of the team in the 1950-51 and 1951-52 seasons. In his rookie season, Jake received Second Colour honours, and he continued to be a recognized Western athlete throughout his intercollegiate career, earning back-to-back First Colour honours in the 1949-50 and 1950-51 seasons, while receiving the CIAU crest and the Bronze W in his fourth and final season with the Mustangs hockey team. Additionally, Jake was a member of the Honor Society Committee, Business Club and Kappa Alpha fraternity.
 
Peter Kelly MBA'66 – Peter was an assistant captain and All-Star in the 1965-66 season, helping Western to a 10-1-2 record in his final year.

Gary Coons BA'74 BEd'75 – Gary was a five-year member of the Mustangs hockey team, earning OUA Second Team All Star status in the 1974-75 season. He set a university league record for penalty minutes before becoming a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for the North Coast riding of British Columbia, Canada.
 
In Gary`s rookie season with the Mustangs hockey team he led the team in scoring, became the MVP, and earned First Colour honours. In the four years that followed, Gary earned four consecutive First Colour honours as a Mustang, and he was also awarded the Bronze W in the 1973-74 season. Gary earned OUA Second Team All Star status in the 1974-75 season, and he set a university league record for penalty minutes before becoming a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for the North Coast riding of British Columbia, Canada. He still ranks among the top 10 Mustangs all time points and assists leaders.

Mike Gazdic BA'83 – Mike started his hockey career at a young age, as he played for the Sudbury Wolves in the 1973-74 season when he was just 15 years old. A few years later he was drafted 66^th overall in the NHL Draft by the Buffalo Sabres. After attending the L.A. Kings` training camp in the fall of 1979, Mike started his three year intercollegiate hockey career with the Mustangs. In his rookie season, Mike became the assistant captain for the Mustangs, and took on the role of captain for his last two years with the Mustangs. He became an OUA Second Team All-Star in the 1981-82 season, and received back-to-back First Colour honours in the 1980-81 and 1981-82 seasons. In Mike`s second season as a Mustang, he was awarded the team`s MVP Circle K Trophy, and also was the recipient of the McChesney Trophy for sportsmanship and loyalty.

Brian Hanson BA'83 – In Brian's 1980-81 season with the Mustangs hockey team he scored 23 goals and posted 33 assists which placed him in third on the list of all-time single points leaders, and put him in both second and third place on the list of Mustangs all-time single season assist leaders. Brian's excellence as a centre-man earned him OUA Second Team All Star status in the 1980-81 season. Additionally, Brian earned back-to-back First Colour honours in the 1979-80 and 1980-81 seasons with the Mustangs, while also earning the team's MVP Circle K Trophy in 1980-81. In his third season with the Mustangs, Brian earned Second Colours, and in his fourth and final season he earned First Colour Honours for the third time in his intercollegiate career, as well as, the Bronze W. After leaving Western, Brian earned his MBA at Stanford University before beginning his 25+ career as a trusted advisor to global corporations and investment firms.

Sean Basilio BA'94 – Sean earned the Senator Joseph A. Sullivan Trophy (CIS Player of the Year), the Bill L'Heureux Trophy (Outstanding Player in OUA League Play) and was named an OUA West Division Player of the Year in his 1994-95 season.

Paul Thomas HBA'85 – Paul earned OUA Second Team All-Star designations in 1983-84 and 1984-85 and was a Purple Blanket Winner in 1985. He won the Howard Ferguson Award in the 1984-85 season and was a member of the Team Canada Olympic Hockey Program in 1984. He played for the Colorado Rockies Professional Hockey Organization (now the New Jersey Devils) in the 1980-81
 
Justin Davis BA'03 BEd'04 – Justin won a CIS National Championship in 2002, earning his Purple Blanket a year later. He received the Ed Chynoweth Trophy (Memorial Cup tournament leading scorer) in 1999 before going on to captain the Western team in the 2003-04 season. He graduated with 183 regular season points in 132 games (1.38 ppg) and 201 career points, the most ever by a UWO men's hockey player at the time.

John Corbett BA'64 MA'69 – John kept a copy of every Gazette published since he first got to Western in 1960 and is credited with seeing the first Western varsity team to fruition. He sent the letter to the O-QAA asking them to allow the Mustangs into the league in 1964-65 and organized meetings to keep the idea of a Mustangs hockey team in the forefront. After being canceled in 1955, hockey returned to Western as a varsity sport in 1963 in large part because of John. The team made the O-QAA four-team playoff in the 1964-65 season, the same season that he was named an All-Star.