The University of British Columbia Athletics

VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds women's hockey team has landed a major recruit for the upcoming 2014-15 Canada West season as Kelly Murray will suit up for the blue and gold next year.

"We are very excited to welcome Kelly Murray into the Thunderbird family," said UBC head coach Graham Thomas. "She is a two-way defenceman with a solid presence who has the skills to jump into the play and contribute offensively. Kelly has a great shot we look forward to utilizing on the Thunderbird's power play.

"We know Kelly has the dedication and potential to be an outstanding CIS player. She is here for the right reasons and we look forward to working with Kelly to help her reach new exciting levels of personal performance and success."

Murray spent the last couple of seasons with the Ivy League's Cornell University Big Red. She played 37 games, recording a goal and 12 assists.
 
"It was the logical thing for me to do," said Murray. "Because of my injuries over the past two years, I've missed out on about a whole year of hockey. With the new rule that allows players to come back to the CIS without having to sit out a year, I feel that it will start to attract more players who have gone through a similar experience to mine."
 
The 5-foot-7 defenceman from Calgary is the second NCAA Division I player to transfer to the Thunderbirds' program in two years. UBC's outstanding combination of academics and athletics helped seal the deal.
 
"Education is a really important thing to my family, and I knew that if I was going to leave an Ivy League school, I would need to pick an institution that could compare both academically and athletically, which UBC does in both categories," said Murray, who was inspired to contact the team when she found out Thomas was the head coach.
 
"I know coach Graham through Hockey Alberta and when I found out that he was the head coach for UBC, I automatically knew that I wanted to give him a call and look more seriously into their program."
 
Murray played two years with Team Alberta's Under-18 squad, winning gold at the Canada Winter Games one year and serving as captain the next. She has also participated in the Hockey Canada U18 program, earning invitations to the spring conditioning and summer camps two years in a row.

She has also attended some elite hockey schools alongside her sisters: The Pursuit of Excellence in Kelowna, Shattuck St. Mary's in Faribault, Minn. and the Edge school for Athletes in Calgary. 

"Kelly comes to us from some of the top hockey programs in North America," said Thomas. "We know she will contribute to the Thunderbirds as an impact player on the ice but, just as important to us, off  the ice Kelly is a dedicated student who comes from a fantastic family. She has leadership qualities which will strengthen our group/locker room even further. These personal qualities and characteristics are very high on our list of importance."
 
Murray comes from a family of stellar athletes. Her three other hockey-playing sisters also play for top academic and athletic institutions. Logan, the oldest of the group, spent four years for the McGill University Martlets, who were CIS champions last season. Madison is currently going into her senior year at Yale University, where she will be joined on the ice by the youngest of the bunch, Eden, who will be a rookie in 2014-15.
 
Kelly's father played CIS hockey for Calgary and Brandon before embarking for a professional career in Germany. Her mother was also a university athlete, in basketball, while her grandmother was a national-level curler. Kelly's second cousin is former Canadian national team and NHL coach Andy Murray, who's currently the bench boss at Western Michigan University.
 
Murray is the fifth recruit to join UBC for next season. The others are: Logan Boyd, Madison Patrick, Kaylin Snodgrass and Celine Tardif.
 
The Thunderbirds will begin the 2014-15 Canada West regular season on the weekend of Oct. 3-4 as they host the Saskatchewan Huskies at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre.
 
The team's regular season schedule can be found here: http://gothunderbirds.ca/schedule.aspx?path=icew