Petrolia hockey hero Meghan Hunter will be honored with April 1 with a place on the Petrolia Wall of Fame.
Hunter’s achievements will be celebrated at a public ceremony at the Greenwood Recreation Center at 5:30 pm
An Oil Springs native, Hunter began her hockey career with Petrolia Minor Hockey, one of only three girls in the organization. She made the travel team in her second year of playing while also excelling in a number of other sports as well as in the classroom, earning a Nicol Scholarship from LCCVI in her graduating year.
Following high school, Hunter accepted a scholarship to the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she won numerous awards, including the Western Collegiate Hockey Association’s Rookie of the Year, a US National leader in goal scoring and as well as a Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award ( top US women’s college hockey player) finalist.
During her time at the university, Hunter won an Academic Award of Excellence as a member of WCHA League All-Academic team in 2002 and 2003, was on the Dean’s Honor List from 2002-2004. She was also a four-year letter winner and an All-American in 2001 and 2002.
She scored 177 points during her career, scored the fastest hat trick in UW history and in her final year she won the Jeff Sauer Award (an award presented to the player who consistently demonstrates dedication to her teammates, coaches and the sport of hockey).
After university, Hunter became assistant women’s hockey coach for the University of Niagara in 2005 and the University of Maine in 2006. In 2008, Hunter became the director of group sales for the London Knights, later moving on to become the manager of hockey operations, national teams at Hockey Canada, where she assisted numerous teams winning gold and silver medals.
Hunter later went to the United States to work with the NHL’s Chicago Blackhawks franchise, first working as GM Stan Bowman’s executive assistant before becoming director of hockey administration and the first female amateur scout in Blackhawks history.
In 2022, Hunter was recognized by Hockey News as one of 20 women with credentials to hold a future NHL GM role, she was the first annual recipient of the Blackhawks’ BELT award (for performance and demonstration of organization values) and was named by Sportsnet as one of the 25 most powerful women in hockey.
Mayor Brad Loosley said he was thrilled to honor Hunter’s incredible legacy by giving her a spot on the town’s Wall of Fame.
“We are proud to be inducing Meghan Hunter to our Wall of Fame, here at the Greenwood Arena where her hockey career began, in the Town of Petrolia,” he said.