At the 2015 NHL Entry Draft, women’s hockey freshman London McDavid met a Canadian hockey star who would go on to be an NHL all-star and accumulate over 700 points. Her cousin Connor was also there.
“I met Mitch Marner,” McDavid said. “And I hadn't heard of the sports before. So then I was like, ‘Dad, what is Connor doing?’ And then he told me about hockey and we were all talking about it. I was like, ‘Oh, I want to try doing that, [it] looks pretty fun.’”
A week after the draft, McDavid’s parents signed her up for skating lessons.
Turns out, Marner wasn’t the only future NHL all-star at the rink that day. Connor would go on to become one of the best hockey players in the world — and McDavid went from watching in the stands to suiting up for a storied NCAA hockey program.
While Connor (and Mitch Marner) may have helped inspire London McDavid’s hockey journey, Cornell’s newest forward will be playing at Lynah Rink because of her own drive and hard work. While most hockey players start skating as young as four or five years old, McDavid got off to a comparatively late start at the age of eight.
“I started skating right away and then my parents just put me in hockey and I was like, ‘Wow, there [are] other girls that have actually been playing and skating for a while now,’” McDavid said. “It took me a while to kind of understand that I wasn’t there yet.”
That didn’t stop McDavid. Every Sunday for two years, she and her father traveled to a training center with a skating treadmill, a device that allows players to practice their skating without an ice rink. The rigorous training with her coach, Scott Elliott, allowed her to improve both her speed and stride technique.
“My skating got better. Especially at that age, your ability to get better at things is just so much faster,” McDavid said. “So, I just kept working and shooting in my backyard, and I tried out for the rep team two years later and I made it.”
By then, McDavid had caught up and even surpassed many of her teammates. Going from never having played organized hockey to being among the best skaters her age in British Columbia was an impressive feat that required serious dedication.
“I think those two years were really big for my development, just working extra hard to get to the time I had lost before,” McDavid said. “I would go home and then I would work on my hands and my shot there, but then more of my skating on the treadmill and on the ice. I felt myself getting better.”
McDavid’s emphasis on her skating wasn’t by accident. When she wasn’t practicing her shot or skating on the treadmill, she was watching one of the best skaters in the NHL. While London was working her way through the ranks of junior hockey, Connor was making a name for himself on the Edmonton Oilers en route to seven NHL all-star game appearances and three Hart Trophies (awarded to the top player in the NHL).
“I watched a lot of Connor, we watched so many of his games,” McDavid recalled. “A lot of people say I skate like Connor now, and it was all just me watching him skate and [watching] his crossovers.”
Like her late hockey start, McDavid’s road to Cornell was also untraditional. Before the college hockey recruitment window opened, the Ivy League was not something the British Columbia native had considered.
“Coach Edith [Racine] called me and we got in contact. I didn’t know a lot about the school, I’d only ever heard of it in Gilmore Girls and The Office,” McDavid said. “As soon as I got here, I met coach [Doug Derraugh ’91] and all the players, and it was instantly a sense of home.”
Despite being a freshman, McDavid will have a lot asked of her in her first season in Ithaca. Cornell has just 11 forwards rostered, meaning that McDavid will be starting and playing heavy minutes all season. While the move from high school to college hockey is a big one, McDavid is confident she can make the adjustment.
“You’ve got to … let yourself make mistakes. I think that's the hardest part,” McDavid said. “Accepting that it’s going to be a challenge and an adjustment, but not to be hard on yourself and to keep reminding yourself of who you are and who you want to be.”
For Cornell, McDavid will wear 79. It’s a switch-up from what she wore growing up — 17 — but the sentiment is all the same.
“I grew up wearing 17 because that was the number that I first saw Connor play in Under-18 Team Canada. So when I was starting hockey, that's when he was wearing that number,” McDavid said.
When 17 was taken at Delta Hockey Academy — where McDavid played before heading east to Cornell — she pivoted. At the time, Connor was wearing 97 in the first years of his stellar career with the Oilers.
“I used to wear his Team Canada number, and I didn’t want to wear 97,” McDavid said. “But 79 [is] a cool number, and it's backwards of his.”
While the hardest part of the transition to college hockey for McDavid might be accepting mistakes, getting excited about the start of her first season has been much easier. Two years after her commitment to Cornell, McDavid finally donned the Cornell sweater in a scrimmage against Brown and Yale that she described as “surreal.”
“Finally getting here and putting on the jersey was really special,” McDavid said. “I can’t wait for the crowds and to be finally in season and live out what I have been dreaming of for so long.”
When people watch McDavid play, they might look twice at her last name, or see shades of her cousin in her skating stride.
But McDavid is forging her own path in hockey. She doesn’t see her last name as a burden, but rather as an honor.
“When people think of me, they’re like, ‘Oh, that's Connor McDavid’s cousin,’” McDavid said. “But I think something I’ve learned and especially through my family and their support is [how] I’m so proud of my last name and I’m so proud of how far Connor's come and what he’s been able to do.
“But then also remembering [that] I’m my own person, and even though we share that last name, we carry it with a lot of pride,” McDavid said. “[We are] proud of our last name, and also our own journeys and who we are as people and also as players.”
Jane McNally is a senior editor on the 143rd editorial board and was the sports editor on the 142nd editorial board. She is a member of the Class of 2026 in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. You can follow her on X @JaneMcNally_ and reach her at jmcnally@cornellsun.com.
Eli Fastiff is a senior editor on the 143rd editorial board and a member of the class of 2026 in the College of Arts and Sciences. You can follow him on X @Eli_Fastiff and reach him at efastiff@cornellsun.com.
