Vicki Bendus is a Canadianprofessional ice hockey player who last played for the Brampton Thunder of the Canadian Women's Hockey League. While playing collegiate hockey with the Mercyhurst Lakers, she was the winner of the 2010 Patty Kazmaier Award, awarded to the top player in women's NCAA hockey. She was also selected for the Canadian national women's team that will compete in the 2010 Four Nations Cup. Bendus was the leading scorer at the 2011 MLP Cup. Since 2016, Bendus has worked as a coach for Canada's National Women's Under-18 Team.
Playing career
Bendus began playing hockey with the Etobicoke Dolphins of the Provincial Women's Hockey League at the age of 16. She attracted the attention of Mercyhurst University while leading the Aurora Panthers in scoring the following season.
Mercyhurst
During the 2008–09 Mercyhurst Lakers women's ice hockey season, Bendus was named assistant captain. She had a seven-game point scoring streak from Nov. 14 through Dec. 12, and registered four multiple-point contests and two game-winners during that span. She recorded a goal in four straight games from Nov. 21 through Dec. 6. From Feb. 13 through Feb. 27, she recorded 10 assists in five-game span.
On March 13, 2010, Bendus scored the 50th career goal of her career in the win over the Boston University Terriers. She is now the 8th Laker to have at least 50 goals in a career.
In addition, Bendus is also a member of the Mercyhurst women's golf team. In the 2008-09 golf season, she helped the Lakers get to NCAA Division I Golf national final.
Hockey Canada
Bendus won a gold medal at the Canada Winter Games with Team Ontario in 2007. On January 10, 2010, Bendus scored a goal and added two assists for the Canadian national women's under-22 team in the gold medal game of the 2010 MLP Cup. Canada defeated Switzerland, 9-0 in Ravensburg, Germany. The Canadian team won all four of their games by a combined score of 24-4, and secured their seventh goal medal in the past eight years. In three games, Bendus, Jesse Scanzano and Bailey Bram combined for seven goals and 18 points. Benuds and Bram were tied for the tournament lead in scoring, and Bendus was named the tournament's top forward. On October 6, 2010, Bendus was selected to play for the National Women's Team that will play in the 2010 Four Nations Cup. Bendus scored one of the six goals in the gold medal game of the 2011 MLP Cup. In addition, she was the captain of the team. She travelled to Bratislava, Slovakia to participate in the 2011 IIHF High Performance Women's Camp from July 4–12. In the third game of the 2011 IIHF Eight Nations Tournament, Bendus registered a hat trick and added one assist in an 11-0 shoutout over Slovakia. Bendus won gold with Team Canada at the 2012 IIHF Women's World Championship. She was invited to try out for Team Canada's 2014 Winter Olympics roster but failed to make the final cut. After she was cut, Bendus began studying at Brock University for her master's degree in applied health sciences and kinesiology.
CWHL
In the 2011 CWHL Draft, she was selected fourth overall by the Brampton Thunder.
Coaching
In 2016, Hockey Canada asked Bendus to coach their under-18 female hockey program. At the time, she was also working at Brock University as a Sports Performance Coach. In 2017, she was named a strength and conditioning coach for Canada's National Women's Under-18 Team. As a coach, she helped Team Canada win an IIHF World Championship, becoming one of the few women to win one both as a player and a coach.
