Mark Benning (born April 19, 1964) is a Canadian former professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

player and venture capitalist. He is currently serving as the Founder and Managing Partner of ''Excelsior.vc''. He founded and led Sprout Fund VC.

Biography

Benning was born in Edmonton as the son of NHL scout Elmer Benning for the

Montreal Canadiens The Montreal Canadiens (), officially ' ( Canadian Hockey Club) and colloquially known as the Habs, are a professional ice hockey team based in Montreal. The Canadiens compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic D ...

, and brother of former NHL players

Jim Benning James Elmer Benning (born April 29, 1963) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey executive and former player. He formerly served as the general manager of the Vancouver Canucks of the National Hockey League (NHL). Drafted in the first roun ...

and Brian Benning, and uncle of Brian's current NHL-playing sons, Matthew Benning and Mike Benning. While studying at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

, he was roommates with Canadian Prime Minister

Mark Carney Mark Joseph Carney (born March 16, 1965) is a Canadian politician and economist who has served as the 24th and current Prime Minister of Canada, prime minister of Canada since 2025. He has served as Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada, lead ...

Junior and NCAA

Benning played for the St. Albert Saints of the

Alberta Junior Hockey League The Alberta Junior Hockey League (AJHL) is an Alberta-based Junior A ice hockey league that belongs to the Canadian Junior Hockey League (CJHL). It was formed as a five-team league in 1964. The 2023–24 season began with 16 teams, however 5 ...

(AJHL) junior team. He was recruited by the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac (known simply as Notre Dame; ; ND) is a Private university, private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1842 by members of the Congregation of Holy Cross, a Cathol ...

, Benning played for two years with the Fighting Irish and then transferred to

in 1984. Benning graduated from Harvard with a degree in economics in 1987, and excelled with the

Crimson Crimson is a rich, deep red color, inclining to purple. It originally meant the color of the kermes dye produced from a scale insect, '' Kermes vermilio'', but the name is now sometimes also used as a generic term for slightly bluish-red col ...

. He was named a first-team All-American, an Academic All-American, All-Ivy League, All-ECAC and as of 2014 still held the record for career assists by a defenceman at Harvard with 102. A three-year letter winner, Benning was also the 1987 Tudor Cup winner for most valuable player at Harvard and the 1987 Bingham Award winner for most valuable athlete in the Harvard senior class.

West Germany

After college, Benning played for EC Bad Nauheim in the West German Hockey League for two seasons before retiring from hockey in 1989.

Later career

After his playing career Benning went to

Stanford Business School The Stanford Graduate School of Business is the graduate business school of Stanford University, a private research university in Stanford, California. For several years it has been the most selective business school in the United States, adm ...

Awards and honors

He was inducted into the Harvard Athletic Hall of Fame in 2004.

References

External links

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Benning's official websiteMark Benning from Sproutfund
{{DEFAULTSORT:Benning, Mark 1964 births Living people AHCA Division I men's ice hockey All-Americans Canadian ice hockey defencemen Harvard Crimson men's ice hockey players Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Ice hockey people from Edmonton Stanford University alumni University of Notre Dame alumni 20th-century Canadian sportsmen