Coach Mike McShane has a long and storied career in men’s college ice hockey.  McShane began his coaching career at Exeter Academy, The New Hampton School, and Dartmouth College.  McShane was hired by St. Lawrence University as its head coach in 1980. In five short years he led the Saints to one NCAA tournament berth and four straight appearances in the ECAC Division I Tournament. In July 1985, McShane signed a multiyear contract to serve as the head ice hockey coach at Providence College.  At the time of his hiring then athletic director Lou Lamoriello called McShane "…one of the strongest people I've met in the coaching ranks ... a tireless worker.” McShane spent nine years at Providence, including four consecutive seasons with at least 21 wins between 1989 and 1992. He was named the New England Coach of the Year in 1989. In 1994, he became consultant to the Ottawa Senators of the National Hockey League.

 

McShane was named Norwich University’s 10th Men’s Ice Hockey Coach in 1995.  During his tenure he guided Norwich University to four NCAA Division III National Championships in 2017, 2010, 2003 and 2000.  Under his guidance, Norwich made 16 NCAA Tournament appearances and 12 NCAA Frozen four appearances and won 19 of 20 New England Hockey Conference (NEHC) regular season titles, including an unprecedented 17 in a row.  McShane became Norwich’s all-time winningest coach during the 2008-09 season and under his leadership the Cadets never posted a losing season.

 

McShane concluded his coaching career behind the Norwich Cadet bench winning back-to-back NEHC Coach of the Year honors in 2017 and 2018, bringing his total career regional and national coach of the year awards to 25.  McShane tallied an impressive 741-348-69 career record, currently ranking him the 7th winningest coach of all-time. In December 2018, St. Lawrence University honored McShane as a Legend of Appleton Arena, where he’s been recognized by many for rebuilding the program.  McShane has coached a number of players who went on to professional hockey careers, including Tom Fitzgerald, Rob Gaudreau, Craig Darby, Chris Therien, Joe Hulbig, Hal Gill, Chris Terreri, Randy Sexton, Keith Aucoin, Marc Bellemare, Kurtis McLean, and Ray Shero who currently serves as New Jersey Devils General Manager.

 

McShane grew up in Wakefield, MA and attended Wakefield High School and Tabor Academy. He graduated from University of New Hampshire in 1971 where he served as the assistant captain, becoming the third-leading scorer in Wildcat history. McShane earned his master’s degree from Boston University.