Mike McShane won four Division 3 National Championships during his legendary career as the Norwich hockey head coach. (Courtesy Photo)
Published in the July 9, 2019 edition.
PLYMOUTH — Wakefield native Mike McShane was inducted into the Massachusetts Hockey Hall of Fame on June 15 at the annual event held in Plymouth.
McShane was inducted along with Nick DeMarco, former UNH coach Dick Umile, who was teammates with McShane at UNH and Boston Bruins General Manager Don Sweeney. There were also five posthumous inductees in the class of 2019: George V. Brown, John P. Chase, Vic Heyliger, Jim Fullerton and Eddie Shore.
MIKE McSHANE
McShane was the head coach at Norwich University from 1995 to 2018. During his tenure he guided Norwich to four NCAA Division 3 National Championships in 2017, 2010, 2003 and the 2000 team featuring future NHL player Keith Aucoin.
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 was honored with 25 coach of the year awards and tallied an impressive 741-348-69 career record, ranking him the 7th winningest college hockey coach of all-time.
McShane has a long and storied career in men’s college hockey. He began his coaching career at Exeter Academy, the New Hampton School and Dartmouth College. He was hired by St. Lawrence University as its head coach in 1980 where he coached current New Jersey Devils General Manager Ray Shero. McShane then signed a multi-year contract with Providence College in 1985.
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. McShane coached many future NHL players at Providence including Tom Fitzgerald, Rob Gaudreau, Chris Therian, Craig Darby, Hal Gill, Joe Hulbig, Jeff Serowik and Chris Terreri.
In 1994, he took a break from coaching and became a consultant for the Ottawa Senators, but the teacher in him drew him back to the locker room.
So, in 1995 McShane was named Norwich University’s 10th Men’s Ice Hockey Coach.
McShane grew up in Wakefield and attended Wakefield High School and Tabor Academy. He graduated from UNH 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.
Coach McShane and his wife Shawn reside in Montpelier, VT. They spent the winter in Estero, FL spending time with Mike’s daughter Megan, grandson Max and son Dan.
