Dear Maine hockey friends,

I wish to express my sincere feelings of sorrow and sympathy to all
of you.  My thoughts and prayers are with Shawn's family -- Lynne,
their children, the rest of his family, and also his entire extended
family at Maine.

It will be difficult to think of Maine hockey without Shawn there
behind the bench.  But I feel that while it is true as some have said
that he was Maine hockey and Maine hockey was him, it is also true
that he built a legacy that will outlive him and live on.  In the
players past and present who carry what he taught them into their
personal and professional lives.  In the way that he showed us how to
deal with adversity and even our own mistakes and how to bounce back
from all of this and never stop trying to be the best we can be -- it
is never too late.  And in the many people who make up the Maine
hockey family and will ensure that the good work he started and
inspired them to do, will continue.

If we are sad, it is only because we feel he was taken from us too
soon.  But it is only because of the impact he had on so many of us
that we feel that way at all.  That is why his life is something to
celebrate.

I personally will miss him tremendously and feel fortunate to have
been touched by him in many ways.  He was really like no other person
I have ever known.  In many ways he was what I have come to truly
love about this game of college hockey, and that goes far beyond what
takes place on the ice.