Though I care not a whit about PC hockey, I thought you fellow hot-stove
leaguers might appreciate the local slant to McShane's resignation. I
did not realize how long the article was before I started typing ...
McShane resigns PC hockey post
By Dave Phillips - Providence Journal-Bulletin Sports Writer
(reprinted without permission)
PROVIDENCE - Mike McShane, who took Providence College hockey teams
to the NCAA tournament in 1989 and '91 resigned yesterday after nine seasons
to pursue an opportunity in hockey administration.
McShane said he was seriously considering a job offer from Randy Sexton,
president of the NHL Ottawa Senators who played for McShane at St.
Lawrence in the early '80s.
McShane said yesterday he'd been thinking about this kind of job change for
about a year but decided he should stay and complete the job with a young
team.
McShane's overall record at PC was 151-153-25 but 116-80-15 over the last
six seasons. The Friars lost a total of 11 players to graduation and to the
pros and McShane knew he'd be coaching a team made up mostly of freshmen
and sophomores.
"I didn't think it was fair to turn over a rebuilding job to somebody else," he
said. "I wanted to finish the job correctly, sign the new recruits, and so
forth."
McShane, a former University of New Hampshire hockey co-captain, took the
PC coaching job in 1985 after five years at St. lawrence. His St. Lawrence
teams compiled a 93-65-6 record, made four consecutive trips to the ECAC
tournament and one to the NCAAs. Prior to that he had been assistant coach
at Dartmouth for two years and head coach at New Hampton Prep School in
New Hampshire for six.
PC had a losing record in McShane's first three seasons but his next four years
won 21 or more games each year.
"I'm proud of the accomplishments we've had here as far as turning this
program around a few years ago," McShane said.
His 1988-89 team with future professionals Rob Gaudreau, Mike Boback, Rick
Bennett, and Jeff Serowik, won 22 games, finished third in the Hockey East
tournament and came within an eyelash of making the NCAA final four.
Besides developing players who later made the pros, McShane also had a
number of his assistants become coaches or administrators. The list includes:
Don Vaughan, head coach at Colgate, Dick Umile, head coach at New
Hampshire, and Scott Borek, head coach at Colby. Bob Gaudet, a player at
Dartmouth when McShane was assistant coach there, is now head coach at
Brown.
McShane felt his 1989-90 team , which went 22-10-3 had been unjustly passed
over for NCAA tournament consideration.
"We beat BU two out of three and tied them, but they went and we didn't," he
said.
The following year, the Friars did make the NCAA tournament and upset
Minnesota at Minneapolis in an NCAA first round game before the Gophers
came back and won the next two.
McShane's '92 team was on the bubble an not picked and with Boback and
Gaudreau gone the Friars went 16-16-4 in 1992-93 and 14-19-3 this year, with
a fifth-place finish in Hockey East, the first time in six years the Friars had
finished out of the top four.
"It was the youngest team I've ever coached but they're an excellent bunch of
kids and I know they're going to be right up there again next year," McShane
said.
McShane said he'd made no direct recommendations to PC athletic director
John Marinatto about his successor, but felt Tim Army, a Friar assistant for six
seasons until he left to take a job with the Anaheim Mighty Ducks, would be
the best successor.
"I think he (Army) would be the most natural, considering he worked here for
six years and knows all the kids. He'd be the most natural for the job,"
McShane said.
"I would like to publicly thank Mike for his efforts on behalf of Providence
College for the past nine years," said Marinatto. "His contributions to our
program over that time are greatly appreciated."
Marinatto said he would not rush into what he called "a very important
decision," choosing a new coach.
Marinatto said he would have conversations over the next few weeks with a
number of people about other viable candidates.
"then I'll take some time and talk to those people and see if they fit into the
profile of the college and whether Father (John) Cunningham (PC president)
and I would feel comfortable about having them on campus," he added. "After
that, we'll talk in terms of particulars and see if we can get the right person to
take the job."
"There are so many qualified candidates out there , we can speak to who I
think would be amenable to taking the job, so I want to take my time and make
sure we do exactly the right thing," Marinatto said.
McShane said yesterday he planned to take a short vacation and would study
for two months at Boston University for a master's degree in sports
administration. His participation in BU's sports management masters program
would logically lead to an administrative job, perhaps as an athletic director.
But McShane said yesterday he wouldn't rule out a return to coaching.
He told his PC players about his proposed career move before making it
official and also let his incoming recruits know there might be a coaching
change. "But I told them the program was set and I assured them there'd be a
good coach coming in," McShane said.
McShane said yesterday that Lewis Kitvig, a center and right winger who
played this year for the Merritt Centennials of the British Columbia Junior
Hockey league, and Mike Mader, a defenseman from Loomis-Chaffee School
in Connecticut, had also committed themselves to Providence.
John Touhy, a defenseman from Kent School committed himself to the
Providence College program. PC is graduating three scholarship players this
spring and could sign three to replace them.
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+ David C. Ketcham + Internet: [log in to unmask] +
+ Asst. Professor of Finance + +
+ Bryant College + Phone: (401) 232-6456 +
+ 1150 Douglas Pike + +
+ Smithfield, RI 02917 + Fax: (401) 232-6319 +
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