Former St. Lawrence University men's hockey coach and Legend of Appleton, Mike McShane, has been named the 2026 Legend of College Hockey recipient by the Hobey Baker Memorial Award Foundation.

McShane, who spent 37 years coaching in college hockey, was the head coach at St. Lawrence from 1980 to 1985. He is the second Saint to earn the honor after Ron Mason was named a Legend of College Hockey in 2004. 

The University honored McShane as a Legend of Appleton during the 2018-19 season, and he is among an esteemed group of Legends, including Brian McFarlane '55, the late Bill Torrey '57, former women's coach Paul Flanagan '80, Peter McGeough '88, Gina Kingsbury '04, former coach Joe Marsh, Michele Amidon '94, Pam Seaborn Mahoney '92, Tom O'Connor '75, and the late Ray Shero '84.

The remarkable shift in the culture of St. Lawrence Hockey can be traced back to the introduction of Mike McShane as head coach in the spring of 1980.

After inheriting a team that had finished the previous year at 6-26, McShane finished with a first-year record of 15-16-2. The Saints then qualified for the ECAC playoffs in year two and went on to reach the NCAA tournament in his third season after finishing with 23 wins.

In his five seasons with the Saints, McShane posted a 93-65-6 record, but more importantly, established a culture of excellence and integrity. He also left behind his successor, Joe Marsh, and several classes that were instrumental in the Saints' run to the 1988 National Championship game and won back-to-back ECAC tournaments in 1988 and 1989.

After a nine-year stint as head coach at Providence College, McShane moved to Norwich University (Division III), where he had remarkable and sustained success. In 23 years under McShane, the Cadets won four National Championships, 17 consecutive NEHC regular season titles (1999-2015) and 19 overall, earned 16 NCAA tournament appearances, and reached 12 Frozen Fours. McShane was named New England Hockey Conference Coach of the Year 11 times and is the winningest coach in Norwich history with a record of 497-130-38.

McShane retired from coaching following the 2017-18 season.

Besides his many on-ice accolades as a head coach, McShane will be inducted into the Vermont Sports Hall of Fame on April 25 as part of the class of 2026 in Vermont. Coach McShane will be honored along with this year's Hobey Baker Award winner at the annual Hobey Baker Award banquet and golf outing this summer in St. Paul, Minnesota. Banquet and golf information will be available soon by visiting the Hobey website at: hobeybaker.com.

Past recipients of  the Legends of College Hockey can be found HERE