Current position | |
---|---|
Title | Head coach |
Team | Michigan Tech |
Conference | CCHA |
Biographical details | |
Born | Sault Ste. Marie, MI, US | January 28, 1963
Alma mater | Lake Superior State University |
Playing career | |
1982–1987 | Lake Superior State |
Position(s) | Goaltender |
Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
1988–1995 | Lake Superior State (Volunteer Assistant) |
1995–2005 | Soo Indians (HC/GM) |
2005–2008 | Lake Superior State (Assistant) |
2008–2014 | Northern Michigan (Assistant) |
2014–2017 | Michigan Tech (Assistant) |
2017–present | Michigan Tech |
Head coaching record | |
Overall | 138–103–26 (.566) [College] 474–162–43 (.730) [NAHL] |
Tournaments | 0–4 (.000) |
Accomplishments and honors | |
Awards | |
2023 CCHA Coach of the Year | |
Joseph R. Shawhan (born January 28, 1963) is an American ice hockey head coach who is currently leading the program at Michigan Tech. [1]
Shawhan began his time at Lake Superior State in 1982. After sitting out the 1984–85 season he returned in force, finishing second in the nation with a 3.03 goals against average. During his time with the Lakers the program went from 11th in the conference to a perennial power and won the national title the year after he finished school. Shawhan stuck around his hometown of Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan for several more years, working as a volunteer assistant for the Lakers until he accepted the head coaching job for the expansion Soo Indians (also located in Sault Ste. Marie). The Indians lasted only ten seasons with Shawhan serving as the general manager and head coach for the entire time, but during their brief existence they left a lasting impression. Shawhan compiled a record of 474–162–43, becoming the winningest coach in the history of the NAHL. He won the coach of the year three times (1996, 2000 and 2001) [2] while his team won three league titles. [3]
After the Soo Indians suspended operations in 2005 Shawhan returned to college, rejoining Lake Superior State as a full-time assistant staying with the Lakers for another three years before accepting his first position outside of Sault Ste. Marie. He still didn't have to the leave the Upper Peninsula, moving down the road a short way to Marquette and becoming first a volunteer assistant for Northern Michigan and transitioned into director of hockey operations before assuming a full-time assistant coaching position. In 2014 he accepted a post at Michigan Tech as an assistant under Mel Pearson. [4] Shawhan worked specifically with the goaltenders and defenseman and the team saw immediate results, recording three consecutive 20+ win seasons (their first since 1988) and made the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1981.
With Shawhan's arrival timing perfectly for the program's renaissance he was perhaps the obvious choice to be named as Pearson's replacement in 2017.
Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Michigan Tech Huskies (WCHA)(2018–2021) | |||||||||
2017–18 | Michigan Tech | 22–17–5 | 12–11–5–2 | 5th | NCAA East Regional semifinals | ||||
2018–19 | Michigan Tech | 14–20–4 | 13–12–3–1 | 6th | WCHA quarterfinals | ||||
2019–20 | Michigan Tech | 21–15–3 | 14–12–2–0 | 6th | Tournament cancelled | ||||
2020–21 | Michigan Tech | 17–12–1 | 7–7–0 | T–5th | WCHA quarterfinals | ||||
Michigan Tech: | 74–64–13 | 46–42–9 | |||||||
Michigan Tech Huskies(CCHA)(2021–present) | |||||||||
2021–22 | Michigan Tech | 21–13–3 | 16–8–2 | 2nd | NCAA West Regional semifinals | ||||
2022–23 | Michigan Tech | 24–11–4 | 15–7–4 | 2nd | NCAA Midwest Regional semifinals | ||||
2023–24 | Michigan Tech | 19–15–6 | 12–10–2 | T–2nd | NCAA East Regional semifinals | ||||
Michigan Tech: | 64–39–13 | 43–25–8 | |||||||
Total: | 138–103–26 | ||||||||
National champion Postseason invitational champion |
Sault Ste. Marie is a city in the Upper Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is the county seat of Chippewa County and is the only city within the county. With a population of 13,337 at the 2020 census, it is the second-most populated city in the Upper Peninsula, behind Marquette. It is the primary city of the Sault Ste. Marie, MI Micropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Chippewa County and had a population of 36,785 at the 2020 census. Sault Ste. Marie was settled by mostly French colonists in 1668, making it the oldest city in Michigan.
The St. Marys River, sometimes written St. Mary's River, drains Lake Superior, starting at the end of Whitefish Bay and flowing 74.5 miles (119.9 km) southeast into Lake Huron, with a fall of 23 feet (7.0 m). For its entire length it is an international border, separating Michigan in the United States from Ontario, Canada.
Lake Superior State University is a public college in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. It enrolls approximately 2,000 students. Due to its proximity to the Canadian border, LSSU has many Canadian students and offers joint programs with Sault College and Algoma University in the twin city of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada across the St. Marys River. In a sign of this close relationship with its international neighbor, LSSU flies both the Canadian and United States flags on its campus.
The Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League (NOJHL) is a Canadian Junior ice hockey league and member of the Canadian Junior Hockey League and Northern Ontario Hockey Association. The winner of the NOJHL playoffs competes for the Dudley Hewitt Cup with the winners of the Ontario Junior Hockey League and the Superior International Junior Hockey League. The winner of the Dudley Hewitt Cup then moves on to compete for the Royal Bank Cup.
The Soo Eagles are an American junior ice hockey team from Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan that plays in the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League (NOJHL). In 2012, the Eagles bought the North American Hockey League franchise rights of the Traverse City North Stars and transferred to the NAHL. In 2015, the Eagles sold their franchise rights and rejoined the NOJHL.
The Soo Thunderbirds are a Junior "A" ice hockey team from Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada. They are a part of the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League (NOJHL).
Rick Comley is a former collegiate ice hockey player and former head coach at Michigan State University. He finished his 38-year coaching career with a 783–615–110 (.556) record. In 2007, he became the third coach in NCAA history to win a national championship at two different schools. Comley is currently serving in his second stint as the athletic director at Northern Michigan University, hired in 2022.
The Elliot Lake Vikings were a Canadian junior ice hockey team that originally began playing in the International Junior B Hockey League in 1965. In 1981, the team moved to the Tier II Junior A Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League. The team was located in Elliot Lake, Ontario, Canada.
The International Professional Hockey League (IPHL) was the first fully professional ice hockey league, operating from 1904 to 1907. It was formed by Jack "Doc" Gibson, a dentist who played hockey throughout Ontario before settling in Houghton, Michigan. The IPHL was a five team circuit which included Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, Calumet, Michigan and Houghton. The IPHL was instrumental in changing the nature of top-level senior men's ice hockey from amateur to professional.
Denny Lambert is a former professional Canadian ice hockey player and member of the Batchewana First Nation. Lambert was drafted in the Ontario Hockey League where he played for the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds for three years. He then played 2 seasons in the International Hockey League with the San Diego Gulls before signing as a free agent with the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim of the National hockey league. He was then signed as a free agent with the Ottawa Senators in July 1996 and went on to play for the Nashville Predators (1998-1999) and the Atlanta Thrashers. He rejoined the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (2001-2002) for his final NHL season before finishing off his career in the American Hockey League with the Milwaukee Admirals. He also coached the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds of the Ontario Hockey League from 2008–2011. He went on to be a First Nations Police Officer with the Anishinabek Police Service. Denny graduated from the Ontario Police College in November 2012. He was hired as an associate coach by the Gatineau Olympiques of the QMJHL in 2016.
The Lake Superior State Lakers men's ice hockey team is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I college ice hockey program that represents Lake Superior State University. The Lakers are a member of the Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA). They play at the Taffy Abel Arena in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan.
The Aberdeen Wings are a Tier II junior ice hockey team based out of Aberdeen, South Dakota, that began play for 2010–11. A member of the North American Hockey League in the Central Division, the Wings play their home games in the Odde Ice Center.
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Sault Ste. Marie is a city in Ontario, Canada. The third-largest city in Northern Ontario after Sudbury and Thunder Bay, it is located on the St. Mary's River on the Canada–US border. To the southwest, across the river, is the United States and the Michigan city of the same name. The two cities are joined by the Sault Ste. Marie International Bridge, which connects Interstate 75 on the Michigan side to Huron Street on the Ontario side. Shipping traffic in the Great Lakes system bypasses the Saint Mary's Rapids via the American Soo Locks, the world's busiest canal in terms of tonnage that passes through it, while smaller recreational and tour boats use the Canadian Sault Ste. Marie Canal.
The 2011–12 Michigan Tech Huskies men's ice hockey team represents Michigan Technological University in the 2011–12 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey season. The team is coached by Mel Pearson, a 1981 Michigan Tech alumnus in his first season as a head coach after spending the past 23 seasons as an assistant/associate coach for the Michigan Wolverines. The Huskies play their home games at the MacInnes Student Ice Arena on the campus of Michigan Tech in Houghton, Michigan, and compete in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA).
Elmwood, also known as the Henry Rowe Schoolcraft House, the Schoolcraft House or the Indian Agency, is a frame house located at 435 East Water Street in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. It was designated a Michigan State Historic Site in 1956 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.
The Lake Superior State Lakers are the athletic teams that represent the Lake Superior State University, located in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, in NCAA Division II intercollegiate sporting competitions. The Lakers compete as members of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference for 12 of 13 varsity sports, with the men's hockey team playing in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association. The Lakers have been members of the GLIAC since 1972.
J. Richard 'Rick' Yeo was a Canadian ice hockey player and coach who was also a member of Michigan Tech's administration for over 20 years.