AHCA

12 Amind all the glitter of the awards show on the NHL Network, ESPN's John Buccigross asked McPhee if he remem- bered how he learned that he had won the Hobey. "We had just been eliminated by Northeastern in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. While we were all trying to process it, my coach, Jerry York, came over and told me I had won the Hobey." It was a simpler time. Speaking of the Hobey Baker Award, I was very happy to see that this year Hobey Baker Legend of Hockey is Mike McShane. A five-time winner of the Edward Jeremiah Award given to the Division III Coach of the Year, McShane won 741 games in his stints at Providence, St. Lawrence, and Norwich. But before all of that, he was a star player at the University of New Hampshire. "We were teammates for two years," recalls former UNH head coach Dick Umile. "He was a very good player. Very tough, great guy to have on your team. He hired me out of Watertown (MA) High School to be his assistant at Providence College, for which I am extremely thankful." I recall McShane delivering a keynote talk at an AHCA Convention in Naples, and suggesting the game would be better if after a goalie tied up a puck, the offensive team had to back away and let the goalie toss the puck to his teammates. "We have too many whistles," he offered. When Hockey East celebrated its 35th season, the conference's local network, NESN, taped a roundtable discus- sion between Jack Parker, Umile and McShane. It still airs from time to time. As good as Parker and Umile were, McShane stole the show. Congratulations to Michigan State's Adam Nightingale, who recently finished his fourth season at the helm of the Michigan State hockey program. He has been selected as the next head coach of the U.S. National Junior Team, as announced by USA Hockey on Wednes- day. The team will play at the 2027 IIHF World Junior Championship on Dec. 26, 2026 – Jan. 5, 2027, in Edmonton and Red Deer, Alberta. "Adam is an excellent coach, and we are excited to have him guiding and helping build our team," said John Vanbies- brouck, general manager of the U.S. National Junior Team and also assistant executive director of USA Hockey, in a press release. "He knows the player pool extremely well and has such a good handle on what it takes to win on the interna- tional stage." Nightingale is no stranger to USA Hockey, most recently serving as an assistant coach for the gold medal-winning U.S. Men's National Team at the 2025 IIHF Men's World Championships. One annual feature of this column is a look at pre-season polls for Division I men and women and then a look at the year's final polls, those taken after the respective Frozen Fours are in the books. Here we go: 2025 DIVISION I WOMEN'S PRE-SEASON POLL (September 16, 2025) 1. Wisconsin 2. Ohio State 3. Minnesota 4. Cornell 5. Minnesota Duluth 6. Colgate 7. Clarkson 8. Penn State 9. St. Lawrence 10. Quinnipiac 11. Boston University 12. Connecticut 13. St. Cloud State 14. Northeastern 15. Princeton 2026 DIVISION I WOMEN'S FINAL POLL (March 24, 2026) 1. Wisconsin 2. Ohio State 3. Penn State 4. Northeastern 5. Minnesota 6. Connecticut 7. Quinnipiac 8. Yale 9. Princeton 10. Minnesota Duluth 11. Cornell 12. Mercyhurst 13. Minnesota State 14. Clarkson 15. Colgate FROM THE MEDIA DIRECTOR | C O N T I N U E D F R O M PAG E 3 April-May 2026 | ahcahockey.com FAR LEFT, Mike McShane addresses a St. Lawrence gathering. Mike is this year's Hobey Baker Legend of Hockey. NEAR LEFT, Head coach of the next U.S. National Junior Team, Adam Nightingale of Michigan State. Mike McShane Adam Nightingale

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