Joe Shawhan
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Joseph R. Shawhan (born January 28, 1963) is an American
ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...
head coach A head coach, senior coach, or manager is a professional responsible for training and developing athletes within a sports team. This role often has a higher public profile and salary than other coaching positions. In some sports, such as associat ...
who most recently served as head coach at
Michigan Tech Michigan Technological University (Michigan Tech, MTU, or simply Tech) is a public research university in Houghton, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1885 as the Michigan Mining School, the first post-secondary institution in the Uppe ...
.


Career

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 Goals against average (GAA), also known as average goals against (AGA), is a statistic used in field hockey, ice hockey, lacrosse, soccer, and water polo that is the mean of goals allowed per game by a goaltender or goalkeeper (depending on spo ...
. 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 Sault Ste. Marie ( ') is a city in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, Upper Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is the county seat of Chippewa County, Michigan, Chippewa County and is the only city within the county. With a population of ...
for several more years, working as a volunteer assistant for the Lakers until he accepted the head coaching job for the expansion
Soo Indians The Soo Indians were a Junior ice hockey#Tier II, Junior A ice hockey team playing in the North American Hockey League, North American Hockey League. The team was based in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. History In 1995, the Sault Tribe of Chippewa I ...
(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) while his team won three league titles. 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 The Upper Peninsula of Michigan—also known as Upper Michigan or colloquially the U.P. or Yoop—is the northern and more elevated of the two major landmasses that make up the U.S. state of Michigan; it is separated from the Lower Peninsula b ...
, moving down the road a short way to Marquette and becoming first a volunteer assistant for
Northern Michigan Northern Michigan (also known as Northern Lower Michigan and colloquially within Michigan as "Up North") is a region of the U.S. state of Michigan. The region, which is distinct from the more northerly Upper Peninsula of Michigan, Upper Peninsul ...
and transitioned into director of hockey operations before assuming a full-time assistant coaching position. In 2014 he was named an assistant coach at
Michigan Tech Michigan Technological University (Michigan Tech, MTU, or simply Tech) is a public research university in Houghton, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1885 as the Michigan Mining School, the first post-secondary institution in the Uppe ...
under
Mel Pearson Melvin Kim Pearson (born February 8, 1959) is a former college ice hockey player and the former head coach of the Michigan Wolverines men's ice hockey team. Pearson played for Michigan Tech Huskies men's ice hockey, Michigan Tech from 1977 to 1 ...
. Shawhan worked specifically with the goaltenders and
defenseman Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from Goal (ice hockey), scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the l ...
and the team saw immediate results, recording three consecutive 20+ win seasons (their first since
1988 1988 was a crucial year in the early history of the Internet—it was the year of the first well-known computer virus, the Morris worm, 1988 Internet worm. The first permanent intercontinental Internet link was made between the United State ...
) and made the NCAA tournament for the first time since
1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 6 – A funeral service is held in West Germany for Nazi Grand Admiral ...
. On May 30, 2017, he was promoted to head coach at Michigan Tech. On May 22, 2025, Bill Muckalt was named as the head coach of Michigan Tech, ending Shawhan's tenure as head coach. He finished his career at Michigan Tech with a 154–120–29 record in eight seasons.


Head coaching record


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Shawhan, Joe 1963 births Living people American men's ice hockey goaltenders Lake Superior State Lakers men's ice hockey players Michigan Tech Huskies men's ice hockey coaches Sportspeople from Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan Ice hockey coaches from Michigan Ice hockey players from Michigan 20th-century American sportsmen