Shawn Walsh

Shawn Walsh left the University of Maine and all of Maine with some of the best lessons possible in how to be a winner, but not just a winner in a tough game or a division championship and not just in sports. Mr. Walsh’s teams sacrificed and prepared to win the biggest contests. They learned their strengths and weaknesses and those of their opponents, knew how to dig deeper when the chances were against them and knew, unquestionably, to aim high, to win the most important games around. Mr. Walsh’s death Monday at age 46 as a result of complications from kidney cancer will be mourned by the many who knew him and the many more who watched and admired his teams.

Some at UMaine figured the brash, energetic Walsh wouldn’t stick around long after he was hired in 1984, that he would use the university the way so many other coaches have, as a step toward someplace more impressive. They hadn’t figured that Mr. Walsh intended to make his new school that impressive place. From an 11-52 record in the three years before he arrived to annual appearances in the NCAA Tournament and two national championships during his tenure, he left behind an excellent record and lasting legacy. But even better than the wins was the change in attitude – gone was an acceptance of mediocrity or worse, replaced with an expectation that UMaine would work hard enough to win at the highest level.

Nothing showed that better than the team’s second national championship, at Anaheim in 1999. Opposing teams knew that the Black Bears were capable of winning big games but they also saw late-season slump and Hockey East disappointments joined with a lack of stand-out players that pointed to a quick exit from the tournament. That didn’t happen, of course. The Black Bears won the big one, in overtime, no less, because despite earlier NCAA penalties, the players stuck with UMaine and they stuck together. And like his team, Mr. Walsh persevered. He took his lumps when it would have been easier to pack his bags. His ability to hold the program together as he regained the trust of players and fans was remarkable.

Those traits emerged again in a bigger fight, against cancer, and his upbeat and determined comments then as before showed a man of character and dignity. It was a contest that, like the ’99 championship, he could take into overtime, but one he eventually could not win. His players, hockey fans, the university community and countless kids who populate Alfond when the Black Bears play gained immeasurably from the way Mr. Walsh led his team. He will be missed by all of them.