Brian McColgan explained

Brian McColgan
Birth Date:23 June 1966
Birth Place:Norwood, Massachusetts, USA
Height Ft:5
Height In:7
Weight Lb:150
Position:Defenseman
Shoots:Left
Played For:St. Lawrence
KooKoo
Tyringe SoSS
Ritten Sport
HC Milano Saima
HC Merano
Ntl Team:United States
Career Start:1984
Career End:1999

Brian McColgan is an American retired ice hockey defenseman who was an All-American for St. Lawrence.

Career

After high school, McColgan was planning on attending West Point, however, during the summer camp prior to entry, he decided that he belonged on a different career path.[1] He returned home and was discovered by St. Lawrence assistant Joe Marsh in a rec league. McColgan was brought to Canton part way through the 1985 season and finished out the final 19 games of the Saints' campaign.

When Marsh took over as head coach the following year, McColgan saw his production jump significantly and led the defense with 10 goals. The team's fortunes began to change in McColgan's junior season and the Larries produced their best finish in 19 years. The team got hot in the playoffs and ended up making their first conference championship game in 23 seasons.[2] Though they lost, St. Lawrence made the NCAA Tournament and looked to be on the upswing.

In McColgan's senior season, everything seemed to be going right for the Saints. McColgan more than doubled his previous career best for points and led the nation in points per game from the blueline (1.36).[3] He was named an All-American and led the Saints to their first regular season ECAC Hockey title (tied). The Saints then went charging through the conference tournament and won just the second conference championship in team history (the first since the inaugural ECAC tournament in 1962). St. Lawrence received the second eastern seed and, due to the new NCAA Tournament arrangement, received a bye into the quarterfinal round. They thoroughly dominated Wisconsin in the first game, winning 7–0, and enabled the team to take it easy in the second match. SLU returned to the Frozen Four for the first time since 1962 and met top western seed Minnesota. The two fought a hard battle but the Saints came out on top with a narrow 3–2 win.

The Larries went to just their second championship game and performed much better than they had in their first. While the team got behind 0–2 after the first, McColgan assisted on SLU's first goal and then scored to tie the game 3–3 in the second. With time waning and the Larries threatening, Lake Superior's Pete Stauber pushed the net off of its moorings and stopped play.[4] While most thought he should have received a penalty for the maneuver, no infraction was assessed and the teams would need overtime to decide the victor. Unfortunately for St. Lawrence, the Lakers scored first and skated away with the championship.

After graduating, McColgan headed to Finland to start his professional career. His first year with KooKoo turned out poorly for both him and the team and he moved on to Division 1 (the Swedish second league at the time) for two years. He performed much better with Tyringe SoSS but the team narrowly missed out on the postseason in the second year. During this time he was a member of two US Teams at the Spengler Cup, helping the club win the title in 1988.

In 1991 he headed south and joined SV Ritten, spending most of the next 4 years with the club. He ended up with HC Merano in 1996 and helped the club receive a promotion to Serie A in his first year with the club. He played at the top level of Italian hockey for three years, retiring after helping Merano win the championship in 1999. In 2009 McColgan became an assistant coach for Dexter Southfield School, a position he still holds as of 2021.

McColgan was inducted into the St. Lawrence Athletic Hall of Fame in 2015.[5]

Statistics

Regular season and playoffs

  Regular Season Playoffs
SeasonTeamLeagueGPGAPtsPIMGPGAPtsPIM
1984–85St. LawrenceECAC Hockey1913410
1985–86St. LawrenceECAC Hockey2410132326
1986–87St. LawrenceECAC Hockey343212426
1987–88St. LawrenceECAC Hockey3617324937
1988–89KooKooSM-liiga2420222
1989–90Tyringe SoSSDivision 1328243242411218
1990–91Tyringe SoSSDivision 1263141737
1991–92SV RittenSerie B2418123028
1992–93SV RittenSerie B
1993–94SV RittenSerie B
1994–95HC Milano SaimaSerie A82576
1994–95SV RittenSerie B2020244416109152420
1995–96HC MeranoSerie B3431417263114192314
1996–97HC MeranoSerie A
1997–98HC MeranoSerie A3422305273
1998–99HC MeranoSerie A15613191910281010
NCAA totals113 31 69 100 99
Division 1 totals58 11 38 49 79 4 1 1 2 18

International

YearTeamEventResult GPGAPtsPIM
1988USA SelectsSpengler Cup5000
1989USA SelectsSpengler Cup4th

Awards and honors

AwardYear
All-ECAC Hockey First Team1987–88[6]
AHCA East First-Team All-American1987–88[7]
All-NCAA All-Tournament Team1988[8]

Notes and References

  1. News: Brian McColgan '88 . St. Lawrence Saints . June 21, 2021.
  2. News: Saint Hockey Record Book 2015-16 . St. Lawrence Saints . November 4, 2019.
  3. News: NCAA - 1987-1988 . Elite Prospects . June 21, 2021.
  4. News: SLU-LSSU national championship controversy . YouTube . October 27, 2019.
  5. News: Brian McColgan . St. Lawrence Saints . June 21, 2021.
  6. News: ECAC All-Teams. College Hockey Historical Archives. May 19, 2013.
  7. News: Men's Ice Hockey Award Winners. NCAA.org. June 11, 2013.
  8. News: NCAA Frozen Four Records. NCAA.org. 2013-06-19.