BGSU hockey alumnus George McPhee was announced as the 2026 recipient of the Lou Lamoriello Award on April 1, 2026. The honor is given to a former NCAA Hockey coach or player who has demonstrated success in their profession (whether hockey or not) after college, named after Lou Lamoriello, a player, coach, athletic director, and NHL executive during his life.
McPhee is the 17th-ever winner of the Lamoriello Award, the first from any team currently in the CCHA. He is also the fourth to receive the award for success in an athletic profession and the second to earn one for contributions specifically to hockey.
A native of Guelph, Ontario, he attended and played hockey at BGSU, where he won one of the program’s two Hobey Baker Awards and was named to three all-CCHA teams and the 1979 CCHA Rookie of the Year. McPhee scored 114 goals and 153 assists, both fourth in program history, and 267 points, which is third behind Nelson Emerson and Brian Hills.
He was inducted into the BGSU Athletic Hall of Fame in 1987, just 4 years after leaving the program.
He was an undrafted signee with the Tulsa Oilers in the 1982-83 season before his first NHL action, nine games for the New York Rangers in the 1983 Stanley Cup playoffs. The left-winger scored three goals and three assists in those first nine NHL games.
In his six seasons and 115 NHL games, McPhee scored 19 goals and 39 points for a combination of the Rangers and New Jersey Devils. He ended his playing career with the Utica Devils in the AHL in 1989 at the age of 30.
He studied and graduated from Rutgers University’s law school after his playing career, clerking for a United States court in the two seasons between NHL jobs.
McPhee joined the Vancouver Canucks for his first-ever NHL executive position as Vice President and Director of Hockey Operations. He led them to the playoffs four times in five years and the 1994 Stanley Cup finals.
Following the Canucks, he joined the Washington Capitals as their general manager and won seven division championships and 121 points in 2010, a franchise record. He drafted future Hall of Famer Alex Ovechkin with the first pick in 2004, a player who now leads NHL history in goals, power-play goals, game-winning goals, and shots on goal.
McPhee served as the inaugural general manager of the Vegas Golden Knights for the expansion team’s first season in 2018. They reached the Stanley Cup Finals that season and lost to the Capitals.
After stepping down to become president of hockey operations, he saw Vegas win the 2023 Stanley Cup Finals, his first career Stanley Cup win.
