By the time George McPhee first stepped on the ice at Bowling Green in 1978, the Falcons had already made a name
for themselves in the CCHA and in the hockey world. Two seasons before, BG had become the first CCHA team to
appear in the NCAA Tournament. McPhee would spend the next four years making a name for himself, as well.
Playing his freshman season with two future Olympians, Ken Morrow and Mark Wells, as well as Brian MacLellan, who
would go on to play 12 seasons in the NHL, was a good start in getting McPhee acclimated to the college game, but
he took it to another level. He would the team in scoring with a 40 goal effort his freshman year, and was named
CCHA Rookie of the Year. His 88 points in that first season are still a BGSU freshman record. On January 6, 1979,
Bowling Green became the first CCHA team ever to be voted number one in a national hockey poll.
McPhee's scoring dropped off the following year, to 45 points, which was still good enough to lead the team, five
points better than freshman Brian Hills' 40 point total. He was also named to the CCHA All-Academic team this
season, the first of three such honors in his collegiate career, becoming the first CCHA player to be named to the
All-Academic team three years in a row.
For the first time in his junior year, McPhee would fail to lead the team in scoring, though his 54 point season
was just one behind team leader Brian Hills, who shared the assist lead with McPhee, but scored one more goal (26)
in one more game than McPhee. McPhee's 68 penalty minutes were second on the team as well, and he was honored with
the Jim Sears Award as the Falcons Most Valuable Player.
McPhee (28 goals, 52 assists) would again finish one point behind Hills (34G, 47A) his senior year, and again he won the
Sears Award as team MVP. But there was bigger hardware awaiting the Falcon forward. He would be named CCHA Player
of the Year, All-American first team and First Team All-Star in 1982, helping lead the brown and orange to the
CCHA regular season championship. On March 26, 1982, McPhee became the first CCHA player ever to win the Hobey
Baker Award, college hockey's equivalent to football's Heisman Trophy.
When he finished his career, McPhee held the school and league scoring records, with 267 points in 153 games (114
goals, 153 assists). He currently sits third on the Falcon's all-time scoring list. His number nine was the first
in BG hockey history to be retired, and he was elected to the BG Athletic Hall of Fame on the first ballot in 1987.
After he left college, McPhee spent seven seasons in the NHL, recording 24 goals and 25 assists in 115 games with
the New York Rangers and New Jersey Devils. He received his law degree from Rutgers University in 1992, and is
currently the General Manager of the NHL's Washington Capitals.