Shayne Toporowski is in his fifth season as the head coach of the men's ice hockey program at Worcester State. In his first year with the Lancers, Toporowski’s team registered a 9-15-2 and a 7-10-1 MASCAC record. This past season, his team went on an 8-game winning streak and posted a 13-11-2 overall record, and went 8-8-2 in the league.

Prior to his first head coaching stint at the collegiate level, Toporowski was on the bench at Holy Cross as an assistant.

While at College Square, Toporowski helped guide the Crusaders to the quarterfinals of the Atlantic Hockey League Tournament while also aiding in every facet of the program from recruiting, scouting, game-day preparation, video analysis and other miscellaneous coaching tasks. 

Prior to joining the staff at Holy Cross, Toporowski played 1,057 games for 15 teams in seven different countries over a solid 18-year professional career.

After graduating high school in 1993 from the Prince Albert Comprehensive School in Saskatchewan, Toporowski was chosen in second round with the 42nd pick of the 1993 NHL Entry Draft by the Los Angeles Kings. He played for two seasons of the major juniors following the draft with the Prince Albert Raiders (WHL) before joining the St. John’s Maple Leafs (AHL).

Making an impact right away for St. John’s out of the gate, Toporowski earned the organizations Rookie of the Year honors in 1995.  He also was called up to play in three contests for the Toronto Maple Leafs during the 1996-97 season.

Toporowski continued to play in the AHL, spending the 1997-99 seasons with the Worcester Ice Cats and during the 1999-00 campaign he suited up for the Springfield Falcons. In 2002, Toporowski earned a coveted spot as a member of Team Canada for the Skoda Cup in Switzerland.

Following his time on the North American continent, Toporowski turned his attention to playing professionally in Europe, where he made his mark with 10 clubs in five different countries over a span of 12 years starting in the year 2000. 

Most notably during his time in Finland, he was selected as an assistant captain in his fourth campaign with Lukkko Rauma (SM-li) and he led the club in scoring with 34 points in 2007-08. The very next season, Toporowski joined the SaiPa Lappeenranta (SM-li) and topped the team with 46 points en route to earning the squads Golden Helmet Award. 

His final stop before going to Holy Cross was with the Quad Cities Mallards (CHL) where Toporowski was an assistant captain while on the ice and a player/coach on the bench during the 2012-13 season.

During his various stops as a professional, Toporowski put his leadership skills on display, where he served as the player representative while in Europe as the clubs liaison for their corporate sponsors and he was the St. John’s Maple Leafs player union representative during the 1995-96 campaign.

Locally, Toporowski runs Competitive Goals Hockey Training in Marlboro as the President and Director of Hockey Operations, where he trains players from the mite to the professional level while also running various clinics and a youth summer camp.

He has also taught at the Toporowski Skills Camp in Worcester and Quad Cities Iowa, the Olivers Jacked On The Hill camp at Holy Cross, John Dillon Explosive Power Skating in Worcester and he was the Lead Instructor from 2010-12 for the Saskatchewan Hockey Association in Saskatoon.

Toporowski currently holds his HP1 High Performance coaching certification from Hockey Canada and his certificate in General Manager/Scouting from Sports Management Worldwide.