After three years of revamping their team into a Heritage Junior Hockey League (HJHL) powerhouse, the Cochrane Generals are going through another makeover.
Head coach Evan McFeeters – whose contract ended after last season – will not be returning behind the bench next year and instead will be moving to a position on the club’s board of directors and continuing his role as assistant coach of the Alberta Junior Hockey League’s (AJHL) Canmore Eagles.
“When I took the job as head coach three years ago, the plan was to point the team in the direction I wanted to go,” McFeeters said. I think I’ve accomplished that and now there’s an opportunity to join the team on the board side.
“I’m excited about that. It’s a win-win for both sides.”
Last season, McFeeters’ three-year plan came to fruition as the Gens made it to the HJHL finals, only to lose a heartbreaker to the Mountainview Colts in six games. Despite that, McFeeters feels he’s left the team in better shape going forward then they were in when he was first was asked to restructure a stagnant franchise.
“I believe 100 per cent I achieved what I intended to do when I was hired,” he said. “We wanted to turn this team into a contender on the ice and make sure the product we were selling to the community of Cochrane was of the highest possible order.
“It was tough at the end of the year to know we were only two games away from winning a championship and it took me a while after to sit back and realize it was an accomplishment.”
He believes the success of the team wasn’t so much about the wins and losses they racked up over the course of the season, but the sense of community pride the Gens instilled around town, He added his hockey club proved they were indeed worthy of the title of, Cochrane’s team.
“(Our) players are extremely proud to play here, we’re an organization players from all over the province want to play for now,” he continued. “We’re taking the right steps going forward, and I want to thank my management, coaching and training staff that has been with me for the past three seasons.
“Without them, we wouldn’t have been able to accomplish what we did. With all the good people still on staff the team is in good hands.”
McFeeters leaving as head coach isn’t the only reconfiguring of the Gens going into the 2016/17 season. Former player/captain and assistant coach Chase Kinch will be moving up to the club president position while former president Ken Soloski will be stepping back into a past president/advisory board member role.
Long time general manager Jacqueline Hurlbert’s position is also yet to be confirmed for the upcoming season.
“Becoming president wasn’t something that was pre-determined,” Kinch revealed. “The people on the board were all in the right place and wanted the team going in the same direction, so for continuity we thought it was the best decision.”
What was the thinking behind doing a revamp on the team after the most successful season the club has had in recent years?
“Terms were up and the timing was right,” Kinch said. “It was a chance for a lot of people to move up.”
Kinch never saw himself becoming president after having been affiliated with the Gens for a number of years, but feels that he has what it takes to continue pushing the club in the right direction going forward where many big decisions are going to have to be made.
“We should have a good on-ice product again this year,” he said. “Last time around we were not only successful on the ice, but in the league off the ice our reputation has never been better. With the way we’re moving it should continue.”
The Gens haven’t made any concrete decisions yet about who will replace McFeeters, but the club is hopeful it will a coach finalized by July 1. Whoever takes the position is going to have big shoes to fill, with the standards the organization has set for itself likely to increase after last year’s playoff run.
“The overall goal is to continue with our reputation around town and in the league, that’s the most important thing,” Kinch said. “(We) want to make sure our team has a good group of respectable kids helping out in the community and continue to be successful.”
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