Evan McFeeters will be the key guy behind the bench for the Cochrane Generals this season.
While the Gens had advertised in The Eagle about an opening for the team’s head-coaching position, McFeeters was at the team’s Sept. 12-13 training camp assessing players and performing the coaching chores he’d done the previous two seasons as Gens head coach. He continues to consult with the Alberta Junior Hockey League’s Canmore Eagles and work with minor-hockey programs in the Calgary/Rocky View region. But he insists the Generals are his primary team in what will be the 27-year-old’s busiest year of coaching yet.
“I committed to the Cochrane Generals this year as a head coach,” McFeeters says while monitoring a 4-on-4 Gens training-camp scrimmage Sept. 12 at Spray Lake Sawmills Family Sports Centre.
The Generals executive board met last week and determined keeping McFeeters as primary coach was the best option for several reasons – mainly the lack of time to find a qualified replacement before the start of the season, and continuity in the room. Including his two seasons with Bow Valley Midget AA Timberwolves prior to coaching Generals, McFeeters has four years in the room with his core playing group.
“We came to a resolution,” said Generals president Ken Soloski. “We’ve named Evan the head coach for the remainder of the year.”
McFeeters, and the Generals, are confident the team’s former goalie can fulfill his volunteer head-coaching mandate with the Heritage Junior Hockey League club this season. McFeeters describes this year’s coaching model for the Gens:
“We’re going to work as a unit because I will be pulled away to work with the Canmore Eagles and to work my job with minor hockey in and around the Calgary area. So we’ve hired Chase Kinch as a full-time assistant coach this year. He has experience as a player, a board member and an assistant coach with the team. So it’s going to be an easy transition for him to come on board. We still have (Dan) Gendur and (Jeff) Gagnon as our assistant coaches. But, again, life is taking them different ways and they can only commit part time, so it’s just going to be a group effort this year leading the team.”
Jacqueline Hurlbert returns for her fourth season as general manager, ensuring the team maintains its high profile in the community with fundraising initiatives for breast cancer, the Movember men’s cancer event, and Generals players working with minor-hockey youngsters at the rink. And the team’s entry in the town’s annual outhouse races is always one of the high points of that event.
The Generals were voted Cochrane’s best hockey team of 2015 in the Cochrane Eagle’s “Best of Cochrane” poll.
If you want to join the Generals volunteer team, key positions are currently available, including: game announcer, admissions table, jersey draw table, game-clock operator and scorekeeping.
For complete details visit: cochranegenerals.com
