For Canmore born and raised Evan Mcfeeters, it represents a golden opportunity to advance his life long passion for the sport of ice hockey.
For the Canmore Eagles Junior A Hockey Club, it represents an excellent opportunity to add a valuable new member to their coaching staff.
“Yes, we are very pleased to confirm that Evan McFeeters has officially joined the Canmore Eagles as an assistant coach,” said Eagles General Manager and Head Coach Andrew Milne. “Evan is also the head coach of the Cochrane Generals of the Heritage Junior B Hockey League and we just wanted to ensure that he would be able to perform coaching duties on two fronts before we made an official announcement.
“Evan has been with us since training camp in mid-August and we are very excited to have him on board. He has a huge passion for the game, is very knowledgeable, and his strength is working with youth. He is already proving to be a great addition to both us and also to the Canmore Minor Hockey Association.”
“My long term career goal is to become a full-time, professional hockey coach and having the opportunity to work with both Andrew and Jeremy (Reich) at the Junior A level is a real bonus for me,” said the 28-year-old, who coached the Cochrane Generals to an impressive 25-10-3 record in 2014-15 and has them off to a 6-1-1 start this year. “ When Andrew approached me last summer about helping out here, I was all over it. I was born and graduated high school in Canmore, so it’s a great opportunity to come back to my home town to help both the Eagles and the CMHA. The Eagles have been tremendously flexible with my scheduling, so it has been a win-win situation for both of us.”
McFeeters, who will earn a small honorarium with the Eagles, has been helping the Eagles with individual skill development, systems & strategies, bench management, video breakdown and review, and pre-scouting of upcoming opponents. He is also assisting the CMHA with conditioning camps, skills sessions and coach mentoring.
“It’s been a great experience so far, even better than I was expecting,” said McFeeters. “I was living in Canmore during the Eagle glory days in the early 2000’s, so I know how it can be here, and I would like to help them get back to that level of play. “I would like to thank Darryl Lockwood, Andrew Milne and the entire Eagles organization for giving me this opportunity. I am proud to be back home to help lead our team to success this season as well as seasons to come.”
For the current Eagle players, McFeeters has been a breath of fresh air.
“He’s a young guy and at times, he can perhaps relate to us a little better than Coach Milne or Reich,” said Eagles captain Jakob Lavoie. “He provides all of us with a different perspective, different ideas and different systems. He’s very approachable and sometimes we’re a little more comfortable going to him with our problems or questions. He’s been a positive addition to our hockey club.”