Cochrane’s Heritage Junior Hockey League team is still accepting applications for a new bench general.
The Generals, who parted ways with first-year head coach Ken Soloski at the team’s May 2 annual general meeting, have three candidates who’ve already applied.
The posting has been extended from the advertised May 20 deadline to May 31.
“We’re just still going through the process,” said Generals president Greg Keller. “At that point (June 1) we’ll be meeting immediately and organizing all the interviews and then we should, hopefully, by the first week of June have a new coach in place.
“We’re really looking for continuity. That’s the single most important thing.”
Like the team’s players, the coach will be from Cochrane. But Keller didn’t drop the names of any applicants or candidates the team is eyeing.
“That’s a mandate. We want somebody local. The applicants so far are all local.”
Given that Keller mentioned continuity as a key for a new head coach, Bow Valley Timberwolves coaches Evan McFeeters, Dave Strang and Gerald Bouchard can all be considered candidates for the Generals job, with McFeeters at the front of the line.
As Timberwolves head coaches, McFeeters (Midget), Strang (Bantam) and Bouchard (Peewee) have all had a hand in developing many Generals players expected to lace ’em up next season.
And, according to Cochrane Minor Hockey’s (CMHA) website, all three Timberwolves teams just happen to have coaching vacancies.
So all three coaches are, apparently, available for duty with the Generals.
McFeeters, 25, has previously been an assistant coach with the Generals, was a goaltender for the team in the mid-2000’s and has a laundry list of credentials including hockey operations director at Cochrane/Calgary’s Nxt Level Sports and instructor/coach at province-wide Spartan Hockey Development. It wasn’t unusual to see McFeeters liaising with Generals coaches outside the dressing room on game nights this past season, as many of his Midget Timberwolves played for the Jr. B club.
“Basically, what we’re doing is, the coach will choose his assistants. That, I think, is a given that has to happen,” Keller explained. “The board will have to approve it, obviously. But once you put the head coach in place, the head coach will be choosing his assistants.”
Former Generals president Patrick Borody, a long-time team sponsor whose son Nick helped lead the Generals to the second round of the playoffs in his final playing season this year, would be a seasoned candidate with a deep understanding of the club as it relates to players, the league and the community. His history with the Generals, and his constant presence at their games, would make him one of the most experienced candidates for the team to consider.
But, again, Keller won’t name any names until all applicants have been interviewed and a new Generals head coach has been selected.
“We do have some good interest,” he enthused. “We’re going to be really methodical and make sure whoever we put in place is on the exact same page as what our goals and aspirations are with our program.”
The Generals expect to announce their new coaching staff by June 7.
