Former Cochrane Generals head coach Evan McFeeters has landed a major step in his coaching career, joining the NHL’s Pittsburgh Penguins as their new roving minor league coach.
The Penguins announced Tuesday that McFeeters will work within the organization’s player development department, supporting the Penguins’ American Hockey League affiliate in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and their ECHL club in Wheeling. He’ll also work closely with the team’s development staff to help prospects grow both on and off the ice.
“Evan has a passion for development, and in his role he will help increase cohesion between our AHL and ECHL coaching staffs,” said Penguins Assistant General Manager Jason Spezza in a release. “We are extremely excited to add Evan to the organization.”
McFeeters, 37, has spent more than 15 years behind the bench at different levels of the game. Most recently, he guided the U18 Prep team at Prairie Hockey Academy. Before that, he worked with the WHL’s Regina Pats, where he coached Tanner Howe — Pittsburgh’s second-round pick in this year’s NHL Draft.
Cochrane hockey fans will remember McFeeters from his time with the Generals.
The former Cochrane Generals goalie became head coach from 2013-2016, taking them from a team that didn't make the playoff cut in the 2013-14 season to one that won the HJHL South Division championship in his final season before moving on to become assistant coach of the AJHL Canmore Eagles.
That same year, the Gens were finalists in the Provincial 'B' championship, claiming their first of two silver medals.
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He moved on to higher levels of junior hockey, spending parts of eight seasons in the Alberta Junior Hockey League (AJHL) with Canmore Eagles, Brooks Bandits, and Sherwood Park Crusaders, winning both an AJHL and Centennial Cup title as an assistant coach and assistant general manager with the powerhouse Brooks Bandits in 2022.
McFeeters got his start in the AJHL with his hometown Canmore Eagles where he assumed the role of assistant coach and assistant general manager from 2016-20.
The Canmore native also represented Canada West as an assistant coach at the 2022 World Junior A Challenge.