BROOKS, AB (June 10, 2022) – The Brooks Bandits of the Alberta Junior Hockey League (AJHL) have announced Assistant Coach Evan McFeeters is stepping away from the team to pursue other hockey opportunities.
“It has been a great pleasure to coach the Bandits for the past two years, the Bandits organization is truly first-class and sets the standard for junior hockey,” said McFeeters.
“I want to thank Ryan Papaioannou for giving me the opportunity to join the organization and for his support and mentorship along the way. I also want to thank the entire hockey staff including Taylor Makin, Keven Sajinovic, Kevin Yellowaga, Wayne Labrie, Karyn Fanstone, and Andrew Luchies for being outstanding people.”
“I am grateful for the generosity of the community starting with Paul and Margie Seaton. The community support in Brooks is unbelievable, the great work done by the Board of Directors and Business Staff helps ensure that. To the special group of players and their families that I had the chance to work with during their pursuit to become exceptional players, people, and National Champions, Thank you all so much.”
McFeeters joined the Bandits in September of 2020 and helped lead the team through the COVID-shortened campaign that saw Brooks go 18-2 in the regular season and 8-2 in the Fall Developmental Season.
“Evan has been an integral part of our staff over the last two seasons. His transition to Brooks was certainly unique as we faced the awkward 20-21 season with stops and starts to our year,” said Bandits Head Coach and GM, Ryan Papaioannou.
“As a staff we were pleased to lead our group to a league leading 30 games over that season along with plenty of individual development sessions. This season we had the chance to attack a full season and Evan’s dedication to our players was considerable. I want to thank Evan for his commitment to our program and wish him and his fiancé, Jacqueline all the best moving forward. He will undoubtedly have success in the next step of his coaching journey, and we will always remember our last game on the bench together in Estevan.”
During the record-setting 2021-22 campaign, the Bandits scored a team record 371 goals for, finishing with the AJHL’s number-one powerplay, penalty kill and best record of 52-6-2. The team went on to go 12-1 in the AJHL Playoffs, capturing their 6th League Championship. That was followed by a 6-0 showing at the 2022 Centennial Cup in Estevan, SK, which saw the Bandits win their 3rd National Championship.
Prior to joining Brooks, McFeeters was an Assistant Coach with the Canmore Eagles and Head Coach of the Cochrane Generals of the Heritage Junior Hockey League (HJHL) for three seasons, leading the team to the 2016 League Finals.
The Bandits thank Evan for his contributions to the team and the community and wish him the best moving forward.