Alex Evin is looking to pick up where Adam Maglio left off as head coach of the Prince George Spruce Kings.
The defending Fred Page and Doyle Cup champs announced on Friday Maglio accepted a job with the WHL’s Spokane Chiefs to work along newly-appointed bench boss Manny Viveros.
The Spruce Kings then promoted Evin from within and believes the adjustment heading into training camp should be quite smooth.
“Just knowing all of our players you are not coming in blind compared to going to a new team where you don’t know anybody. Obviously, the last two years I know how to operate day-to-day working closely with Adam and Mike Hawes (General Manager) and hopefully, that makes the transition a lot smoother.”
To some, Evin looks to have big shoes to fill following the BCHL franchise’s two most successful seasons where they reached to the 2018 Fred Page Cup Final series losing in five games to the Wenatchee Wild and then took the next step during the 2018-19 season posting a regular-season record of 39-13-1-5 good enough for second in the Mainland Division.
With the veteran-laden roster, the Spruce Kings completed the journey during the 2019 playoffs going 15-1 en route to sweeping the Vernon Vipers in the league final while also disposing of the Coquitlam Express, Chilliwack Chiefs and Victoria Grizzlies.
The accolades didn’t stop there as Prince George also captured its first-ever Doyle Cup dispatching the Brooks Bandits in six games, before losing to the hosts in the final game of the National Junior A Championship back in May.
Logan Neaton post game with @mypgnow following @SpruceKings clinching win over @BrooksBandits to secure Doyle Cup pic.twitter.com/LY3XC4p3Nt
— My Prince George Now (@mypgnow) May 5, 2019
With Maglio now gone and Evin front and centre, he’s confident he has what it takes to continue his rise within the coaching ranks.
“I’m really honoured to be the next head coach, I’m really fortunate to have worked under Adam, he’s a great coach and has done a lot of good things for our program the last two years, I have learned a lot from him and I am very, very happy for him.”
“We have a formula here in Prince George that works and has proven to develop people and players on to the next level and we’re really happy with the development of the program. There are big changes this season but it’s also an exciting time for some new people to leave their mark within the organization.”
Fans of the Spruce Kings will most definitely need to a program to get to know the 2019-20 version of the squad as mainstays such as Dustin Manz, Patrick Cozzi, Liam Watson-Brawn, Layton Ahac, Logan Neaton, Ben Poisson, Jay Keranen, Dylan Anhorn, Lucas Vanroboys, Ben Brar and Max Coyle have graduated to the NCAA ranks.
Evin is aware the team now has a target on it’s back after developing a championship pedigree last season.
“It’s not going to be easy, we have a really, really good league where the teams improve every offseason, it should be a great challenge for us but we believe we have brought in the right people and the right players to give us a chance.”
“I know two years ago we were the youngest team in the league and we went all the way to the final, we did have a great veteran group of players and a strong recruiting class but it is in a way similar this year, every year is different but we do feel that we do have a lot of good players coming back and a lot of players now that have championship experience and I think that goes a long way.”
The Spruce Kings kick off the BCHL regular season September 6th against the Surrey Eagles from the RMCA.
Doyle Cup Champs @SpruceKings @mypgnow #cityofpg #sports pic.twitter.com/6Qj9JTEDW0
— My Prince George Now (@mypgnow) May 5, 2019
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