Gene Fadrigon, who has been a fixture as a high school hockey coach in the Bangor-area, has retired as the head coach at Bangor’s John Bapst High School.
The 69-year-old Fadrigon had recently announced his retirement as the chairman of the diesel, truck and heavy equipment department at Eastern Maine Community College in Bangor.
In his second stint as the coach at John Bapst, Fadrigon guided the Crusaders to a 32-27-1 record over three seasons. They reached the Eastern Maine Class B final two years ago, losing to Messalonskee of Oakland in the final.
Fadrigon had previously led Old Town High School to four Eastern Maine Class B titles and two state titles during a 15-year stint.
He suffered a broken humerus (upper arm) bone this season when he fell on the bench during a game. He spent two and a half months in a sling and is still undergoing physical therapy.
“It was a tough decision but it is the right one at this point in my life,” said Fadrigon. “I still have the passion to coach and I feel I could still offer a lot. But after my injury in January and with the comeback, I realized I could get hit with a puck or catch an edge [on skates] and I don’t want to go through this again.
”I’m sure I’ll miss it. It has been a great ride. There’s that competitiveness in me and I liked the preparation, the practices and working with the team. I loved coaching the kids at Bapst. They’re awesome. And the administration has been unbelievable. But it’s time to move on,” added Fadrigon.
He quipped that the one thing he won’t miss are the “bus rides.”
Fadrigon’s wife, Betty, has also announced her retirement from the University of Maine after 35 years.
She has had several jobs and is currently the administrative assistant for the women’s ice hockey team. She will leave on July 7 and said “I’ll miss the people. I’ve made numerous friends and will always stay in contact with those people.”
“Betty has put up with me [coaching] for 30-plus years. She’s retiring. We have granddaughters who are involved in sports and we want to be able to go to those types of things,” said Gene Fadrigon. “I’ve had to stay home or come back early during the holidays because we had games.”
Granddaughters Madeline and Emily Fadrigon live in Gorham and Charley Katherine Looser resides in Rye, N.H.
Fadrigon had been an assistant at John Bapst under Aaron King and when King relocated to North Carolina, Fadrigon took over and guided the Crusaders to a 16-2 record and their first-ever top seed in Eastern Maine Class B in 2008-09. They were upset in the semifinals by Presque Isle 5-1. He stepped down after that season.
Fadrigon was 44-16-1 in his three seasons at John Bapst including two as King’s assistant.
He was rehired at John Bapst in June, 2011.
He said winning two state championships at Old Town and reaching the EM final with John Bapst two years ago have been the highlights of his career.
“The new coach will definitely have a good corps to build on. There are some really good players coming back,” said Fadrigon, a former football and basketball player at Old Town High School. “Whoever takes over won’t be empty-handed. I think they will be really competitive next year.”