Even though he played a number of sports including soccer at Husson University in Bangor, hockey has always had a special place in Eric MacDonald’s heart.
The Calais native, who played hockey in the St. Stephen, New Brunswick, system, has been named the new hockey coach at Hampden Academy.
He will replace Bill Schwarz, who has retired, according to Hampden Academy athletic director Mike Bisson.
Schwarz coached for over 20 years at four different high schools: Brewer, Bangor, Foxcroft Academy and Hampden Academy.
The Broncos went 7-10-1 last season and finished sixth in Eastern Maine Class B before losing to Winslow in the quarterfinals.
MacDonald has coached both soccer and hockey at a variety of levels.
He was the men’s soccer coach at Eastern Maine Community College in Bangor and spent three years as an assistant coach at Brewer High School under Tim Kilroy while he was playing soccer at Husson.
He has coached in the Maine Junior Black Bear and St. Stephen youth programs.
“I can’t wait. I wish we could get started today,” said the 39-year-old MacDonald. “I’m really looking forward to it. Coaching with Tim Kilroy was a good learning experience. Since he was in a wheelchair, I got to do the drills with the players.”
MacDonald played soccer, basketball and baseball at Calais High School and also played hockey in the St. Stephen program when he was in high school.
He played Senior A men’s hockey in St. Stephen.
“When I got done playing, I wanted to give back to the great game of hockey. Hockey has been really good to me,” said MacDonald, who still plays in men’s leagues in Brewer.
MacDonald was one of three applicants for the job.
“He has some coaching experience in soccer and hockey, and we really liked him during the interviews,” said Bisson. “Everybody we talked to had great things to say about him.”
MacDonald said he has heard a lot of positive things about the Hampden program.
“I’ve heard they have a great bunch of kids and there’s a lot of talent. I’m looking forward to building the program,” he said.
“We’re going to play a good, honest game of hockey. There won’t be any cheap shots. We aren’t going to disrespect our opponents. We’re going to play hard for all 45 minutes,” he added.
MacDonald has a bachelor’s degree in business administration and a master’s degree from Husson University, and he is the director of finance for the Bangor Housing Authority.