Success attracts success.

There's much truth in this time-tested adage and it's proving to be the case with the Cochrane Generals Junior 'B' hockey club.

The Gens have been on a run the last few season, once again regaining their stature as one of the toughest teams to beat in the Heritage Junior Hockey League (HJHL), and people in the hockey world have been paying attention.

Point and case is the recruitment of a head new coach, their third in as many seasons. Former general manager Jacqueline Hurlbert was confident there would be many people lining up to fill that position and she proved to be right. In fact, the response was overwhelming, says Gens president and alumni Chase Kinch.

"We had a lot this year, it was crazy, actually," says Kinch. "A lot of high profile guys with lots of experience reached out to us and it was very difficult to choose. Then you see this guy's resume and it was a bit of a no-brainer once you look at where he's been and what he's done in the positions he's held. We're pretty luck to have him."

The 'him' is Derek Donald, a hockey manager for the San Jose Sharks, who reached out to the club and is now head coach and general manager.

"He was contacting us to see if he could help in anyway he can when he saw we were looking for a head coach and GM and he applied."

It's a good position to be in for the club and their two back-to-back south division titles and silver medal performance at last year's provincials did have an impact, Kinch believes.

"A lot of people have taken notice, obviously, because we were getting emails from all across Canada applying for the job. The experience some of the guys had was crazy. I know years in the past when we've looked for a head coach there weren't a lot of experienced guys out there looking to come to Cochrane to help out."

The club held their annual general meeting on July 19 and that was followed up with a board meeting this week to start gearing up for the season that's just around the corner with the training camp opening Sept. 2.

"We've got great new board members coming on board with good ties to both hockey and the community as well as some good leads to try and bring in some different sponsorships and ideas.

"This downturn in the economy has been a real struggle but there's a lot of businesses in town that have really helped us out.and we've got a few people on the board that do a lot of fundraisers and pub nights and what not and they've been very successful. We're looking at doing a lot more fun things and try to get more people in the community involved."

Upcoming in mid-September is their annual golf tournament and they're putting together a larger event at the Wintergreeen Golf and Country Club to give people to chance to come out to play a round and meet the team and its management.

"As a team, I think we'll probably going to be very successful again, so as a board we're going to try to have enough funds so that there's no questions when it comes time to have a good playoff run and possibly the provincials again. We want to make sure the funds are there for the boys to have another good year."