Gene Fadrigon, who guided Old Town High School to two Class B hockey state championships and four Eastern Maine titles, will return to the head coaching ranks for the first time since 1998.

The 63-year-old Fadrigon will replace Aaron King at Bangor’s John Bapst High School. King resigned to move to North Carolina with his wife Dawn and their two young sons Dominic, 3, and Nicholas, 1.

Dawn is a pharmaceutical representative who accepted a transfer from her company.

King led the Crusaders to a 28-13-1 record in his two seasons behind the bench, including a 14-6-1 mark this past season and a berth in the Eastern Maine Class B semifinals.

Fadrigon had assisted King both years and had also assisted him with the Penobscot Valley Conference bantams in 2005-06 and 2004-05.

“I really liked being an assistant but I don’t mind being a head coach. I’ve been there before. I know the ropes. I’m looking forward to it,” said Fadrigon, who spent 15 seasons as the head coach at Old Town High until stepping down after the 1997-98 season.

“Gene is as solid as they come,” said John Bapst athletic director Mike Thomas. “He’s experienced and mature and he’ll make a great transition.

“We wanted someone who knew the talent, who knew the kids, and Gene fit that to a T,” said Thomas.

“He’s obviously the right choice,” said King. “He’ll do a real good job. I’ve learned a ton from Gene. He spent 15 years as a head coach and has been in the game over 25 years.”

King was a defenseman on both of Fadrigon’s state championship teams.

King said he wanted to coach one more year “but this was a good opportunity for my wife and my family and this is the time to do it … while the kids are still young.

“I’ll definitely miss coaching. I’ve been doing it for 13 years,” said King. “The thing I’ll miss most is being around the kids. They’re great kids. And I think they’ll be one of the teams to beat next year.”

“We graduate seven kids but we’ve got a good corps of kids coming back,” said Fadrigon. “I believe we’ll be competitive once we establish the chemistry and we’re all on the same page. There won’t be a whole lot of difference between coach King and myself [philosophically].”

Like King, Fadrigon has plenty of praise for the types of individuals he will be coaching.

“They are awesome young men and women,” said Fadrigon ,who will be assisted by Toronto Blue Jays outfielder-1B-DH Matt Stairs and goalie coach John Duff.

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