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Frontenacs add general manager duties to McFarland's responsibilities

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Kingston Frontenacs coach Paul McFarland was officially given another duty with the Ontario Hockey League team when he was named the ninth general manager in franchise history on Tuesday.

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McFarland, 34, was hired to coach the Frontenacs in May after the team fired Kurtis Foster.

The position of general manager was added to his responsibilities on Tuesday. He replaces Darren Keily, whose contract was not renewed last month.

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“After four weeks of interviewing top candidates for the vacant GM role, Paul emerged as the clear favourite to lead the organization,” Frontenacs president and governor, Doug Springer, said in a statement.

“After a thorough interview process, the Kingston Frontenacs organization couldn’t be more excited to have Paul as our new leader on and off the ice. Although the general manager position was not discussed prior, once Paul arrived back in Kingston we began discussing what his vision was for the team. His expectations for our hockey club were impressive, to say the least. He checked all the boxes we were looking for in our next leader. It was then determined that Paul should be the general manager of our franchise.”

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McFarland spent the past three seasons in the National Hockey League as an assistant coach, two with the Florida Panthers and this past season with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

He joined the Frontenacs officially last week after the Maple Leafs were eliminated in five games by the Columbus Blue Jackets in the NHL playoff qualifying round.

The Richmond Hill native coached the Frontenacs from the 2014-15 season through 2016-17 and finished with a record of 111 wins, 71 losses, 13 overtime losses and nine shootout losses in 204 games. The team made the playoffs all three seasons and advanced to the second round in both 2015-16 and 2016-17.

“Obviously they have a lot of young, talented players and a team that’s growing and continuing to build around their young core,” McFarland told the Whig-Standard when he was appointed to that position in May. “It’s an exciting group to have a chance to work with, but obviously we have a lot of work to do as well to bring a championship to Kingston. If I didn’t believe that was possible, I wouldn’t be coming back.”

McFarland thanked Springer on Tuesday for the opportunity to become the combined general manager-coach.

“This is something I will not take lightly, and I am really excited to start working with our staff and players,” he said.

McFarland will be officially introduced to the media on Tuesday afternoon.

imacalpine@postmedia.com

twitter.com/IanMacAlpine

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