Brown Bears hire Banks as head coach after Shaw steps down

The Kenai River Brown Bears hired Darren Banks on Sunday to be the 12th head coach or interim head coach in franchise history as the team prepares for its 19th season in the North American Hockey League.

Banks, a 30-year-old originally from Texas, comes to the Bears from the New Mexico Ice Wolves of the NA3HL, where he spent three seasons and posted a 37-6-2-2 record last season and lost in the Fraser Cup semifinals.

Head coach Taylor Shaw resigned after four seasons with the team to spend more time with his wife and two stepchildren in Minnesota.

Shaw took over 19 games into the 2021-22 season and went 11-25-3-2 as interim coach before getting the head job.

He finishes with an 84-116-23 record, behind only Oliver David (99-117-22) on the franchise list for wins and games coached.

“I’d like to thank Nate and the organization for giving me the opportunity four years ago,” Shaw said of president and general manager Nate Kiel. “I feel really good overall about how far things have come.

“I’m excited to now be a fan and continue to watch and root for them.”

Shaw also is No. 4 in winning percentage, if the 8-8-2 run by Dan Bogdan as interim coach in 2018-19 is included.

The coach led the Bears to a 32-24-4 record in 2022-23 to set the franchise mark for wins and points in a season.

That squad also made the playoffs — the first time the franchise did that when the division had eight teams. Kenai River has made the playoffs twice in the last 11 years.

“There’s no doubt he’s done a lot of things to leave our program in a good spot,” Kiel said of Shaw. “We’re sitting here with 20 players eligible to return.

“We’re strong on assets, and that’s a credit to him and the way he and his staff have managed the overall assets on our team.”

A sign of how Kiel feels about the program Shaw has built is how much consistency the GM is looking for in the transition to Banks as head coach.

Shaw will help with the team through at least July. Dan Daikawa of the Minnesota Advancement Program will remain as director of player development.

Banks was at the Bears main camp last summer as part of building his NA3HL team. Two former Ice Wolves — Koen Burkholder and Owen Zenone — played for the Brown Bears this season.

“I just can’t express how excited I am because of the people that are involved in this program,” Banks said.

Banks actually made a trip to Soldotna when he was a player with the Minot (North Dakota) Minotauros. Minot played at Kenai River on Oct. 3 and 4, 2014, and Banks picked up a two-minute penalty in a 2-1 loss on Oct. 3.

It was one of three games he would play with Minot.

“I just remember how cool the people were,” Banks said of his trip to the central peninsula. “The fan support was awesome. Everybody I met in town was super nice.

“It was obviously a hostile place to play. It’s a hard place to play with the big sheet. But the community was welcoming and it was gorgeous.”

Banks spent four years playing college hockey, but did not reach the Division I level or go pro. That didn’t dampen his love for the game.

“I spent a little time away, and I missed it so much,” he said. “I had an opportunity. It was like, do you want to get into marketing, or do you want to make no money and jump into coaching?

“So I jumped into coaching. It’s been a crazy five years.”

Banks, who is single, spent two years with the Minotauros as director of scouting and then assistant coach before joining the Ice Wolves.

He said he has been extremely lucky to learn from the coaches and players in top-notch organizations, preparing him for the opportunity with the Bears.

“I don’t try to overcomplicate things,” he said. “I like character and compete level and honesty.

“The way we play, the way we are in the community, the way we carry ourselves as Brown Bears, are things I think about a lot.”

Banks said strategy and systems are important, but that’s not where it starts with him.

“If you want to be successful, you don’t have a ton of choices,” he said. “The fundamentals of the game — we need to be really good at those things.

“Like every coach that’s probably ever talked to you, I want to play fast, I want to play physical, we want to go north. We want to do all those things, but at the end of the day, we want to be better at the fundamental details of the game than our opposition.”

Kiel, who has been with the Bears for all 18 seasons and has been the GM for 17 of those seasons, said one of Shaw’s successes was building attendance to heights not seen in the organization’s history.

Making that jump more impressive is that the Bears did not play most of the regular season at the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex the year before Shaw arrived due to the pandemic.

Shaw has done a lot of radio and print media, plus did a coach’s show on Facebook. The players have read at schools, helped at youth hockey practices, volunteered all over the community and did Skate with the Bears after Saturday night home games.

Kiel said the dynamic players Shaw put on the ice also helped with attendance.

“There’s been a lot,” Shaw said. “It’s crazy to look back four years ago, what the attendance was at that time.

“How it’s changed over the last four is pretty remarkable.”

Banks said the community focus will not change.

“Billets are the lifeblood of a team, right?” he said. “You have to have billet families or a junior team doesn’t exist.

“Then from the volunteers to the community to the little kids, those things are all extremely important. All I’ve heard is how tight knit the community is up there, and I’m excited to get up there and learn about it.”

Kiel said one thing that stood out about Banks in the coaching search was passion.

As somebody who sees behind the scenes, Kiel fully understands why Shaw is resigning to spend time with family. He said coaching an NAHL team is a job that consumes every day of the year.

“You have to be almost crazy to be a hockey coach, right?” Kiel said. “It’s exciting when you find the guys who have passion, and we’ve found another one who has passion in Darren Banks.”

Kiel said Banks also is attractive because he has experience under the NAHL umbrella. The GM called the Ice Wolves one of the best junior hockey operations in North America.

Kiel added that Banks has extensive network for recruiting. The GM also spent an hour in the interview talking about coaching hockey and said Banks is impressive there as well.

When it comes to recruiting, the Bears, the fourth oldest team in the league, have advantages and challenges.

“We’re kind of an anomaly,” Kiel said. “As are a few other teams in the league, we’re a small market team. We’ve found a way to be successful in a very small market, that’s the cool part about it.”

Shaw said he tried to turn the unique location to the team’s advantage.

“We don’t shy away from it, never have,” the coach said. “It takes a special person to be here.

“I think what we find is when we get the right guys that really do want to be here, they continue to push it forward.”

Banks also plans to press that advantage.

“There’s so many unique experiences you get to have in Alaska,” he said. “As I was going through this process, my mind kept going to the fact that this is a once in a lifetime type of deal.

“How many times do you get to go up to Alaska and be a part of such a great community that’s been around for so long in the hockey world?”

A challenge for the Bears is being in the tough Midwest Division. Kenai River plays an unbalanced schedule, with the Fairbanks Ice Dogs and Anchorage Wolverines — and their large fan bases — on the schedule 24 times.

“It’s great hockey every night,” Banks said. “I’m excited to be a part of it. The fact that Alaska teams are doing so well only helps us.

“You’re able to play against good teams every night.”

The junior hockey landscape changed in November when the NCAA lifted its ban on players from the three major junior leagues in Canada being able to play college hockey.

That has meant some players in the Tier I United States Hockey League have jumped to Canada because they can keep their college eligibility. In turn, USHL teams have turned to the NAHL to fill open spots. The NAHL has upped the number of non-American players allowed on rosters to eight for next season.

“As much as things change, things also stay the same,” Banks said. “I believe if you have a good program, you’re committed to on-ice development, you’re committed to the experience that players are going to have, you’re committed to your community and you do things the right way, things are going to work out.

“Players are going to want to go there and be a part of it.”

Shaw said the players were understanding when he announced his decision to step down.

“They’re turning into young men here,” Shaw said. “Life throws curveballs at you, right? We just try to help them cope and deal and continue to push forward, because at the end of the day, it’s their journey, right?

“They all have great futures in hockey moving forward.”

Assistant Dean Weasler, who was with Shaw the whole time, also will step down. Banks has not hired a staff yet.

Shaw said the joke was always that Weasler, at 45, is the oldest assistant in the league.

“Growing up as a kid, I actually was watching him play hockey when he was in college at St. Cloud State,” Shaw said. “To see it come full circle, with the lifelong friendship and relationship that we have, it’s been a good run.

“That’s what I told him Saturday night after the game. I said we had a good run.”

Kenai River started this season 7-2-1 and was in first place, but then returned to Alaska and went 2-11-2 before leaving the state.

Shaw said he was proud of the team for getting points in 11 of 12 games late in the season to get back in the playoff chase.

The coach said the team will miss aging-out players Luke Hause, Andy Larson, Luke Lizak and Zenone.

Hause, a defenseman, was with the team for three seasons and played 145 games. Larson, a forward, saw action in three seasons and played 128 games.

Shaw said both are great people from great families who grew to love the community.

Lizak, a defenseman, played 17 games in 2023-24 and 55 games this season. Shaw said Lizak came a long way in 1 1/2 seasons, and his leadership will be missed.

Shaw said Zenone, who played in three games last season and 25 this season, is a good example of how a player can fall in love for Alaska.

Shaw said he doesn’t know what his future is in hockey.

“The focus right now is just making sure I take care of what’s going on at home and get to be around a little bit more with my two kids,” he said. “It’s in my blood, so I’m sure at some point I’ll be around hockey. I just don’t know what or when.”

Shaw also thanked his wife for patience during his tenure.

“We really do work pretty much seven days a week, 365 days a year,” he said. “You’ve gotta have the right people around you to make it happen.

“That’s where my wife came into play. She’s been a rock for four years.”

Banks will be in Alaska for a tryout camp May 30 and 31, and June 1, in Anchorage.

“When he’s up here, we want to make sure he gets to meet people in the community and check out his new digs and such — check out the arena,” Kiel said.