Eagles Head Coach Chris Stewart officially stepped down from his position on Tuesday.

“After 25 years of coaching I can tell you that I feel I’m prepared to move onto the next step, the next part of my life,” Stewart stated from a press conference in Fort Collins.

Luckily, the next step still involves the Colorado Eagles, as he’ll retain his other positions with the team as President and General Manager.

Filling his spot at head coach will be Kevin McClelland, former NHL player and most recently, head coach of the Mississippi Riverkings.

“The bar is high here [Northern Colorado] and I’m not afraid of a challenge,” McClelland explained.

No one seemed too surprised, with Eagles Founder Ralph Backstrom stating that over the last couple years, he has been stepping aside and letting Stewart take charge of the managerial duties.

Stewart and the rest of the staff also made very clear that the decision for Stewart to pass the torch was not under any bad pretenses.

“It really had nothing to do with anything other than that I felt I needed to spend more time with our staff,” Stewart said.

Fans can breathe easy knowing Stewart will still be involved in the decision making with the team, stating that while McClelland will have the final say in coaching, Stewart will be a part in helping him along the way.

CEO Martin Lind has full confidence in McClelland keeping the status the Eagles have attained over the last few years.

“The winning tradition at the Budweiser Event Center is not gonna be compromised,” Lind stated.

A little more on McCelland (compiled by Eagles’ Staff):

A fourth round draft pick of the Hartford Whalers, McClelland spent parts of 12 seasons in the NHL, seven of them with the Edmonton Oilers during the team’s 1980s dynasty.

McClelland played a rugged game as a checking line winger, accumulating the second-most penalty minutes in Oilers history. In the mid-’80s, he strung together four consecutive seasons of over 200 PIMs and finished his NHL career with a total of 1,672 (1,952 including playoffs). Part of his job description included protecting Wayne Gretzky.

McClelland’s most famous offensive contribution came in Game One of the Oilers first Stanley Cup championship series in 1984. With the Oilers and rival Islanders skating to a 0-0 tie, McClelland’s goal stood up as the only score of the game, propelling Edmonton to their first of five championships in seven years.

With his playing days over, McClelland’s coaching career began in 1997 as assistant coach of the OHL’s Barrie Colts, and he has been either a head coach or assistant coach every year since. After spending one year with the Colts, he got his first head coaching job with the Prince Albert Raiders of the WHL. Following two years with the Raiders, he advanced to the AHL, becoming assistant coach of the St. John’s Maple Leafs for five seasons.

Over the past three seasons, McClelland guided the RiverKings to a regular season record of 100-77-15, two playoff berths and a trip to the Northern Conference Finals in 2007 (where they lost to Colorado in six games). McClelland was named the CHL’s Coach of the Year for 2006-07 and was the recipient of the league’s Ralph Backstrom Soul of Service Award following the 2007-08 season for “demonstrating the qualities of excellence and dedication to providing outstanding customer service.”

A native of Oshawa, Ontario, McClelland now lives in Windsor, Colorado with his wife Wendy and their three sons, Jack, Max and Matt.