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With a throng of players, coaches, GMs and media gathered on the floor at Rexall Place for the all-star skills competition two weeks ago in Edmonton, Bob Hamley made his way through the crowd shaking hands and exchanging smiles before running into a new face.

The Edmonton Rush coach and GM walked up to Philly star Athan Iannucci, extended his hand and said: “Hi, Bob Hamley, congratulations on your start this year.”

That, in a nutshell, is Hamley. Not only is he a great lacrosse mind, he’s one of the nicest guys you’ll meet in this business.

He’s also one of the most unique. One of a kind, so to speak.

While there are full-time GMs and/or presidents in the NLL (Kurt Silcott, Johnny Mouradian, Steve Govett, to name a few) Hamley is the only full-time coach/GM in the league.

Quite simply, he’s become The Template.

To be honest, I’ve never understood why there aren’t more full-time coach/GMs in this league.

Hamley doesn’t, either.

“I really believe, and I think (Rush owner) Bruce Urban would agree, too, that that’s the way our league has to go,” said Hamley. “Ownership is investing a lot of money trying to build a fan base and I think it’s important for us to have full-time lacrosse guys running it.”

After playing four seasons with the Buffalo Bandits (scoring 135 points in 39 games and winning four titles), Hamley began his NLL coaching career with the Albany Attack before being named coach/GM of the Columbus Landsharks (still the worst team name in NLL history, I’d argue). However, that was still a part-time gig.

When the Landsharks moved to Arizona in 2003, Hamley was offered the chance of turning his post into a full-time gig, which meant quitting his job selling insurance in Ontario and leaving Canada’s harsher weather for a sunny clime in Phoenix.

Real tough call, I bet. Actually, it was.

“It was a real honor and thrill to be asked to be something like that,”said Hamley, who proved it was the right decision by becoming the first person in 2005 to be named both coach and GM of the year. “It wasn’t an easy decision, obviously, quitting a career of 13 or 14 years but we (his wife and two kids) were there for the experience.”

When the seasons ended, Hamley, who made sure to look out for himself and family by signing a long-term contract before moving to Arizona that expires this July, spent a month in the summer in Ontario scouting and made frequent trips to Canada’s West Coast to gauge the talent. In the end, he had only one focus for 12 months of the year.

His ability to turn the Sting into a title contender and his status as arguably the best GM in the league when it comes to winning trades is due, in large part, to his talent. However, he admits focusing solely on the game has played a significant role in his success and that of his teams.

“To wake up in the morning thinking lacrosse and go to bed at night thinking what I can do to help the team was fantastic,” said Hamley.

When asked about moving from sunny Arizona for the much-less hospitable climate of Edmonton, Hamley cracks a smile.

Believe it or not, Alberta was always a destination for his family. So much so, when the Sting announced they were going dark, Hamley started the wheels in motion to get his accreditation to sell insurance in the Wild Rose province if another job in the NLL didn’t pan out right away.

“When we left Ontario, we told family and friends we wouldn’t be moving back to Ontario,” said Hamley. If we were going to move back to Canada, we’d be moving to Alberta. That was in 2004. Amazing. And here we are.”

And Rush fans, I believe, should be very happy for that.

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