NLL Insider

As NLL Insider speculated earlier this off-season and the Rochester D&C officially announced yesterday, Rochester Knighthawks’ defender Regy Thorpe has retired from his role on the floor with the team, but has been hired as the franchise’s new GM.

Thorpe, who coaches the Six Nations Arrows in the OLA’s Junior A loop, has been linked to both the team’s head coaching position and GM role since before last season even ended.

Jody Gage, the team’s long time GM, will now be focusing all his efforts with the Rochester Americans of the American Hockey League after Thorpe’s head office promotion.

New Knighthawks and Americans owner, Curt Styres, told the Rochester D&C that with Gage serving as the Knighthawks, Americans and even MLL’s Rochester Rattlers GM, that the team felt it would be smarter in their interests to have Gage 100% focused on the Americans and Thorpe doing the same for the Knighthawks, who missed the post-season for the first time in franchise history this past NLL season.

Thorpe has also recently served as the Rattlers assistant coach. The Rattlers are currently in the MLL’s semi-finals and favored to win the league’s post-season crown this weekend.

“It’s a sad day in my heart, but at the same time it’s exciting,” Thorpe told the Rochester D&C during yesterday’s press conference. “I think I can better serve the team the next couple years up in the management office, helping the team achieve its goals. I think I have a good idea what the team needs.”

Since former Head Coach Ed Comeau left the team for his new coaching position with the New York Titans, a number of names have been linked to the position, including Thorpe, Barry Powless and most recently, Paul Suggate.

It is believed a deal with Suggate is being finalized this week, although sources tell NLL Insider that it’s not necessarily a lock that Suggate will accept the position.

Styres told the Rochester D&C that the team received little interest and few formal applications were submitted for the coaching position, however he is excited about the prospects of who they are considering from the small pool of candidates.

Suggate, a Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Famer and box lacrosse legend, coached the Mississauga Tomahawks this past summer to a 2-20 record during what many would consider a rebuilding year for the team, who have struggled in the standings over the past several seasons.

Of Mississgua’s two wins this season, one was a huge upset victory over Thorpe’s heavily favored Arrows, a loss that ultimately cost Six Nations sole position of second place.

NLL Insider has also learned from several sources that former Rochester defender Mike Hasen will likely be named the team’s defensive coach while Freeman Bucktooth will take over the team’s offensive side.

A decision is expected to be made over the next week to ten days.

Rate This Story:

(6 votes, average: 3.33 out of 5)

 Loading ...