NLL Insider

 In one of my recent blogs I mentioned that the only NLL player who had logged more air miles than Anthony Cosmo since 2005 is Portland’s Pat Jones who has commuted from Oshawa  Ontario to the West coast since he joined the Anaheim Storm in 2005. Although Jones has only scored 2 goals in his career he is a solid defender and will probably hit the 2000 mark in faceoffs this season.  He has become one of the most dependable players for Derek Keenan’s team and has only missed a handful of games in the last four years. However there was a time when it looked like he might not ever play in the NLL.

I first came in contact with Jones in 1998 when I played for the Ontario Raiders. I’m fuzzy on the exact timeframe (Johnny Mouradian will correct me) but  I think  Pat Jones was invited out to play for the Raiders early in the season. I’m not sure why he wasn’t at the original tryouts but the team struggled out of the gate and I know the coaching brass was eager to give him a shot in a game.  At the time he was the Captain of the Whitby Warriors Junior A club that had won the Minto Cup in 97 (they would win another in 99).   I was somewhere around the 15^th spot on the team’s depth chart and to me it looked like he might be bumping me out of a spot. It may sound cruel but   I was not disappointed when he blew his knee out at one of the first few practices.  I had nothing against Pat and I was not happy for the pain he suffered but I just didn’t want him to take my job. A year later he came out again and blew out his other knee at one of the first practices. This time I really felt sorry for him and   I figured that was the end of his lacrosse career.

It wasn’t until 2003 that I saw him again and his persistence paid off as he played 11 games for the Toronto Rock under Les Bartley. He was a member of their championship team. In 2004 Eddie Comeau and Derek Keenan took over the coaching duties when Les Bartley got sick but they were fired when the they got off to a 2-4 start. He only played 4 games that season and  Terry Sanderson traded him to Anaheim for third round draft pick prior to 2005 season.

Anaheim’s new coach was Derek Keenan and there must have been something that Keenan liked about Jones. If anyone knew Jones it would be Keenan. They both hail from Oshawa, and Keenan was able to see him play his Junior lacrosse in nearby Whitby.  He played every game for Anaheim that year but the team folded and he was picked up by Philadelpha in the dispersal draft.  When Keenan got the job to coach the expansion Portland LumberJax he again traded for  Pat Jones and they have been together since. Eddie Comeau joked that Pat Jones is Derek Keenan’s Stephane Matteau. Matteau  was an NHL hockey player who played for Iron Mike Keenan (Derek Keenan’s cousin) on three NHL hockey teams including the Stanley Cup winning 1994 New York Rangers. I once heard Matteau say that he was surprised when Mike Keenan aquired him for their second stint together. He had never heard a kind word from his coach and felt that Keenan hated him. Not many players  felt “love” from hockey’s  Keenan. However lacrosse’s  Derek Keenan does not hesitate to heap praise on Pat Jones, his unsung hero. “Pat Jones is our inspirational leader.  Year in and year out he works harder than anyone in preparing for the season.  He is consistently the most fit player on our team.  I also think he is an underrated performer.  He’s a very good defender and above average face-off guy.  He’s also a horse who can log a lot of floor time.  I think because of what Pat went through 10 years ago with all the knee problems he probably appreciates being able to play in the NLL more than anyone.  It was almost over for him but even the fact that he came back to play at all is a testament to his love of the game and his perseverance.”  

How do you not cheer for a guy like that?

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