NLL Insider

Well the NLL has a big crisis to deal with this week: the Chicago Shamrox story that our Paul Tutka is all over. It sounds like we will know the outcome real soon.  I am one of the many who is hoping that we will be talking about a new ownership group rather than dispersal draft.

On another note, within the next month, the NLL will be making decisions on next season’s Hall of Inductees. Both the NLL and NLLInsider had fan surveys  to see whom you wanted in.  The four leading candidates in our survey were Jim Veltman, Kevin Finneran Ted Dowling and Pat Coyle. The fact that they got 700 more votes than Marty O’Neill simply means that most of our readers are current NLL fans.  I suspect only a small percentage of our readers know much about some of the pioneers who played in the early days of the MILL. 

As for the 4 players mentioned, Jim Veltman is a slam-dunk. I could also make arguments for both Teddy Dowling and Kevin Finneran, who both scored over 500 points in their careers.

Today however, I would like to speak for Pat Coyle (whether he likes it or not). Pat Coyle’s impact on the NLL should put him in the Hall of Fame next year along with his old teammate Jim Veltman. Let me first address his “lifetime” suspension. Yes he was suspended for bumping a ref in 1994 when he played with the Detroit Turbos and some people say that should negate his Hall of Fame chances.  Forget it. Forget that the refs were terrible back then. Forget that it often seemed like the refs were told to help create an outcome that was most profitable for the league. Forget that Pat Coyle got into his share of trouble as a young man but changed his life around so much in the next four years that he was an outstanding example for every young player coming into the league.  Forget all that. 

The bottom line is that the NLL forgave him in 1998 and reinstated him as a player.  That should be the end of that argument. Pat Coyle should be in the Hall of Fame because he, along with Terry Bullen and a few other Toronto Rock players, showed the league the value of a dominant defensive specialist. He was the league’s first pure defender who got some serious talk for league MVP in 2000.

Yes he often played on the edge but anyone who played with him will tell you that he was a great teammate and great leader. Pat Coyle should be in the Hall of Fame because he is the one defender who inspired the league to create a Defender of the Year award.  Today every team dresses between 6 and 9 defensive players each game. In the early 90’s most teams didn’t use any.

The success that the Toronto Rock had with defensive specialists like Pat Coyle changed the NLL and ultimately changed the style of all box all over North America.  Like it or not Pat Coyle’s dominance was the major reason that every single NLL (and Canadian Senior) coach has adopted that style. 

Yes Jim Veltman is certainly going to be in the Hall of Fame next year.  

Pat Coyle should be at the same induction party.

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