NLL Insider

Troy Cordingley has stepped down in Calgary and rumoured to be in Toronto for 2010. (Photo: Cory Shannon)

The Calgary Roughnecks have officially announced that Troy Cordingley has stepped down as the team’s head coach.

“It was a very hard decision for me, but I have to focus on my family and do what is right for them,” said Cordingley in a release issued by the team earlier this afternoon.

“I have four young children under nine at home. My family has bent over backwards for me the past few years, and now it’s time for me to give back and direct my focus on them.”

Cordingley, who over the past year has coached the Brampton Excelsiors to a Mann Cup and then of course the Roughnecks to the ‘09 Champions Cup, had spent time with the Buffalo Bandits as an assistant in the NLL previous to joining the Roughnecks, and is a former head coach with the MSL’s Brooklin Redmen as well.

The now former Necks’ head coach was named the NLL’s coach of the year this past season, in only his second full year in a head coaching role at the pro level.

The Roughnecks did not indicate where this move leaves the rest of their coaching staff, which also includes assistants Terry Sanderson and Dave Pym. Sanderson also serves on Cordingley’s Excelsiors’ coaching staff.

“We were hoping that Troy would be with us for many more years down the road, but we understand that family comes first,” said Brad Banister, Roughnecks’ President and GM.

“It’s saddening because he was a big part of our team, and we’re such a tight knit group, but we understand why Troy made the decision he did, and we will recover.”

NLL Insider has learned from several sources that Cordingley is already being linked to the Toronto Rock’s current search for a head coach and GM.

All indications pointed to the Rock hiring Derek Keenan for both gigs, many close to the franchise and close to the former Portland Lumberjax’s head coach and GM confirming with NLL Insider that a deal was imminent, but NLL Insider learned earlier today that Keenan would definitely not be in Toronto in 2010 in either role.

In other news, it appears that the Rock themselves have or are in the process of being sold, a move which likely triggered Keenan being out of the mix and Cordingley sent to the front of the line, sources say.

Although Toronto President, Brad Watters, was not able to confirm those claims, he did tell NLL Insider that the franchise has been approached by a group interested in the purchase of the franchise, but nothing has been finalized.

Rumours circulated last month that the current Toronto Nationals’ ownership group, currently working out of the Rock’s front offices in downtown Toronto, were interested in purchasing the team. Although their names have come up again, Watters and members of the Nationals’ group have indicated to NLL Insider that they are not currently involved in the potential sale of the franchise.

Watters also addressed the Keenan and Corndingley rumours, saying that the team is still currently in the process of hiring their lacrosse operations and nothing has been made official by the franchise in respect to any rumoured candidates.

Stay tuned to NLL Insider for more on this developing story.

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