NLL Insider

Led by young stars and vets, the Coquitlam Junior ‘A’ Adanacs had a great season in 2009, winning the B.C. Junior ‘A’ Lacrosse League’s (BCJALL) regular season and playoff title. But the A’s could not match-up against the Eastern division’s top squads and that will lead change in Coquitlam, home of the next Minto Cup championships.

“To say 2009 was a great year is really an understatement,” offered Coquitlam GM Ken Wood. “They came together very quickly, got out of the gate fast and just kept building. I am exceptionally proud of the players and coaches to battle hard through out the playoffs. We met some very good competition that pushed us hard… nothing in the playoffs came easy.”

“I am proud of what we have begun building here,” added Wood. “Two out of three years to the Western final and our Minto Cup appearance, only the third time for a Coquitlam Jr. ‘A’ squad in our history.”

“The Minto Cup, on the other hand, gave us a level of competition even greater than expected,” continued Wood, whose dark-horse Adanacs fell in the semis to the eventual runner-up Brampton Excelsiors.

“Until you go there and play in it, you can only guess at what it is going to be like,” said Wood. “It was just an eye opener.”

“Brampton was well bought and huge and quick and Orangeville is probably one of the most, if not the most, tenacious, committed and fast teams I have ever seen. The style of play was also completely different; We have no team here in the BCJALL that matches the styles played by Brampton, but especially Orangeville.”

“The players gained a lot of experience by playing in the Minto Cup: no doubt, that will pay off in spades for 2010.”

The Adanacs will now look forward to 2010 when they host the Minto Cup. As host, the A’s will also receive a valuable automatic bid to the national championships.

Gone, however, are graduating seniors Trevor Moore, Corbyn Tao, Jordan Weir, Jim Clifford, Cam McLean and Brandon Turner.

The Coquitlam Junior ‘A’ Adanacs will thus turn in part to their Intermediate ‘A’ program which lent their Junior program young offensive studs Robert Church and Ben McIntosh, plus Kevin Nuefeld for ‘09 and the Minto.

“Kevin Schoemaker, Cody Craven, Trent Hawke, Shane Karset, Kyle Dennison and Scott Muscroft – all of these guys graduate up (from Intermediate ‘A’) and stand a good chance of making the big club,” added Wood, also dropping the names of Brad Haddon and Graham Smithies from the program’s Junior ‘B’ club that went 18-2 during the regular season.

“Having said that, and coming on the heals of what I just saw in Brampton, they will need to come into camp in shape and ready to go.”

“I will be busy in the fall and winter recruiting from all over,” says Wood, reiterating the Junior ‘A’ team has to make adjustments to be more competitive in 2010. “I plan on making the training camp the most competitive it ever has been.”

“To match up with either of the two Eastern teams we played against means some changes to our line up, some soul searching on style of play we use and a deep analysis of personnel both on and off the floor,” says Wood.

“We need to ensure that we look honestly at what we need to do to get to the next step and make sure we do it: no rose coloured glasses. We did that when we got bounced in the Western final in 2008. Now we will do it again.”

The Orangeville Northmen repeated in 2009 to win their second straight Minto Cup with a 2-1 series win over host Brampton. Adam Jones was again named NLL Insider’s Playoff Performer of the Year.

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