Knighthawks Mike Hasen Gets On-The-Job Training This Summer

"It was interesting, but it was a great learning experience," said Hasen. "I look forward to learning more and moving forward."

The summer of 2010 is his first as a head coach, having served as an assistant coach for the past three seasons under Troy Cordingley. There were plenty of expectations for the 38 year old, having taken over the back-to-back Mann Cup champions. Hasen, however, led the team to the second best record in the MSL with an 11-5 mark and a first-round bye in the postseason. The real work, however, will begin in the next week when the Excelsiors enter the playoffs.

"There is still a lot of work to be done. We had a couple of good practices this week," said Hasen. "We are trying to work on our systems and focusing on us. When we learn who we are playing we will prepare for them."

Hasen used his experience with the Rochester Knighthawks to help him prepare for his new role. He also had the benefit of working with former Knighthawks Head Coach Paul Day, who is the assistant in Brampton.

"I am seeing what Paul (Gait) brought to the game and using what I learned as a player," said Hasen. "The biggest help has been Paul Day. I respected him as a coach and I still respect him. We have a good working relationship."

Hasen played nine seasons in Rochester and seven of those were for under Day. Day served as the head coach for eight seasons and left with a franchise-best 75 wins and eight straight playoff appearances.

After his final season as a player with the Knighthawks, he moved into an assistant coaching role with the club in 2007. During his playing days, he captained two Mann Cup championships teams (1998 and 2002) and won the Merv McKenzie Award as the Most Valuable Defensive Player an unprecedented four times.

He now has a chance to equal a mark that has gone unmatched for 14 years in his first season as a head coach. The Excelsiors will attempt to become the first team to three-peat since the 1996 Six Nations Chiefs. He will try not to think about that as his club waits for its semifinal opponent.

"We are focusing on one thing and that is repeating," he said. "We will do our best to get there again."

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National Lacrosse League Stories from July 28, 2010

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