Rush GM/Head Coach Derek Keenan Awarded Junior Canadian Coach of the Year
Published on August 25, 2010 under National Lacrosse League (NLL)
Edmonton Rush News Release
Following up on his highly successful and award-winning first year as General Manager and Head Coach of the Edmonton Rush, Derek Keenan has been named the Inside Lacrosse Junior 'A' Coach the Year for the 2010 season.
In just a single summer of rebuilding the Whitby Warriors, Keenan turned the club from a team that missed the playoffs completely in 2008 and barely qualified in eighth place just one season ago, into one of the Ontario Lacrosse Association's premier organizations. The Warriors posted 17 regular-season victories to finish third overall behind only the Six Nations Arrows and Orangeville Northmen. The Keenan-led Warriors were the only team to beat Orangeville during the regular season while posting an impressive 10-1 home-floor record.
Keenan utilized a constant-press attack and capitalized on his players' athleticism to guide the Warriors up the OLA ladder and into contender position for the league championship. The Warriors went on to defeat the Brampton Excelsiors 3-2 in the OLA playoffs best-of-five quarter-final round before falling to Six Nations in the semifinals.
Keenan topped the other finalists for the award: Bruce Codd (Calgary Raiders), Curt Malawsky (Coquitlam Adanacs), Greg Rennie (Delta Islanders), and Matt Sawyer (Orangeville Northmen).
The 2010 lacrosse year has been an incredible campaign for Keenan. Prior to his Junior 'A' award, he received the nod as General Manager of the Year in the National Lacrosse League and was named co-winner of the NLL's Les Bartley Award for Coach of the Year alongside Washington's Chris Hall. Keenan guided the Rush to a franchise-best 10-6 regular-season mark, plus the team's first Champion's Cup playoff appearance in franchise history, and a West Division semifinal upset of the defending league-champion Calgary Roughnecks.
UFC Hall of Fame legend Randy "The Natural" Couture will sport the Rush logo on his fight shorts when he takes on James "Lights Out" Toney at UFC 118: Edger vs. Penn 2 live on pay-per-view from Boston. Couture, the UFC's former heavyweight and light heavyweight champ, takes on the former boxing champion in one of the most hotly anticipated bouts in UFC history.
"The Rush are extremely pleased to be in the corner of Randy Couture for this monumental fight," stated Gord Sawyer, Rush Team President. "Everyone in our organization is a huge fan of 'The Natural' and we all can't wait to see Randy prove to James Toney that he has no business being in the Octagon."
Couture, the Rush's strength and conditioning coach, wore the Rush logo last year in his fight against rival veteran Mark "The Hammer" Coleman. Couture captured the win just over a minute into Round 2 by submission via rear-naked choke.
The ultra-popular fighter became a follower of the Rush last season, taking several players into the Extreme Couture gym in Las Vegas for week-long training sessions, and then making an appearance at a Rush game along with an autograph session and celebrity poker tournament. On top of his hectic training, fighting, and coaching schedule, Couture fit in time to take on a role in the action movie "The Expendables" which is currently the No. 1 flick at the box office in Canada.
The Rush logo was also worn by Randy's son, Ryan, during his professional mixed martial arts debut. Ryan Couture scored a first-round submission victory over Lucas Stark at Strikeforce Challengers 10 back on August 13 in Phoenix.
"We were very excited to be part of Ryan Couture's professional debut," added Sawyer. "The Rush organization and our fans are eagerly anticipating what's to come for Ryan in his career."
National Lacrosse League Stories from August 25, 2010
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
