Stealth's Hall, Rush's Keenan Share Les Bartley Award
Published on May 11, 2010 under National Lacrosse League (NLL) News Release
The National Lacrosse League has announced that Edmonton Rush head coach Derek Keenan and Washington Stealth head coach Chris Hall have been named co-winners of the Les Bartley Award for the 2010 season, presented to the Head Coach of the Year. Keenan also received accolades for his performance in the front office this season in taking home the General Manager of the Year Award.
Hall and Keenan tied in voting with seven first places votes apiece and 43 total points each. Voting is tabulated by ballots cast by NLL head coaches, general managers and governors.
"This season has been indicative of the type of success both Chris Hall and Derek Keenan have enjoyed throughout their careers," said NLL Commissioner George Daniel. "Both men are well deserving of the 2010 Les Bartley Award."
Hall led the Stealth to an 11-5 record - tied for the best mark in the league - and the top overall seed throughout the 2010 NLL playoffs. The Stealth offense was tops in the league, standing as the only team to score more than 200 goals (211) during the regular season. Washington tied for the best home record in the league, compiling a 6-2 record in front of the fans at Comcast Arena.
This is Hall's second stint as a head coach in the NLL, previously leading the Calgary Roughnecks from 2002-2007 - a stint which included a Champion's Cup victory in 2004. This is Hall's first Les Bartley Award.
"I have never been big on individual awards in a team game, but it is certainly nice to be recognized by your peers. I'm pleased, and also very pleaed to share the award with another great coach in Derek Keenan," said Hall. "It's a nice individual award and I'm honored by it, but I wouldn't be able to do it without the great players we have and the super assistant coaches, as well as our general manager (Doug Locker), president (David Takata) and owner (Denise Watkins)."
Keenan shares the Les Bartley Award with Hall after helping lead Edmonton to its most successful season in the franchise's five-year existence. The Rush finished tied for the second best record in the league at 10-6 and earned the #3 seed in the Western Division. Edmonton was equally as good away from home as it was playing at Rexall Place, compiling a 5-3 record both at home and on the road.
As general manager, Keenan made several moves during the offseason to improve upon Edmonton's 5-11 finish in 2009. Keenan brought in, among others, transition player Brodie Merrill (17g, 36a, 190lb), forwards Gavin Prout (27g, 40a), Ryan Powell (21g, 30a) and Ryan Ward (31g, 43a) and goaltender Matt Disher (8-5 record). He also drafted 2010 contributors Corey Small (17g, 22a), Dane Stevens (7g, 10a) and Mrett Mydske (67lb).
Keenan won both awards in 2006 as well, becoming the first man win multiple Les Barley Awards and the second to win multiple General Manager of the Year Awards (Minnesota Swarm general manager Marty O'Neill won the award in 2007 and 2008). As a player, he won the 1992 Rookie of the Year Award as a member of the Buffalo Bandits. After winning four titles in five years as an assistant coach with the Toronto Rock - under Bartley - from 1999-2003, Keenan later served as head coach and general manager of Anaheim in 2005 and Portland from 2006-2009.
"I would certainly trade the awards for the chance to win a championship this weekend. I've always maintained that awards like this are team awards; it's more credit to our players and assistant coaches than it is to me. It's a real honor, but also an honor to them," said Keenan. "They made my job really easy, as well as our owner (Bruce Urban), president (Gord Sawyer) and CFO (Al Ryz).
"My first thought was this is the second time I've won both awards, and the last time I did it (in 2006), the next year we went 4-12. Hopefully it's not a bad omen," said Keenan. "I think it's different this time. We have a veteran group for next year. The most important part is the players."
The NLL Championship Game will take place Saturday, May 15 at 10:30 p.m. EST between the Washington Stealth and Toronto Rock. The game will be aired live on the NLL Network at NLL.com, as well as on Versus on Sunday, May 16 at 2 p.m. EST. The game will also air in Canada on TSN2.
The National Lacrosse League will announce the winners of the 2010 season awards over the next two days, leading up to the Championship Game. The schedule of announcements is as follows:
Wednesday, May 12 - Transition Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year & Goaltender of the Year
Thursday, May 13 - Rookie of the Year Award, All-Rookie Team, All-Pro Teams & MVP award.
The league awards are determined by a vote of the league executives, general managers and head coaches.
National Lacrosse League Stories from May 11, 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.
