Derek Keenan
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Derek Keenan is a former lacrosse player, and current head coach and General Manager of the Portland LumberJax of the National Lacrosse League.
Keenan began his playing career in 1992 with the Buffalo Bandits, where he won the 1992 Rookie of the Year Award. He only played two seasons with the Bandits, but the Bandits won the Champions Cup in both of those seasons. After a five year break, he played six games with the Toronto Rock in 1999, before becoming an assistant coach for the Rock under the legendary Les Bartley. The Rock won the 1999 NLL Championship, and with Bartley at the helm and Keenan and Ed Comeau as assistant coaches, the Rock went to the championship game in each of the next four seasons, winning three of them (2000, 2002, and 2003).
In November 2003, Bartley stepped down due to his battle with colon cancer, and Keenan was promoted to interim general manager, while Comeau was given the job of interim head coach[1]. However, less than four months later, after a 2-4 start, both Keenan and Comeau were fired by the Rock[2], replaced by Terry Sanderson.
In 2005, Keenan was hired by the Anaheim Storm, becoming their head coach and general manager. He improved the Storm from a dismal 1-15 record in 2004 to a 5-11 record in 2005. However, the Storm folded after the 2005 season due to low attendance.
In July of 2005, Keenan was named head coach and general manager of the then-unnamed Portland expansion franchise[3]. The team was named the "LumberJax" a week later, and finished the 2006 season 11-5, becoming the first expansion team in NLL history to finish first in its division. Keenan was awarded both the GM of the Year Award and the Les Bartley Award for coach of the year.
Contents |
[edit] Statistics
[edit] National Lacrosse League
| Regular Season | Playoffs | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | GP | G | A | Pts | LB | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | LB | PIM | ||
| 1992 | Buffalo | 8 | 26 | 23 | 42 | 41 | 8 | 3 | 6 | 10 | 16 | 18 | 2 | ||
| 1993 | Buffalo | 8 | 22 | 12 | 34 | 35 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 8 | 13 | 19 | 8 | ||
| 1999 | Toronto | 6 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 15 | 0 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| Totals | 22 | 52 | 42 | 94 | 91 | 13 | 5 | 11 | 18 | 29 | 37 | 10 | |||
[edit] References
- ^ Les Bartley sidelined by cancer. Outsider's Guide to the NLL (2003-11-05). Retrieved on 2006-11-08.
- ^ Rock cans Ed Comeau, Derek Keenan. Outsider's Guide to the NLL (2004-02-17). Retrieved on 2006-11-08.
- ^ Keenan finally named as Portland coach/GM. Outsider's Guide to the NLL (2005-07-07). Retrieved on 2006-11-08.
[edit] Awards
| Preceded by Bob Hamley |
NLL GM of the Year 2005 |
Succeeded by incumbent |
| Preceded by Bob Hamley |
Les Bartley Award 2005 |
Succeeded by incumbent |
| Preceded by Gary Gait |
NLL Rookie of the Year 1992 |
Succeeded by Tom Marechek (1994) |
 |
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