Derek Keenan
Derek Keenan (born October 2, 1961, in Oshawa, Ontario) is a former lacrosse player, and current head coach and general manager of the Saskatchewan Rush of the National Lacrosse League. Keenan has won the NLL GM of the Year award and the Les Bartley Award for Coach of the Year three times each; he won both awards in 2006, 2010, and 2014 though he shared the 2010 Bartley Award with Chris Hall.
Career
After a long amateur career, (with the
In November
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 2005, Keenan was named head coach and general manager of the then-unnamed Portland expansion franchise.[3] The team was named the "LumberJax", 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. As of November 2012 he was the coach of the Edmonton Rush of the National Lacrosse League. He was inducted into the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame in November, 2012[4]
Keenan is the second cousin of former NHL head coach Mike Keenan.[5] Keenan's wife, Wendy, was the sister of Hockey Hall of Famer, Joe Nieuwendyk. Wendy died on January 2, 2015, at age 51.
Statistics
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 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
NLL Totals | 22 | 52 | 42 | 94 | 91 | 13 | 5 | 11 | 18 | 29 | 37 | 10 |
References
- ^ "Les Bartley sidelined by cancer". Outsider's Guide to the NLL. 2003-11-05. Archived from the original on 2007-08-18. Retrieved 2006-11-08.
- ^ "Rock cans Ed Comeau, Derek Keenan". Outsider's Guide to the NLL. 2004-02-17. Archived from the original on 2007-08-18. Retrieved 2006-11-08.
- ^ "Keenan finally named as Portland coach/GM". Outsider's Guide to the NLL. 2005-07-07. Archived from the original on 2006-05-22. Retrieved 2006-11-08.
- ^ "Edmonton Rush coach and GM named to Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame | Edmonton Sun".
- ^ Griwkowsky, Con (July 30, 2009). "Superstar Sighting..." Edmonton Rush website. Archived from the original on July 16, 2011. Retrieved 2009-11-07.