If they weren't already long-called the Adanacs, Coquitlam's Sr. 'A' lacrosse team might want to consider adopting the nickname Roughnecks.
Defender/transition player Jon Harnett became the latest current member of the National Lacrosse League's Calgary Roughnecks to commit to the Adanacs for the upcoming Western Lacrosse Association campaign, it was announced Monday.
Securing Harnett brings the number of NLL Roughnecks on the Adanacs to six, including offensive standouts Dane Dobbie, Cory Conway and Daryl Veltman, along with defenders Mike Kilby and Andrew McBride.
"He's kind of what the doctor ordered for us and he'll help us shore up our back end," said A's general manager Les Wingrove, who made it no secret that bolstering the team's defence was his top priority after the A's surrendered 61 goals in their six-game semifinal playoff loss last year to the Victoria Shamrocks. "It makes it a pretty easy fit for Jon when he knows a lot of our guys already."
A graduate of the heralded Orangeville Northmen of the Ontario Jr. 'A' league, Harnett toiled in the 2009 and '10 campaigns with the NLL Boston Blazers before moving to Calgary with Veltman as part of a huge trade prior to the start of this winter-pro season that sent scoring wizard and ex-Adanac Josh Sanderson to Beantown.
At six-foot-two and 195 pounds, Harnett was named to the '09 NLL all-rookie team and is considered "a shutdown defender and speedy transition player who excels at getting the ball out of his own end," the A's stated in a press release. Harnett played last summer with the Kitchener-Waterloo Kodiaks of Ontario's Major Series League.
Wingrove noted that his recruiting process is further ahead that it normally is this time of year and expects "a dogfight" for roster spots come the team's training camp at the end of the NLL season in May.
Part of the reason for that, Wingrove added, is the A's acquisition of Coquitlam Jr. Adanacs' grad Robbie Campbell -- another big defender -- and offensive threat and PoCo product Trevor Evans, who went fourth and 11th overall respectively at last month's WLA junior draft.
RAG LINE: The Adanacs open the 2011 season May 13 versus the Lakers in Burnaby, with their home opener set for May 28 against the Maple Ridge Burrards at the Poirier Sport and Leisure Complex.
