With just one win in seven games, the Coquitlam Adanacs are hoping to find a recipe for success from the Junior team.
On Tuesday, the Western Lacrosse Association basement-dwellers announced an overhaul of their management that puts the president of the Jr. Adanacs that won Minto Cup national championships in 2016 and 2018, James Abbott, into the role of the senior team’s vice president of lacrosse operations. In addition, the junior side’s general manager, Scott Wortley, will also take that role on with the Sr. Adanacs.
But Adanacs’ president Yvan Lomas said the teams aren’t merging.
“The senior Adanacs are recognizing the strengths and assets to create a more collaborative lacrosse family in Coquitlam,” he told The Tri-City News.
The front office shake-up comes only days after a complete revamp of the Adanacs’ coaching staff.
On Friday, Bob Bell abruptly announced he was stepping down as the team’s head coach, along with assistant coaches Shaun Springett and Al Truant, as well as the team’s assistant general manager Steve Klarner and its video analyst, Aiden York.
Bell said after a positive off-season during which the Adanacs added several top players including star goalie Christain Del Bianco and offensive powerhouse Wes Berg, relations with upper management quickly soured when wins on the floor didn’t follow.
“We thought we had a positive thing moving forward,” Bell said. “Coaches have to make tough decisions when you’re trying to build a winning team.”
Lomas said the two shakeups aren’t related, but the Adanacs’ new head coach, Steve McKinlay, had an association with the Jr. Adanacs as head coach of its old Intermediate A team. He’ll be assisted by Blair Bradley, Mike Quinn and Alex Bevan.
Lomas said he’s confident that latest moves by the Adanacs will put the team in a better position to build on the junior team’s successes.
“This is what we were working on to put the club in a position it needs to be,” he said. “This has had to turn into a rebuild year.”
