With the Coquitlam Junior Adanacs hosting this year’s Minto Cup national championship tournament, the BC Junior A Lacrosse League (BCJALL) team is dipping into its past glories in an attempt to return the trophy to the Poirier Sport and Leisure Complex.
Pat Coyle, who guided the Jr. Adanacs to two Minto Cup titles in 2016 and 2018 during a previous five-year tenure with the team from 2015-19, is back behind its bench.
Coyle coached the Senior Adanacs in 2022 and 2023 in addition to his duties as the head coach of the National Lacrosse League’s (NLL) Colorado Mammoth, which plays in the winter.
Coyle also brought success to the Adanacs’ name as a player.
In 2001, he led the senior team to its only Mann Cup national championship. He was named a Western Lacrosse Association all-star seven times and five times he was the league’s defender of the year.
Coyle’s accolades also carried on into the pro ranks. He won five NLL championships as a player and another in 2022 as head coach of the Mammoth.
Last June, after Coyle guided Colorado to a second consecutive appearance in the NLL final that it ultimately lost to the Buffalo Bandits, the team signed him to a new multi-year contract.
Coyle was named to the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 2017.
“Pat Coyle has been proven to be one of the most successful lacrosse players and coaches in the history of the sport,” said the Jr. Adanacs in a statement. “The club is beyond excited to be welcoming Pat back.”
Coyle will be joined by another familiar name to local lacrosse fans and fellow hall-of-famer Chris Gill, who will be an assistant as well as the team’s offensive coordinator.
The former scoring star who amassed 241 points in just 72 games for the Jr. Adanacs in the early 1990s was an assistant to Coyle in Colorado prior to taking over as the head coach of the Vancouver Warriors from 2018 to 2022.
The Jr. Adanacs lost to the Burlington Blaze in two straight games in last year’s Minto Cup championship after capturing the BCJALL title when it defeated the Victoria Shamrocks four games to one in the best-of-seven final.
This year’s Minto Cup tournament, featuring the top teams from leagues in B.C., Alberta and Ontario, is scheduled for Aug. 17 to 24.
