When Coquitlam Adanacs general manager Les Wingrove scouted Holdon Vyse toiling last season with the West Coast Sr. B league's North Shore Indians, he saw something he very much liked in the lacrosse player.
A lot of somethings, actually.
"He's a good fit for us... he's a pretty skilled player," Wingrove said of his latest signing on the Western Lacrosse Association squad. "He's really a defender but, ironically, he could probably be a pretty good goal-scorer, too. Gosh, [in the North Shore game] he played the powerplay, short-man, offence, defence, everything. He looked pretty good on the offensive end. I was pretty impressed."
The A's announced Monday inking the 22-year-old Vyse, whose rights were transferred costless from the Six Nations Chiefs of Ontario's Major Series Lacrosse league after the A's allowed prolific scorer Andy Secore to move there freely last season.
Vyse actually played the A's final four regular-season games last season and their first-round semifinal playoff series versus the Victoria Shamrocks.
When contacted by phone Tuesday back east, Vyse told The Tri-City News he's happy to be heading to the left coast again for summer and feels he can play any position A's new head coach Bob Salt requests of him.
"I like to think so," said Vyse, who will help bolster the A's defence, first and foremost. "I like to get the ball up and out of our end. I don't want to overstep my boundaries. We'll see what the coach says when I get out there. I'll pretty much do as I'm told."
Wingrove made it no secret the A's leaky team defence was a big reason Coquitlam was bounced in the first round of the WLA playoffs last year and that plugging those holes was his primary goal this off-season. He already did so, in part, by collaring Jon Harnett of the NLL Calgary Roughnecks last month and the five-foot-11, 215-pound Vyse only adds more talent and numbers in the A's own territory. Vyse has played part of this National Lacrosse League winter-pro season with both the Buffalo Bandits and Rochester Nighthawks.
"He gave our back-end a big boost last year going into the playoffs and having him here for most of the season will add to our depth," Wingrove said. "He was a good fit and has already made the transition onto our team. He is another young, versatile player who can play both ends of the floor, if needed."
Vyse is gearing up to represent the Iroquois Nationals in the upcoming World Indoor Lacrosse Championships in Prague, Czech Republic and is expected to join the A's at the completion of the tournament the first week of June.
RAG LINE: The A's open their season May 20 in Burnaby against the Lakers, with their home opener set for May 28 versus the Langley Thunder at the Poirier Sport and Leisure Complex...The defending Minto Cup-champion Coquitlam Jr. Adanacs host the Langley in their B.C. Jr. 'A' lacrosse league season opener tonight (Wednesday), 8 p.m.
