By Sean Hatchard
When the Ottawa Rebel won only one game in its inaugural National Lacrosse League campaign last year, a major personnel overhaul was in store.
New management and coaching staff, along with an improved roster built through the draft and off-season acquisitions, has the team promising fans a more exciting year on the floor.
“Last season was really frustrating all year. A lot of people stopped doing their running outside of practice and commitment was really lacking,” says Centretown resident Pat Collins, a second-year Rebel defender. “We also had a lot of players who would just fly-in for the games so there was no team chemistry.
“This year the chemistry is so much better. This year there are no excuses. We have a new coach and new players and it’s time to get serious.”
Ottawa, which scored its only victory in the 12th game of the 13-game schedule last year, kicks off the season Nov. 18 against the expansion Vancouver Ravens at 2 p.m. at the Corel Centre.
Johnny Mouradian, the club’s new general manager who led the Toronto Rock to two league titles in the same capacity, has put together a solid team, one which is likely to improve on last year’s last place finish.
“After our first exhibition game (an 18-12 Oct. 28 win over the Montreal Express) we’re very excited. There are a lot of positive things happening both on offence and defence,” says the 27-year-old Collins, who along with forward Jason Tasse is the only player on the team from Ottawa.
“In our first year, we relied heavily on two or three people to do all the scoring. This year, everybody can score.”
In his first move as Rebel GM, Mouradian hired former Columbus Landsharks bench boss Marty Cooper who replaces Mark Vitarelli as head coach.
While the loss of last season’s captain and leading scorer Del Halliday, who was traded to the Washington Power, will hurt team leadership, the Rebel will have an improved offence.
Mouradian also acquired Columbus star Mike Benedict, Minto Cup standout Lindsay Plunkett and Baltimore’s Dan Moreau in the off-season. The trio along with veteran returnees Stephen Evans, Jake Lawson and 29-point man Kris Konopliff should give Ottawa plenty of goals.
The Rebel defence will be anchored by Toronto veteran Craig Gelsvic, Rory Graham over from Columbus and six-foot-six, 260-pound Ryan Donnelly, a member of the McMaster University football team. Former Buffalo Bandit goaltender Matt Disher keeps Ottawa strong in goal.
“We’d like to finish at the top, obviously, but it really depends. I think it will be a wide-open league with all the expansion teams,” says Collins. “Hopefully, we’ll make the playoffs and make a run for it.”
“All the changes were made to make us a better team,” says Greg Hotte, Rebel director of communications.
“We made a promise to the fans to be more competitive and to win as many games as possible.”
Ottawa fans strongly supported the team last season and the team finished last year fourth in league attendance.
“This season’s going to be exciting. The fans were really supportive last year and that was with only one win. If we can get a few more wins this year, even more will come out,” Collins says.
NLL commissioner Jim Jennings says he is thrilled to have the Ottawa club in the league.
“They did a tremendous job business wise last year and the fact Johnny Mouradian has been there full-time since the end of last season is tremendous,” he says.
“Mouradian is the most qualified guy for the job in North America. He’s the number one guy and with his knowledge of the sport, he’ll have the team turned around in no time.”
The 2001-02 NLL season will see four new teams — the New Jersey Saints, Montreal Express, Calgary Roughnecks and Vancouver — join the previous nine teams currently in the league. Each team will play a 16-game schedule with eight home games.
“The Canadian market has been great for us. Now we are in the top five market and have a national TV deal with Sportsnet,” says Jennings.
“Through this I think you’ll find a strong success at the local levels of lacrosse in the Canadian cities.”