Pictured (l to r) Pat Coyle, Chris Gill and Dan Stroup
LANGLEY, BC – The National Lacrosse League inducted its 22nd and 23rd members of the NLL Hall of Fame with defenseman Pat Coyle and head coach Chris Hall joining the illustrious group during a Wednesday night ceremony at Langley Events Centre in British Columbia.
“When I found out that I was inducted, I started thinking back about my career and the guys that I played with,” Coyle said. “And the biggest thing that kept coming up for me was gratitude and how grateful I am for the opportunities that I’ve been given, and the friends I’ve been given, and the teammates that I got to play with.”
The 12-year NLL pro was a five-time champion who played the final four years of his career in Colorado.
“Pat was, and still is, a born leader,” said Mammoth president & general manager Steve Govett as he introduced the inductee. “When he speaks, you listen. He wasn’t always spewing roses, but you listened. He didn’t always tell you what you wanted to hear, and you listened. You listened and you believed!”
After Coyle became the 22nd member of the Hall of Fame, Chris Hall joined him as the 23rd inductee, marking the first multi-member class since 2010.
“It’s been a fantastic ride,” said Hall during his acceptance speech at the home of the Vancouver Stealth. “A dream come true.”
Coyle became the first Hall of Fame member inducted exclusively as a defenseman while Hall was elected in his first year of eligibility following his retirement from coaching after the 2014 NLL season. Coyle and Hall mark the 22nd and 23rd members of the Hall of Fame and first multi-member class since 2010.
Coyle played 12 seasons in the league including seven seasons with the Toronto Rock from 1998-2004 and four years with the Colorado Mammoth from 2005-2008. The five-time champion defender played in 156 career regular season games, recording 940 loose balls and 133 points (28+105). The Orangeville, Ontario native won the league’s inaugural Defensive Player of the Year Award in 2002. Coyle’s teams made it to the playoffs in 11 of his 12 seasons where he posted 12 points (3+9) along with 116 loose balls in 18 postseason games played. He won a combined five championships with Toronto (1999, 2000, 2002 & 2003) and Colorado (2006) in six Championship Game appearances. Coyle enters his second year as an associate head coach with the Mammoth.
Hall served as a head coach in the league for 12 seasons, first with the Calgary Roughnecks from 2002-2007 before finishing his coaching career with the Vancouver Stealth franchise from 2009-2014. Hall’s 85 regular-season wins ranks third all-time behind Darris Kilgour (121) and Les Bartley (93). With an 11-6 career record in the postseason, Hall’s 11 playoff wins rank fourth all-time behind Bartley (22), Troy Cordingley (12) and Kilgour (12). In 2010, Hall became just the second coach in NLL history to win the Champion’s Cup with two different teams as he led the Stealth to its first-ever title after winning it all with Calgary in 2004. The Stealth reached the championship game in three of four seasons from 2010-2013 and Hall was a co-recipient of the 2010 NLL Head Coach of the Year award. Following his retirement from coaching, Hall now embarks upon his first year as Senior Advisor to the President with the Stealth.
The five finalists for the Class of 2014 were selected over the summer by the league’s Hall of Fame Committee. The other three finalists included Jake Bergey and two automatically returning from last year’s ballot in Pat McCready and Kaleb Toth.
Hall received votes on over 77 percent of the overall ballots, followed by Coyle (58%), Bergey and McCready (45%), and Toth (39%). Coyle won induction by appearing on 77 percent of ballots cast by Hall of Fame members.
Hall of Fame ballots were cast by the teams, current members of the NLL Hall of Fame and senior members of the league’s covering media. Voters were able to select up to three of the five nominees on the ballot. To win induction into the Hall of Fame, nominees must be selected on a minimum of 75 percent of the overall ballots cast or 75 percent of ballots cast by Hall of Fame members.
The NLL Hall of Fame was established in 2006. The 23 current members are:
Class of 2006 (Founding Members)
Les Bartley
Russ Cline
Chris Fritz
Gary Gait
Paul Gait
Class of 2007
Mike French
Darris Kilgour
Tom Marechek
Class of 2008
Sal LoCascio
Johnny Mouradian
Tony Resch
Class of 2009
Dallas Eliuk
Jim Veltman
Class of 2010
Rich Kilgour
Dan Stroup
John Tucker
Class of 2011
Bob Watson
Class of 2012
Steve Dietrich
Class of 2013
Pat O’Toole
Class of 2014
Pat Coyle
Chris Hall
Members of Media Recognized by Hall of Fame
Tom Borrelli (2007)
Neil Stevens (2008)
– See more at: https://www.nll.com/news_article/show/416330?referrer_id=389128#sthash.WCEXY0OR.dpuf
