Vin
04-18-2008, 05:24 PM
Nice piece in the Edmonton Sun prefacing the home-and-home between Edmonton and Colorado.
http://www.edmontonsun.com/Sports/OtherSports/2008/04/18/5320136-sun.html
Tale of two Bobs
Rush coach Hamley and Mammoth coach McMahon are friends and rivals
By DEREK VAN DIEST, SUN MEDIA
You could tell by their tone the respect for one another.
Bob Hamley and Bob McMahon go back a long way.
Tonight, they'll be on opposing benches as Hamley's Edmonton Rush take on McMahon's Colorado Mammoth in the first game of a National Lacrosse League home-and-home series. They'll meet again tomorrow night (7:30 p.m.) at Rexall Place.
"Obviously Bob (McMahon) and I are good friends, we pretty much talk every day," Hamley said. "I have a lot of respect for him. I wouldn't be as far as I am in this league if it wasn't for him. He gave me my first opportunity to coach in this league.
"He's very knowledgeable and I played for him too. It was a lot of fun to play for him."
Hamley got his coaching start as an assistant to McMahon with the Albany Attack. The two led the Attack to the 2002 NLL championship game where they lost to the Toronto Rock.
The following season Hamley became the head coach and general manager of the Columbus Landsharks, who relocated to Arizona and became the Sting. He hired McMahon as an assistant and the two led the Sting to the championship game in 2005, again losing to the Rock in the final.
The pair coached the Sting to the championship game again in 2007 before McMahon was hired as the Mammoth's head coach for this year.
One of McMahon's first orders of business was to bring Hamley on as an assistant coach when the Sting suspended operations following the short work stoppage prior to the start of the season.
REUNION SHORTLIVED
The reunion was short-lived as Hamley was hired by the Rush to replace Paul Day after the team got off to an 0-5 start.
"We're great friends," McMahon said. "We've had the opportunity to coach together for five years. There was sort of one year in between where Bob was in Columbus and I was in Albany, so we got to go head-to-head twice.
"I know Bob will have his team prepared and he'll be whining about the refereeing. I know both teams will be well prepared and we know what to expect from each other. There are no secrets in this game, it comes down to execution and work ethic and the better team will win."
Since taking over the Rush, Hamley has led the team to a 4-4 record. They're going into the weekend a half-game back of the Calgary Roughnecks and Portland LumberJax for the final playoff spot in the West Division.
"Bob (Hamley) has done some great things with that team and brought in some new faces," McMahon said. "They are playing with passion and are working hard. We have to be ready to play them. They are fighting for a playoff spot and we have a goal in mind now as well and it's going to be a very tough game."
The Mammoth head into the weekend a half-game behind the Stealth in the chase for top spot in the division. Since clinching a playoff spot, the team has struggled, losing three of their last four.
They'll finish the season with a showdown against the Stealth next weekend.
"We're not looking ahead at all," McMahon said. "We have to beat Edmonton for that game against San Jose to mean something. We didn't have a very good game last weekend and I know that everyone is pretty eager to get going this weekend to try and get that bad taste out of our mouths. We have a lot to play for this weekend before we can even think of San Jose."
RUSH NEED A WIN
The Rush, meanwhile, may need to win one of the two encounters just to keep their playoff hopes alive, depending on how Calgary fares against the Rock.
Hamley has been able to keep the Rush in the hunt for the playoffs by making a number of personnel changes since taking over. He's also been able to stockpile draft picks, which bodes well for the future.
"I hope we have a good team that can make the playoffs," Hamley said. "We knew adding Lindsay Plunkett, Dan Teat, Mike Hominuck and some of the guys that we got back along with the draft picks, we knew they were good players and could fit in right away. I'm not surprised how we've done so far, but we need to pick it up this weekend from last weekend."
Good luck to both gentlemen this weekend!... And then get revenge on GM JM in SJ!
http://www.edmontonsun.com/Sports/OtherSports/2008/04/18/5320136-sun.html
Tale of two Bobs
Rush coach Hamley and Mammoth coach McMahon are friends and rivals
By DEREK VAN DIEST, SUN MEDIA
You could tell by their tone the respect for one another.
Bob Hamley and Bob McMahon go back a long way.
Tonight, they'll be on opposing benches as Hamley's Edmonton Rush take on McMahon's Colorado Mammoth in the first game of a National Lacrosse League home-and-home series. They'll meet again tomorrow night (7:30 p.m.) at Rexall Place.
"Obviously Bob (McMahon) and I are good friends, we pretty much talk every day," Hamley said. "I have a lot of respect for him. I wouldn't be as far as I am in this league if it wasn't for him. He gave me my first opportunity to coach in this league.
"He's very knowledgeable and I played for him too. It was a lot of fun to play for him."
Hamley got his coaching start as an assistant to McMahon with the Albany Attack. The two led the Attack to the 2002 NLL championship game where they lost to the Toronto Rock.
The following season Hamley became the head coach and general manager of the Columbus Landsharks, who relocated to Arizona and became the Sting. He hired McMahon as an assistant and the two led the Sting to the championship game in 2005, again losing to the Rock in the final.
The pair coached the Sting to the championship game again in 2007 before McMahon was hired as the Mammoth's head coach for this year.
One of McMahon's first orders of business was to bring Hamley on as an assistant coach when the Sting suspended operations following the short work stoppage prior to the start of the season.
REUNION SHORTLIVED
The reunion was short-lived as Hamley was hired by the Rush to replace Paul Day after the team got off to an 0-5 start.
"We're great friends," McMahon said. "We've had the opportunity to coach together for five years. There was sort of one year in between where Bob was in Columbus and I was in Albany, so we got to go head-to-head twice.
"I know Bob will have his team prepared and he'll be whining about the refereeing. I know both teams will be well prepared and we know what to expect from each other. There are no secrets in this game, it comes down to execution and work ethic and the better team will win."
Since taking over the Rush, Hamley has led the team to a 4-4 record. They're going into the weekend a half-game back of the Calgary Roughnecks and Portland LumberJax for the final playoff spot in the West Division.
"Bob (Hamley) has done some great things with that team and brought in some new faces," McMahon said. "They are playing with passion and are working hard. We have to be ready to play them. They are fighting for a playoff spot and we have a goal in mind now as well and it's going to be a very tough game."
The Mammoth head into the weekend a half-game behind the Stealth in the chase for top spot in the division. Since clinching a playoff spot, the team has struggled, losing three of their last four.
They'll finish the season with a showdown against the Stealth next weekend.
"We're not looking ahead at all," McMahon said. "We have to beat Edmonton for that game against San Jose to mean something. We didn't have a very good game last weekend and I know that everyone is pretty eager to get going this weekend to try and get that bad taste out of our mouths. We have a lot to play for this weekend before we can even think of San Jose."
RUSH NEED A WIN
The Rush, meanwhile, may need to win one of the two encounters just to keep their playoff hopes alive, depending on how Calgary fares against the Rock.
Hamley has been able to keep the Rush in the hunt for the playoffs by making a number of personnel changes since taking over. He's also been able to stockpile draft picks, which bodes well for the future.
"I hope we have a good team that can make the playoffs," Hamley said. "We knew adding Lindsay Plunkett, Dan Teat, Mike Hominuck and some of the guys that we got back along with the draft picks, we knew they were good players and could fit in right away. I'm not surprised how we've done so far, but we need to pick it up this weekend from last weekend."
Good luck to both gentlemen this weekend!... And then get revenge on GM JM in SJ!