Clem D'Orazio wasn't out of
Major Series Lacrosse for long. The young coach, who was replaced by
the Rock when the team moved from Ajax to Oakville, has been hired as
the new head coach of the Brampton Excelsiors after a search
conducted by team governors Zenny Lipinski and Ziggy
Musial, Assistant GM Steve McCullough and departing coach
Mike Hasen.
D'Orazio inherits a lineup that retains
the core of the defensive unit that has helped to keep the Excelsiors
competitive over the last couple of years while the offence has
undergone some transition. “I'm not going to try to reinvent the
wheel,” D'Orazio says. “Mike Hasen is a great coach and I've got
guys like Sandy Chapman who could pretty much run the defence on
their own. I'm going to go in and keep things moving and hopefully
correct issues as necessary as we go.”
D'Orazio says that he made sure the
majority of the team was returning before he accepted the position,
so he's looking forward to working with players like back-to-back NLL
Defensive Player of the Year Kyle Rubisch, with whom he had the
chance to play in junior. He's also confident that the offence will
be a force even without the likes of Josh Sanderson and Blaine
Manning, who have decided not to continue in summer lacrosse for
now.
“We've still got Dan Dawson, who like
Chappy could pretty much run things himself. We'll have Joe
Walters and Joe Resetarits, Mike Hominuk, Kevin
Ross.” The return of Ross after taking a year off last year
will be a huge addition to the left side of the O.
“I'm excited to work with some of the
best players in the game,” D'Orazio said. “Our goal is simple. We
want to go out and continue to play good lacrosse and win a Mann
Cup.”
D'Orazio's assistant coaches are not
yet in place but will be announced shortly. Brampton will get a good
test right off the hop. They open the 2013 MSL season May 23 on the
road in Peterborough to face the defending Mann Cup champion Lakers
in a game that can be seen via live webcast.
