Head coach Mike Hasen has named veteran defenseman Dan Coates team captain of the Rochester Knighthawks ahead of the 2023-24 season opener Saturday on Segar & Sciortino Field at The Blue Cross Arena.
“It’s an easy choice,” said Hasen. “He’s led without having a letter on him. He’s been supporting what we’re doing. He was an assistant captain last year and he’s the guy that holds us accountable and holds himself accountable. That’s what this young group needs.”
In addition to Coates, transition player Curtis Knight, along with experienced forward Ryland Rees will serve as alternate captains. Knight however, will begin the season on IR. Coach Hasen will also assign letters to forward Turner Evans (home games) and transition player Matt Gilray (away games).
Four of the five captains are former NLL first round draft picks (Coates, Gilray, Knight, Rees). The team was informed of the leadership announcement Friday evening.
“Their messaging matches what they’re doing,” said Hasen on naming his alternate captains. “Sometimes it can get cloudy when the messaging from our leaders is not what they’re doing, but they’re gonna perform and we know that. The amount of respect we have for them is great.”
Coates, who served as an alternate last season, has the most National Lacrosse League games played amongst his teammates with 157. The 36-year-old enters his 12th NLL season and his eighth wearing a letter. Before Rochester, Coates captained Colorado from 2016-19 while serving as an assistant captain the two seasons prior.
“It’s a great honor,” said Coates. “I feel very fortunate to be surrounded by these great people. I’m kind of at a loss of words. You get a little emotional to lead a group of guys like this. I was fortunate enough to experience that in Colorado and I felt like I did some good things and probably some things I can improve on. I think experience goes a long way. I’m just trying to be the best version of myself and lead on and off the floor.”
As per tradition, the squad earned their jerseys tonight.
And up first, we have a Captain to announce! pic.twitter.com/WoqW3LLQaL
— Rochester Knighthawks (@RocKnighthawks) December 2, 2023
The St. Catharines, Ontario native has logged 18 goals and 78 assists for 96 points. Coates has also posted big numbers on loose balls, recovering 664 lifetime, including a career best 109 scoops in his first season with Rochester (2021-22).
Coates signed a one-year contract during the offseason to return to Rochester. He as an alum of nearby Canisius College (now Canisius University), where he became the first defender in Griffins history to earn All-MAAC First Team honors.
Knight is another experienced player with 471 career points (175+296) over his nine-year career. Last season, Knight scored 15 goals while posting a personal best 42 assists for a 57-point campaign: the third highest of his career. The Oshawa, Ontario native is returning for his fourth season in a Knighthawks jersey, where he’s amassed 164 points (53+111) through 46 games serving as an alternate captain since 2021.
Prior to Rochester, Knight, like Coates, spent over half a decade with one organization, playing six seasons for the Rush (four in Saskatchewan, two in Edmonton). Curtis brings a championship pedigree to the Knighthawks, having won three NLL cups from 2015-18.
Rees is a Rochester original, having played all 46 of his career games for the Hawks, recording 22 goals and 42 points. General Manager Dan Carey selected Rees with the second overall pick in the 2019 NLL Entry Draft and he has since been named the team’s Defensive MVP in each of his first three seasons. He won a similar honor in 2019 as the America East Defensive Player of the Year in his senior season at Stony Brook University.
Rees, 26, led his team last season with 26 caused turnovers, while finishing second among all Knighthawks defenders/transition players in goals (7), assists (9), and points (16). Two seasons ago, the Port Coquitlam, British Columbia native collected 118 loose balls to lead Rochester during the 2021-22 season.
Evans begins his seventh season and fourth as a Knighthawk. The Peterborough, Ontario native has accumulated 89 games of service in the NLL, scoring 73 goals on his way to a 230-point output thus far. Before turning pro, Evans was a four-time Scholar-Athlete playing Big Ten Lacrosse at Ohio State University.
Gilray is a fifth-year pro who has spent all his NLL career in The Empire State, beginning with two seasons in Buffalo before coming to Rochester for the 2021-22 campaign. Last season was a personal best for the Oshawa, Ontario native, who scored 10 goals and 17 assists for 27 points with Rochester. Gilray has prior experience as a captain, wearing the “C” for two seasons at Bucknell University. Matt signed a three-year contract with the Knighthawks ahead of last season.
The Rochester Knighthawks open the 2023-24 National Lacrosse League season on Saturday, Dec. 2 when they host the Calgary Roughnecks on Western Knight at Segar & Sciortino Field at The Blue Cross Arena.
In honor of the first-ever Western Knight in Rochester, the first 1,000 fans will receive a Knighthawks-branded cowboy boot pint glass while everyone in attendance will take home a 2023-24 magnet schedule, courtesy of Nissan.
Tickets for the Home Opener and every Knighthawks home game for the 2023-24 regular season start at just $10.