The Burnaby Lakers have delivered their share of surprises on the floor during what many would call a breakthrough season.
No surprise, however, could surpass the one dropped this week when the organization relieved head coach Jim Milligan of his duties, as the club headed into the final weekend of the Western Lacrosse Association’s regular season.
Milligan piloted the team to a 9-5-1 record – currently in fourth place, but with three games to play before the playoffs. The first-place Maple Ridge Burrards sit three points above them in the standings, but with just one game remaining.
So with a first- or second-place finish in their sights, no one could guess a major move was going to distract from the playoff goal. Guess again. Lakers president Ed Safarik said the decision was extremely difficult, but done because he felt a change at the top would benefit the club.
“Jim is very passionate and I think did a pretty good job in my opinion,” remarked Safarik on Thursday. “But I felt just going forward if we were to succeed we needed to make a change.
“There’s nothing great about this (decision), and it’s just a judgment call but I felt the players were squeezing the sticks too tightly.”
Hired to take over the head coaching duties for the final three games and playoffs was Peter Tellis, who last coached in the WLA in 2016.
On what the former Coquitlam Adanacs bench boss would bring to the job, Safarik said it would be a similar game plan, but “he’s probably a little more relaxed even though he’s as focused on winning as (Milligan) is.”
In his one season behind the Coquitlam bench, Tellis posted a 7-11 record to finish fifth.
Safarik said the decision was not done lightly nor on the spur of the moment.
“We have told the players we need to go in a different direction as far as coaching is concerned, and I say that with great respect for (Milligan) and appreciation for everything he’s done,” said Safarik. “My feeling is the players will respond positively.
“If it fails, I’m going to wear it, as will the players.”
Milligan, when contacted, said he was completely focused on getting the team ready to challenge for a Mann Cup and didn’t see it coming.
“It shocked me, to be honest. I thought we had the team on the upswing, we won our last two games and got over some growing pains. The worst case scenario I felt we were looking at second or third place and a good footing to start the playoffs,” said Milligan.
“When he called me and said there was going to be a change, I was taken by surprise. I felt (Safarik) and I had a good working relationship, and I still feel we get along.”
Milligan joined the club as coach and general manager earlier this year, having relocated to the west coast as an assistant coach with the National Lacrosse League’s Vancouver Stealth. A Peterborough native, Milligan said he took the Burnaby job as a challenge and felt many of his moves had gotten the hoped-for results. But he admits his focus and intensity toward the game may have rubbed a few players the wrong way.
“I heard rumblings that there were a few players who disagreed with my approach,” he said. “You can’t get more skilled and more athletic players into the lineup without making some changes.
“We went through a similar change in Peterborough in 2004. We had to change the culture and change some of the players to get where we wanted to go, which was a Mann Cup. There’s always pushback.”
He said after being an assistant and associate coach on five Mann Cup champions in Peterborough, he was looking forward to helping Burnaby establish itself as a perennial contender.
"You have to ask what worked and what didn't work, but in the end of the day I will be a better coach from this," he said.
Although removed from his role, Milligan said he bears no hard feelings toward the club – in fact, with son Cam playing a contributing role on the Lakers offence, he will now take on a role as fan.
“I need to be a dad, so I will be there,” he noted. “These guys will still make a run for the Mann Cup and I wish the team all the best. I strongly believe they can win it and get to a Mann Cup.”
