Feb 10, 2007 -- Honestly, Steve McKinlay wanted to become a Coquitlam Adanac at the Western Lacrosse Association’s annual junior draft Wednesday night in Burnaby.

It worked.

“A few other teams contacted me and I wasn’t going to lie to them,” McKinlay, 21, said Thursday on the long-distance line from the university campus of the Ohio State Buckeyes, with whom he toils on a field lacrosse scholarship. “I told them my heart was in Coquitlam. They were nice enough to respect me for being honest.”

Two WLA teams passed over McKinlay, allowing the Adanacs to scoop him with their first pick, fourth overall.

“I had an idea it might happen, but seeing it finalized is great.” McKinlay added.

Langley Thunder took Delta Jr. Islanders’ grad Tom Johnson first overall, while the New Westminster Salmonbellies nabbed two ex-Burnaby Jr. Lakers –– Ilija Gajic and Cliff Smith –– with the second and third selections respectively.

Then came the Adanacs, who didn’t hesitate to get the guy who grew up in Coquitlam, who played his minor and junior ‘A’ lacrosse there, and whose dad, Sandy, is a long-time executive board member of the Sr. ‘A’ squad and currently serves as its vice-president.

“That’s a biproduct [of choosing him]. We don’t draft a kid on something like that,” Adanacs general manager Les Wingrove said of the senior McKinlay’s connection with the team. “Steve’s a good lefthander who does everything well. He plays with a lot of intensity. There’s a lot of up-side to his game.”

Sandy McKinlay was on hand at the Firefighters’ Club and merrily slipped on the A’s jersey on behalf of his son after Steve’s named was announced.

“There were a few nervous moments there,” Sandy McKinlay said. “I was a little worried about New West maybe stepping in and taking him. We’re happy, I’m really happy. When you spend 10 years helping build a team you hope your son’s going to play for it.”

The Adanacs got into the draft’s goalie sweepstakes with their second pick (11th overall), plucking Brandon Atherton from the Victoria Jr. Shamrocks. An unprecedented four stoppers were taken in the top 15 picks, including PoCo Jr. Saints’ grad Kevin Croswell, who was the first goalie taken, eighth overall by Langley.

“We wanted to draft a goalie and we got the one we wanted,” Wingrove said. “It’s time we started looking at life after Dallas [Eliuk, A’s veteran goalie]. Atherton’s got good size and he moves well.”

With their third pick (16th overall), the Adanacs went with another player with solid home-town connections, Dane Reelie, son of ex-Adanac great Mike Reelie. The A’s then took ex-Jr. Adanac Chris Cowieson –– son of former 18-year New Westminster Salmonbellie Eric Cowieson –– with their fourth pick (32nd overall); another Jr. A’s grad Kurtis Labranche, fifth (39th); Delta’s Scott Boyle sixth, (46th); New West’s Shawn Saunders, seventh (53rd); and, lastly, PoCo’s Travis St. Germain, eighth (60th).

RAG LINE: After McKinlay, Mark Philip was the second Jr. Adanacs’ grad drafted, taken surprisingly in the first round (sixth overall) by the Maple Ridge Burrards. Philip wasn’t on the list of Top 15 prospects released before the draft from WLA headquarters... The Sr. Adanacs’ 2007 regular-season opener goes May 25 versus the Lakers in Burnaby.

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