Shamrocks Acquire Ryan Benesch and Chet Koneczny

2010-05-29

In his fourth NLL season this year, Benesch finished tied for 9th in league scoring with John Grant and Garrett Billings and led the Minnesota Swarm playoff scoring. In 60 career regular season and playoff games he has scored 101 goals and added 141 assists for 242 points. Benesch was the first overall pick in the 2006 NLL Entry Draft and in 2007 he was the rookie of the year in both the NLL and the Ontario Major Series. In 63 regular season and playoff games with Kitchener, Benesch has scored 110 goals and added 126 assists for 136 points.

Benesch and Koneczny split their time in 2009 between the Kodiaks and Senior B in Owen Sound where they helped lead the Woodsmen to the President's Cup, the Senior B championship of Canada. Despite the split, Benesch managed to finish 4th in Major Series scoring and in just 14 regular season and playoff games for the Woodsmen, he racked up 48 goals and added 38 assists for 86 points.

Koneczny drew a lot of attention in his rookie season in the NLL this year with the Orlando Titans. Lacrosse writer Paul Tutka summed it up this way for the NLL Insider, "Few players saw their stock rise in the pro game this summer like Chet Koneczny, who went from living on the NLL's bubble the last handful of seasons, to cracking a roster spot on the (then) Champion's Cup finalist Titans roster, playing (and producing) in every single regular season and playoff game for Orlando, and looking really good doing it." The feisty middleweight quickly earned a reputation as a guy who won't back down from anyone when he went toe to toe with the NLL's reigning heavyweight champ Geoff Snider back in January. In 18 regular season and playoff games in the NLL, Koneczny has scored two goals and added 13 assists for 15 points along with 25 penalty minutes. In 45 career regular season and playoff games in the Ontario Major Series, he has scored 13 goals and added 34 assists for 47 points along with 87 penalty minutes.

"The addition of these two quality players makes us much better," said Shamrocks general manager Chris Welch. "Ryan is a lights out scorer who is just reaching his prime and Chet is a very intelligent, athletic, gritty player who will do anything to help his team win," said Welch. "Both of these guys are going to have a big impact on our success going forward."

Koneczny made his Shamrock debut last night against the Burnaby Lakers. Benesch is expected to be in the lineup for Sunday's much anticipated game in Nanaimo against the Timbermen, which will mark the first time the Shamrocks will be playing against their former MVP (Lewis Ratcliff), their former Head Coach (Art Webster) and their former tough-guy (George Westwood). The rematch between the island rivals takes place next Friday, June 4 at Bear Mountain Arena.