Minnesota Lacrosse today named Mike Simpson as its first head coach, in an announcement coming just one day before the as-yet-unnamed team participates in an expansion draft.

Simpson, 36, spent last season as a scout for the Anaheim Storm, but is better known as the former head coach (2001-2003) of the Victoria Shamrocks Junior A lacrosse team.

In Simpson's four seasons with the team (including 2000, when he was an assistant coach), the Junior Rocks posted a record of 68-24-1 and won the BCLA Junior A league championship in 2003.

Simpson, a Victoria native, also had a lengthy playing career in the Shamrocks organization, spending five seasons with the Junior A squad before moving on to a nine-year stint in Senior A.

In 1997, Simpson's last season of Senior A lacrosse, the Shamrocks won the Mann Cup. He had been the team's captain from 1994 to 1997.

Simpson never played in the National Lacrosse League or the Major Indoor Lacrosse League.