NLL Insider

Oh, where to start? Lotsa news coming outta the National Lacrosse League this week, but the biggest had to be the announcement that George Daniel’s got the full-time gig as boss of the NLL. It wasn’t the biggest surprise, given Daniel’s been involved with the league in various capacities since 2001. He’s been interim commissioner since Jim Jennings stepped down just after last season started and speaking of Jennings, he gave Daniel a ringing endorsement via a personal blog earlier this week. But what about all that other news? NLL Down Under? Gajic going pro? Dispersal Draft? Toronto Rock’s new owner? (Read More…)

Brampton's Pat Saunders and Six Nations' Eryn Jones are already playoff bound. (Photo: Ward Laforme Jr.)

With ten days of regular season ball left on the docket in Ontario, it looks like those final couple playoff spots available will come down to the wire, just like we’re seeing in BC this weekend (a win tonight by Delta over PoCo knocks the Saints out and secures a spot for the T-Men… a PoCo win keeps things very interesting… Nanaimo and PoCo play tomorrow night), with technically only the Mississauga Tomahawks completely out of the post-season mix.

The Tommies have just one win on 19 tries this year, their two points way too far out to catch even the eighth, and final, spot in the OLA playoff chase. (Read More…)

Geoff Snider is the newest member of the Peterborough Lakers (Photo: Chris Sherrer)

In a blockbuster signing from earlier this week, Geoff Snider has inked a deal with Major Series Lacrosse’s Peterborough Lakers, and was in the lineup last night for the ‘07 Mann Cup winners during their 9-7 win over the Brooklin Redmen.

Snider finished the game with six minutes in the sin bin, two minutes apiece for slashing, tripping and unsportsmanlike conduct.

“It has been a challenging situation, but we are most pleased to have Geoff join our Laker roster,” said Lakers’ head coach Jamie Batley in yesterday’s Peterborough Examiner. ” He will be able to play the remaining Laker games and of course qualify for playoff play.” (Read More…)

That’s right, the best graduating JR A players in BC took to the hardwood of Queen’s Park Arena last night for the first ever JR Prospects game. Pitting the best players in their final year against one another, the game was a means of showcasing them to the people who hand out the contracts. 36 runners and 4 tenders were split into two squads, led by coaching staffs from Victoria and Coquitlam and it was anything but an all star game. (Read More…)

Portland's Tim Campeau will be on the move come Tuesday. (Photo: Matt J. Wiater)

Although no official word has come from either the National Lacrosse League or Portland Lumberjax, as has been rumoured and speculated since shortly after the team announced they would no longer be opperating in Portland, the Lumberjax franchise is in fact on the shelf heading into 2010 season, NLL Insider learning that a Dispersal Draft will be held this upcoming Tuesday, July 7th.

At one point it appeared the sale of the team and relocation to Everett, Washington was a possibility, but it appears terms could not be met. The San Jose Stealth, who still maintain the same ownership group they had in California, recently announced that they would be relocating to Everett, the team now known as the Washington Stealth. (Read More…)

New Westminster Salmonbellies forward Tyler Digby

He’s back, after a short one week absence from the top spot in The Money Ballers.

That of course being New Westminster Salmonbellies ‘91er, Tyler Digby, who for the first time last week, wasn’t ranked #1 in the clutch countdown. Digby ranks just tied for 16th in provincial scoring, his goals weighing heavily however in the Bellies’ success this year.

Last week it was Port Coquitlam power forward, Scott Jones, who knocked Digby aside, that ranked first, but after a handful of game tying and go-ahead goals and assists in a couple close battles for the Bellies, Digby is back on top, his 2.5 point lead the biggest he’s had since opening the year tied with then St. Catharines Athletics sniper, Andrew Potter. (Read More…)

With the Canadian Senior ‘A’ National Lacrosse Championships in B.C. this year, Western Lacrosse Association (WLA) teams are stocking up with the hopes of hosting and hoisting the coveted Mann Cup trophy in September.

Victoria (9-1), New Westminster (7-3-1) and Coquitlam (7-3) have all started strong, as expected, plus they’ve added talent at the trade deadline. Will Langley (5-5-1) join them in the ‘09 playoffs? (Read More…)

The Western Lacrosse Association (WLA) trade deadline was midnight June 30. Victoria, Coquitlam and New West were all active in the trade talks. Two big trades occurred on the day, each involving a National Lacrosse League (NLL) defender and a 2010 WLA Entry Draft first-round selection. You’ll also be surprised to read who has come out of retirement.

(Read More…)

Tonight the best of the best graduating Juniors will take to the historic Queen’s park floor (Okay its not as historic since they replaced the original wood floor but it still is wood!). Game time is at 5pm on western clocks and will broadcast live here - www.bcjunioralacrosse.com or here http://www.junioradanacs.com/multimedia.php.    Brad Challoner and I will be calling the game tonight and both aer very excited to bring your BC’s next best pro ballers. Just a heads up if it doesn’t load right away, please be paitent, it will start up for you.

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The Toronto Star has a story on the new owner of the Toronto Rock, Jamie Dawick. And there’s a story in the Melbourne Herald-Sun about Brendan Fevola, an Aussie Rules Football star, who was once a lacrosse enthusiast. (Read More…)

It seemed like things were touch and go at one point, but the NLL announced today that the Australian tour is a go for Oct. 23-24 at Hisense Arena in Melbourne. The league didn’t mention any specific players, other than Aussie Keith Nyberg, who made it all the way to final cuts with the Calgary Roughnecks this year. If Gordon Purdie’s not wrapped up with fallball for NCAA Division II power Adelphi, he’d be a perfect candidate to play for his native Australia. (Read More…)

Boston Blazers and Brampton Excelsiors defender Paul Dawson.

One of the best quick reads in any issue of Inside Lacrosse is always Jon Brand’s Shooting from the Hip segment, where Brand fires off a handful of quickie questions at college ball players, and well, they answer them.

Trust us, it’s always a good read and one of the first pages we flick to when a new rag hits the mailbox.

We’re gonna run the same game this summer with our new NLL Insider 20Q segment, where we rifle off the same 20 questions at guys, and let you know exactly what they think on lacrosse related stuff, some personal and some game-wide.

So, after the the jump, check out the questions we threw at Boston Blazers and Brampton Excelsiors defender, Paul Dawson, and see what bounced back. Pretty good fight vid in there too, for the few that like that kinda stuff. (Read More…)

'09 WLA playoff MVP Ilija Gajic to enter National Lacrosse League Entry Draft.

NLL Insider has confirmed that former Minto Cup winner and current New Westminster Salmonbellies two-way stud, Ilija Gajic, plans on making himself available for the already loaded ‘09 National Lacrosse League Entry Draft.

Gajic, last summer’s WLA post-season MVP, still would have had a year’s worth of NCAA eligibility left at Denver University, but was released by the school’s lacrosse program this past season, along with Brad Richardson and Jamie Lincoln, who will be attending Hofstra University since his departure from Denver. (Read More…)

Terry Sanderson is back with the Toronto Rock (Photo: Globe & Mail)

From Press Release

The Toronto Rock announced today that James R. Dawick, an Oakville-based businessman, has purchased the team from the current ownership group.

The National Lacrosse League’s Board of Governors approved the sale of the franchise last week.

“The Toronto Rock is one of the cornerstone franchises of the National Lacrosse League,” said Dawick. “My goal is to restore the winning tradition of the Rock and ensure that it once again becomes one of the most competitive franchises in the league.” (Read More…)

Last week, we sang the praises of the competitive race shaping up in Major Series Lacrosse as three teams sat tied atop the standings with 12 points each. This week, we need a new superlative. Why’s that? ‘Cause now we have FOUR teams jammed at the top. Brampton, Peterborough, Six Nations and St. Regis all are sittin’ pretty with 14 points each and Kitchener-Waterloo isn’t in a bad spot either, chasin’ tail with 12 points. That leaves the contest for the sixth and final MSL playoff spot between Shawn-Williams-less-Brooklin (4 points) and Barrie (4), and they’ll get right at it with Thursday’s game at Barrie. (Read More…)

Like they did last fall when they came together with the lacrosse community through Operation Salmonbellies Lacrosse (shipping lacrosse gear and equipment to soldiers stationed in Kandahar), the New Westminster Salmonbellies are once again pulling their resources together to help out the troops, this time through their newly announced Seats for Soldiers campaign. (Read More…)

Last week, four teams were still fighting to make the 2009 B.C. Junior ‘A’ Lacrosse League (BCJALL) playoffs. Burnaby and Delta have since guaranteed themselves playoff action, leaving two teams to fight for one last playoff spot.

Nanaimo (7-12) will travel to Port Coquitlam (5-13-1) on Saturday night in a potential battle for that last remaining post-season ticket. (Read More…)

Some fun links for today.

The 2009 NLL Championion’s Cup game between the Calgary Roughnecks and the New York Titans will have some re-airings this week. Here’s a link on where to find the games.

A couple fun links for you. NLL.com is keeping the NLL Girl of the Week love rolling through the summertime. This time it’s Jennifer, from the San Jose Stealth. I’m guessing she won’t be making the commute to Washington when the team moves, but here’s a nice bio on the dancer from Santa Cruz, Calif. (Read More…)

Big game tonight between Ontario’s current two best when the Orangeville Northmen and Burlington Chiefs square-off at Central Arena on Drury. The two teams currently combine for a 28-4 record and sit within this week’s top three across the nation.

In fact, BC and Alberta see their best two clash this week too, while the race for the final spot in the BCJALL will play-out in what’s turning out to be this summer’s most explosive seven days of junior ball.

After the jump, check out who falls where on the heels of the post-season, and what remaining crucial regular season battles could determine some team’s playoff fate. Plus a couple polls for both BC and Alberta. Who ya got?!?! (Read More…)

Every team has that guy. That guy. The one who does it all one game and then does it all a little better the next but no matter what he does, it isn’t his name going up in headlines. It isn’t his name that gets rattled off when Alberta’s best are being discussed. And it sure isn’t his name in an NLLinsider breakdown of who you need to know from Alberta Jr. A because maybe somebody neglected to put it in there. Who would have done such a thing? (Read More…)