NLL Insider

This fall’s NLL entry draft day was certainly eventful. At noon on draft day, the New York Titans were officially unveiled to the press at a rooftop restaurant across the street from Madison Square Garden. The actual draft was held at the Madison Square Garden theatre and was open to the public. Over 50 potential draftees traveled from locations in the US and Canada in hopes of being called to the podium by an NLL team. In the days leading up to the draft, a blockbuster deal moved the number one pick from New York to San Jose. As well, on the day before the draft came the news that potential superstar Athan Ianucci was denied his eligibility waiver by the NCAA and was therefore available to the NLL. Many felt that he could knock off Geoff Snider as the number one pick.

Last summer, Snider was named MVP of the World Field Lacrosse Championships as his face-off domination helped lead Canada to its first Gold medal in 28 years. I, like many, declared that he would be the definite number one pick in the NLL draft. However, two days before the draft. New York gave up that pick, along with young promising goaltender Aaron Bold, to the San Jose Stealth for former rookie of the year Ryan Boyle and another young goaltender Matt Vinc. In acquiring Boyle, the Titans get the 2005 NLL Rookie of the year who is also the NLL poster boy for showing American outdoor players that they can succeed at the indoor game. Boyle, an All-American from Princeton, made the transition from field lacrosse superstar to box lacrosse star. Time will tell whether Boyle becomes a superstar in the indoor league, but the well-spoken athlete could help sell the indoor game to both the fans in New York and to the American outdoor field stars that are not quite so confident in the indoor game. You still have to wonder if New York would have made the trade had they known for certain that Athan Ianucci, who will be attending school in New York, was available. The 6’4 native of Coqiitlam, British Columbia led the Division I lacrosse with 62 goals last year (18 more than the next closest player) and also scored 41 goals playing in summer box lacrosse in the western league of Canada.

The trade with New York meant that San Jose would be picking first and second overall. They had already acquired Chicago’s pick in the summer trade. With San Jose having the first two picks, the complexion of the draft changed dramatically. It is very difficult for eastern-based players with full-time jobs to play in San Jose. This season, the difficulty will be compounded with the Stealth playing 7 home games on Friday nights. Starting Goaltender Anthony Cosmo has already asked for a trade because of work conflicts and San Jose didn’t want to run into similar problems with high draft choices. Their selection was limited to players who were willing to move to the area.

With this in mind, San Jose surprised many when they chose Ryan Benesch number one overall. He was the captain of the Kitchener Braves Junior A team and was 6th in league scoring with 42 goals and 39 assists. With their second pick they chose defenseman Kyle Sorenson, who had a dream season with the Peterborough Junior A’s. After playing a pivotal role in leading the fifth place Peterborough Lakers to the Minto Cup Championship, Sorenson missed the NLL draft because he was helping the Peterborough Major team win a Mann Cup as an underage call-up.

Both Sorenson and Benesch will be moving to San Jose for the season.

With the third pick it appeared that Buffalo would select Brett Bucktooth and they did as expected. Bucktooth scored 37 goals and 18 assists for Syracuse last season and should feel very comfortable joining coach Darris Kilgour and the talent at Buffalo that includes other native players Rich Kilgour, Cory Bomberry, Roger Vyse and Delby Powless.

With the fourth and fifth picks Philadelphia continued the surprises. The Wings have one of the best face-off men in NLL history with Peter Jacobs. Moments before the draft coach Lindsay Sanderson reiterated that when it comes to face-offs, Jacobs is his man. So what did Philly do? They drafted Geoff Snider, who earned the MVP award in the world field lacrosse championships because of his face-off domination for team Canada. His selection by Philadelphia was recognition that Snider is much more than a face-off specialist when it comes to box lacrosse.

After that pick, Philly chose defender Ian Llord of St. Catherine’s. Llord was one of the penalty leaders in the Ontario Junior A league and he must have surely impressed Philadelphia’s Sanderson clan when his St. Catherine’s Athletics lost a tough six-game series to the Orangeville Junior A team, (The Sandersons live in Orangeville).

Arizona then took Peterborough defender Mike Grimes No. 6 overall and San Jose used the No. 7 pick to take goaltender Paul Dawson from Brampton. Dawson is the younger brother of Arizona scoring star Dan. With the eighth, pick Philly picked Ianucci. Prior to the draft, I would have bet anyone that he would not last that long but perhaps Philadelphia read their opponents correctly. If Ianucci was not willing to go to San Jose and Bucktooth was a good fit in Buffalo the Wings were more likely concerned that Arizona would grab Ian Llord than they would Ianucci. The gamble paid off as they got the player that I think will have the greatest immediate impact in the NLL.

Following that excitement, the Calgary Roughnecks were thrilled to get Kyle Wailes No. 9. Rochester picked “tough as nails” American defender Jack Reid from the University of Massachusetts and New York took Brendan Mundorf from UMBC. Mundorf made a great impression playing for Team Australia last summer. Chicago grabbed the third Peterborough native of the first round when they selected Josh Wasson, a University of Hartford graduate, and Colorado closed out the round with Gary Bining of Ohio State.

It was definitely a long night as the draft went six rounds. It was great to see so many draft choices on hand but it was also heartbreaking to see that some young lacrosse players were never called. Who were the big winners? In the short term it was Philadelphia. Picking three players in the top 8 picks gives a clear advantage and, unlike San Jose, Philly did not have to worry about traveling logistics when choosing their players. I also liked New York’s moves. They have loaded up with some great American talent and I think that Adam Mueller and his staff will be the right people to convert that field lacrosse talent to the indoor game. But I guarantee there will be a few gems that were picked late in the draft. In 2001 Dan Dawson went 68th overall and became a 50-goal scorer. It might take a few years but I’m sure there will be a time when we ask “how did that kid last so long in the 2006 draft?”

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