NLL Insider

We Canadians have two somewhat annoying habits. One: when we are with American friends (or relatives), we feel the need to remind them of every entertainer or celebrity that is Canadian. For example, if a Canadian is watching a movie starring a Canadian we are compelled to say, “Hey did you know he’s Canadian?” and then we’ll go on to list off almost every Canadian in the entertainment business: Mike Meyers, Michael J. Fox, Jim Carrey, Keifer Sutherland, Elisha Cuthbert, Ryan Gosling, Rachel McAdams (she’s hot), William Shatner, Paul Shafer, Neil Young, Avril Lavigne, John Candy, Alex Trebek, Howie Mandell, and on and on. Usually we hope for an argument, so its best to say “that’s nice.”

The other Canadian habit is comparing everything to hockey. We are a hockey-crazed nation, so when we tell a parent that he should get his child into lacrosse, we usually tell them that it will toughen them up for hockey, keep them in shape for hockey, or improve their hand-eye coordination – for hockey. Then we will go on to list every NHL hockey player that ever played lacrosse: Brendan Shanahan, Joe Nieuwendyk, Adam Foote, Adam Oates, Joe Sakic, Wayne Gretzky, Stan Jonathon, John Ferguson and on and on.

So as a true Canadian I’m going to compare the upcoming NLL Entry Draft (Sept 1. in Colorado ) to the NHL Draft. I’m happy to say that the NLL Draft has it right when compared to hockey. In hockey, they are drafting 18-year-old kids. The teams usually send the drafted player back to the Junior leagues or the minor pro leagues and hope that they will physically and mentally mature into contributing NHL players within a few years. Sure, there is the odd phenom like Sidney Crosby who can jump right into the league, but for the most part the draft is an investment for the future. In the NLL, we are generally drafting graduating Canadian Junior players or NCAA graduates who are 21 or older. Of course there is the odd younger player who falls into a loophole (i.e. Shawn Evans became eligible while still in Junior because he left Bellarmine after one year), but for the most part the NLL is drafting young men, not kids.

As a result of drafting “older” players, the NLL is seeing immediate impacts from many top draft choices and teams that have multiple early picks have the potential to make drastic, immediate improvements. In last year’s draft No. 1 pick Ryan Benesch scored 33 goals. No. 8 pick Athan Iannucci scored 30. Josh Wasson, Brendan Mundorf, Brett Bucktooth, and Kyle Wailes were all first round picks who were offensive contributors for their teams in their rookie seasons. It’s tougher to use stats to gauge the development of defensive players, but Kyle Sorensen proved to be a great young defender in San Jose and Geoff Snider had a huge impact in Philadelphia by scoring goals, winning face-offs, fights, and ultimately winning over the Broad Street fans. Colorado got 27 goals from 25th pick Jamie Shewchuk, while Chicago got 22 goals and 40 points from the 41st pick, Bill McGlone.

Even though the high draft choices might help their teams in their rookie years, history has shown that they become leaders in their sophomore year. The first round picks from 2005 are a great example. No. 1 pick Brodie Merrill led the league in loose balls last year. No. 2 pick Shawn Evans had 68 points for Rochester. No. 3 pick Sean Greenhalgh led Philly in points while No. 4 pick Luke Wiles was tops in San Jose. No. 7 pick Dan Carey had the most goals in Colorado while No. 8 pick Jeff Zywicki scored 40 to lead San Jose in goals.

So while hockey fans don’t usually see the drafted players for a few years, NLL fans can expect to get to know the early picks immediately, and this year will be no exception. I hate making draft predictions. Last year I was sure that Geoff Snider would be the No. 1 pick until Athan Iannucci became available. They ended up going No. 4 and No. 8, both to Philly. Sometimes geography plays a part in the draft. West coast teams prefer western players and vice versa. This year, depending on whom your talking to, the No. 1 pick will either be Delaware’s Jordan Hall or Albany’s Merrick Thompson – both Canadians who were box lacrosse players before playing field. Other potential high picks include Six Nation’s Craig Point – who had a very impressive World Box Championship for the Iroquois team in Halifax. Frank Resetarits of Albany will definitely be the highest drafted American player. Helping him is the fact that he has a few years of Canadian box lacrosse experience from his Junior A days in St. Catherine’s, Ontario. Scott Defransceso scored 50 goals for Mississauga in the Ontario Junior A league two years ago. Other potential first rounders are Dane Dobbie from Burnaby and Nathan Sanderson – yes another one from the Orangeville clan. My sleeper pick is tough defenseman Rory Smith who played for the Brampton Junior A’s last season. He may be a late first rounder and is a particular favorite of mine since he is a tough Mimico boy and his younger brother (Brendan) was just recently drafted in the first round of the NHL Draft by the Detroit Red Wings. How can I not like a guy like that? But there I go talking about hockey again. Sorry, I can’t help it. I’m Canadian.

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