NLL Insider

John Grant Jr., Rochester Knighthawks

Photo: Norm Hall

There can be no debate. I can’t even think of another player. John Grant is the best lacrosse player on the planet. You can argue about the best players of all time, but if we’re talking about the best player in the world today it’s an easy one. Last year Inside Lacrosse labeled Brodie Merrill as the best in the world. I have no problem with that after the way Brodie broke into the NLL, the MLL and played for Canada in the World Field Lacrosse Championship, but you could have made a good argument for Grant as well. However, I challenge anyone to make a realistic argument for anyone but Grant today.

In 2003, Grant won his first championship playing for Team Canada in the inaugural World Indoor Lacrosse Championship. I was doing the television analysis for Sportsnet and prior to the tournament the Canadian coaches reminded me that Grant had never won a team championship. In fact, I got the impression from some that the “Grant Curse” was as good an excuse as any for Canada’s embarrassing 21-16 Heritage Cup loss to the USA the previous year in a one-game international indoor showdown.

Although Canada did eventually win the 2003 championship, the accomplishment was about as surprising as it would be if the United States won the inaugural World Football Championship. While it might have quieted talk of the “Grant Curse,” it really didn’t get the monkey off his back, especially when his Rochester Knighthawks were perennial favorites that continued to lose the big games.

Things changed in 2004. Exactly 30 years after his father had done it, Grant won the Mann Cup for his hometown Peterborough Lakers and the “Mike Kelly” MVP award. If there was a “Grant Curse,” then this was a sure sign it was dead. In 2006 he led all scorers in the World Field Lacrosse Championships as Canada won its first gold in 28 years. I worked the sidelines for the CBC during that championship and aside from concerns about Geoff Snider’s face-off dominance, all the American coaches talked about was the need to stop Grant.

Two months later he won another Mann Cup. In the NLL, he won his first scoring championship and was the regular season MVP, and Championship Game MVP as the Knighthawks won their first championship in 10 years. A few weeks later he won another World Indoor Championship with Canada and even though the Rochester Rattlers came up short in the MLL semi-final, he had an MVP season. Last week he won his third Mann Cup and his second “Mike Kelly” award as he led all scorers with 35 points in six games. Peterborough’s victory marked the first time the road team has won the Mann Cup in 12 years. When it last happened the MVP was Paul Gait and the time before that it was John Tavares. That’s pretty good company. Grant is now in 5th place in all-time scoring in the 97-year history of the Mann Cup.

Over the years I’ve been lucky enough to get to know some of the best lacrosse players ever: Johnny Davis, Bobby Allan, Gaylord Powless, Jack Bionda are from an earlier era and in the last 20 years I got to play with or against the Gaits, Jim Veltman and Tavares. With all the effort in the world I could never do what they did. They were lacrosse geniuses. So is Grant. With four minutes left in the 2006 World Field Lacrosse Championship final, Canada was leading 12-9 and the Canadian coaches called a timeout. I stood within earshot of the Canadian huddle and heard Canadian assistant coach Dave Huntley give the instructions to his offense.

To paraphrase him, he said he wanted “no more shots. Let’s keep the ball and win this thing now.” About 20 second later Grant beat his man cut to the net and drilled a shot for a goal. He then looked at the bench and apologetically shrugged his shoulders as if to say that it was too easy pass up the chance. Most of us would have seen a goalie in the net, but for Grant it was like dropping the ball into the ocean. That’s the way it is for geniuses, and right now Grant is the Einstein of lacrosse.

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