NLL Insider

So much of lacrosse is played on the fly. You rarely get more than a spilt second to make your decision and more often than not, you’ve got to live with the consequence of your decision, good or bad.

Yet there were no surprises, really, at the Air Canada Centre on Sunday. Well, there may have been some eyebrows raised at how well the Toronto Rock played against the Philadelphia Wings in the regular-season finale for the National Lacrosse League. But in the end, it all wrapped up true to form for the 2008 season, and the Wings defeated the Rock 15-14 in what was the final game for Jim Veltman of the Rock.

There was plenty of pomp and circumstance for Veltman, whose teammates all wore No. 32 jerseys during warmpups. Yet it didn’t look good early as the Wings built an 8-2 lead in the first half before the Rock rallied to make a game of it in front of more than 10,000 fans. And as the final seconds ticked away, the Toronto fans stood and chanted “Thank you Jim, Thank you Jim.” In the moments that followed, Veltman’s teammates stepped back from the traditional lap around the floor, letting Veltman take a solo trip.

“It felt like you’re at you’re own funeral,” Veltman said afterward to the Canadian Press. “I don’t know if that’s kind of morbid or what but, you know, it’s sort of like everybody is giving these accolades and … the nice thing is you’re alive to experience it and to feel it.”

And so the playing career of Jim Veltman has come to pass, but it’s not like he’s dropping out of sight. He plans to be on the bench as an assistant coach for the Rock next season. He’ll be part of a staff that’s got lots of work to do to fix the season that went awry, but there’s no doubt he’ll be up to the challenge.

Kinda lost in this shuffle is how well the Wings played in the victory, but we figure Philly fans will understand. Gotta give some final love to the respected Veltman and besides, Philly’s gonna get some ink later this week as it prepares for a playoff showdown with Buffalo.

• No fairy tale ending for Rock: The Star
• It was wrong, all wrong: National Post
• Another look at Scoop: The Star
• Veltman’s final scoop: TorontoSun.com
• A final look at the regular season numbers: NLL.com

Rate This Story:

(2 votes, average: 3 out of 5)

 Loading ...