NLL Insider

Talk about an all out defection. People always used to say there was something in the west coast water that attracted eastern players to pack an overnight bag and shack up on the left coast for a few months. Maybe it was lack of humidity during the late summer months that attracted the players. Or was it the fact that instead of a 6 hour bus ride in rush hour traffic through downtown Toronto to the ‘Borough, the longest trip was a 15 minute flight and 30 minute bus ride. Regardless, in years past the West Coast has seen the likes of JT, Jim Veltman, Colin Doyle, Tracy Kelusky, Dan Dawson, Anthony Cosmo, Ryan Cousins and the list goes on, but for some reason this season there are no big name Eastern Studs calling BC home this summer.

What’s worse, is the East is now rumored to be drawing some of the West’s home grown talent. With Mr. Saturday Night Rob Van Beek already suiting up for St. Regis and the gossip mill swirling that NLL Scoring Champ Athan Iannucci is following suit, the WLA has lost two of its top young guns to a Major Series league that is dominating the name game.

Take a look at the NLL’s top 25 point getters from this past season. Notice anything? Ok take a closer look then! Out of those top 25 players, only 3- THREE, will be suiting up in the WLA this season; Lewis Ratcliff – currently leading the WLA in scoring after 4 games; Scott Ranger – Calgary’s leading scorer; and Jordan Hall – NLL All-Rookie Team. That’s a startling statistic.

Now sure this will bring up the debate that the East has a deeper talent pool than the West but, I think it goes beyond that. Not far beyond but there is one major factor that not all fans, especially the ones that are a little newer to the Canadian Summer leagues, may not be aware of. It’s a phenomenon widely considered as the Ring Chaser Complex.

Every year, the Mann Cup Championships flip-flop back and forth from the East to the West and every year teams in the host province do everything in their powers to stock-pile talent to give them the best shot at hoisting the elusive Cup. Because there is nothing harder to do than win the Mann Cup on the road! The 2007 Peterborough Lakers were the first team to do it in over 10 years! So if you can bring together a great group of talented players and have them gel, you have a great shot at the title!

With the Mann Cup out East this season, you can see the rats following the Pied Piper across the country and making a home along the great lakes, putting forth their best efforts to make sure all the money that their team shelled out for them was well worth it!!

Is the West giving up? Not in the least. We, the Victoria Shamrocks, are 4-0 and off to a great start. The New West Salmonbellies, the team favoured to win the West is right behind us at 3-0 and are playing some great lacrosse so far. There are still a lot of young players finishing up their NCAA requirements who, upon returning, will help their teams immensely. The West will be a tight race all season and even though we may not have the big names to draw the fans, we have air-conditioned arenas and fans that love to support the game just as much as they do out East. So it’s a win-win for everyone!

Jenner is a two-time Mann Cup champion with six years of NLL experience. Email him at ted.jenner@nllinsider.com also follow the Coquitlam Jr. A Adanacs and the Intermediate A Adanacs live, as Teddy brings you color commentary with Brad Challoner for the Jr's and play by play with Brody Allen for the Intermediates -- http://www.junioradanacs.com/multimedia.php

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