NLL Insider

With the flood of emails I got drowned with and the smack that’s been thrown around on some of the boards over the past week, to say our initial National Junior Player of the Year watch-list has created a buzz would be like saying Nick Hogan is in just a little bit of sh**.

Like I mentioned in yesterday’s Money Ballers post, some of the top dawgs, at least the offensive ones, haven’t been finishing at the same clip we saw ‘em firing on earlier in the year. Will that make a difference in today’s player pool?

And the battle for best keeper this year… man!! That’s the email we were hammered with the most over the past week. Lots agreeing with the inclusion of both Nick Rose and Joel Weber and then a ton of others asking us to add names like Matt Flindell, Justin Delormier, Angus Goodleaf, Sean Tessarolo and Gary Muzzin.

So basically, the way I’m lookin’ at this weekly look of the top ten guys is like this… I’ll put an X beside the name of guys that I think mighta not had the greatest week, but did appear on the list the week previous. From there, after going through every single game’s stats, talking to a massive amount of players, coaches and our own crew, on the side I’ll nominate a handful of guys that I could see getting consideration. Then I’ll stack each one of those new nominees against the dudes with an X beside their name. If I feel they’re more deserving to have their name dropped, then the swap happens. I guess that’s about it. By the end of the year, with likely a ton of guys passing through the watch-list, we should have a pretty good idea of who the final ten should be before the top dawg is named.

So with that said, here’s this week’s watch-list…

Kyle Buchanan, Forward, Akwesasne Indians (10GP - 18G - 23A - 41PTS)
Bucky kept his solid season going while the Indians swept last week under the rug with easy wins over Orillia and Mississauga. Buchanan posted 12 points over the two games and looked as smooth as always. Has a helluva weekend ahead of him where he’ll see both Muzzin and Goodleaf in two crucial battles for Akwesasne as they continue to be one of the few teams within reach of Orangeville and Six Nations.

Alex Gajic, Forward, Burnaby Lakers (12GP - 34G - 39A - 73PTS)
Gajic and Riley Loewen were just oozing chemistry as the Lakers edged out Poco last week, Gajic finishing the game with seven points, but it was just a night later that saw Alex and his mates handcuffed by the Victoria Shamrocks, dropping a crucial game 9-1. Was that stinker against the ‘Rocks enough to knock off the leading scorer in the country in our watch-list? One off game does not a season make, so stop dreaming.

Jon Harnett, Defender, Orangeville Northmen (10GP - 1G - 7A - 8PTS)
Harnett has continued his torrid pace this year and was a huge reason why the Northmen held the Six Nations Arrows to just four goals in the team’s biggest win of the year. He plays tough, hard as hell in tight but also plays super composed and smart. Tough to sometimes figure out the best pure D guy in junior lacrosse, but right now, few have been as consistent as Harnett.

Cody Jamieson, Forward, Six Nations Arrows (11GP - 33G - 28A - 61PTS)
Just like with Gajic, Jamieson isn’t gonna get dropped from this list just cuz he didn’t have his greatest showing in one game. Jamieson was held to just a single goal and helper in the O’Ville loss, getting nailed with 9PIM, which included a bit of a throwdown with Northmen cap Glen Bryan. He came back against Peterborough two nights ago and posted seven points in yet another dominating performance that he made look so Gad damn easy. Sure he has June 28th circled on his calendar.

Curtis Manning, Defender, New Westminster Salmonbellies (7GP - 4G - 7A - 11PTS)
Since the Bellies somewhat shocking loss to Nanaimo just a day after their monster win over Coquitlam, the New West D has been about as suffocating and dominating as you can get. A big reason for that? Mr. Manning for sure. Such a solid defender that combines size with smarts like few guys in the junior game do. Should be interesting to see if he and his boys can shutdown the duo of Mike Pires and Cayle Ratcliff this weekend in a huge BCJALL clash.

Cayle Ratcliff, Forward, Victoria Shamrocks (13GP - 20G - 24A - 44PTS)
Even in a loss over the past week, Ratcliff continued to look lights out as he keeps demoing his digits from just a year ago. Ratcliff has stepped up huge this year, keeping Victoria in pace with the top dawgs while the team waited for a number of high profile names to return to the island. His performances since last Thursday have been equally as impressive with a four point showing against Coquitlam, just falling short of knotting that game up in the third, and then of course the Burnaby beat-down. With Ratcliff entering the NLL Entry Draft this year, based on what he’s done this spring/summer combined with a work ethic that has him in the best shape of his young career, a first round selection doesn’t seem out of the question at all.

Nick Rose, Goalie, Orangeville Northmen (523Min - 4.47GAA - .881SV%)
Right now, you’d have to think Rose is the favorite for tender of the year in Ontario, let alone in the entire country (which NLL Insider will also be handing out at years end). No one has been as consistent as Rose has this year while Orangeville continues to lay claim as being the best D team in Canada. Rose holds down the best GAA in the country, barely edging Vic’s Matt Flindell by .02 percentage points. His save percentage is tops in Ontario, but it continues to be Nick’s uncanny ability to stone the opposition at those crucial times in games that keeps the momentum in the Northmen’s corner. Best money keeper in junior ball right now.

Corey Small, Forward, St. Catharines Athletics (GP11 - 13G - 21A - 34PTS)
It’s taken a bit of time for Corey Small to heat up since coming back to the A’s after leading Albany U in scoring (34 freakin’ goals people!!) in 2008, but now that he’s finally fully in his groove, it looks like there might be no stopping him. In his first five games this summer, Small posted a pretty impressive 12 points while the A’s sputtered outta the blocks with a 1-3-1 record. Since then, Small has rocked the charts with 22 points in his last six and helping the A’s go 4-1-1, dropping their only game in that stretch to Orangeville. Is Small one of the biggest impact players in junior ball? You better F’n believe it.

Joel Weber, Goalie, Coquitlam Adanacs (482Min - 4.98GAA - .880SV%)
The inclusion of Weber and exclusion of Flindell in last week’s, and I’m sure this week’s, rundown, is what spurred on what seems like the greatest debate in the early part of the watch-list. Both are having great summers between the pipes, both are holding down slick digits in the keeper charts and both are playing for what right now at least, appear to be the two front runners for the BCJALL crown. So why Weber over Flindell in these first two weeks? Well, although there hasn’t been much to differentiate between them, one NLL player, who has seen both numerous times this summer, told me, “They’re both good keepers, but Weber has been more of an impact guy for Coquitlam than Flindell has for Victoria. Weber makes the big saves when the big saves are needed time-and-time again. And that’s why Coquitlam opened up the wallet to bring him west this year.” Of note, that player had never seen Weber with Whitby or the Green Gaels. With that said, the two are neck-and-neck as far as the watch-list is concerned and with both of ‘em with big clashes this weekend, should be interesting to see where they land on the list this time next week.

Matt Wilson, Defender, Coquitlam Adanacs (13GP - 2G - 7A - 9PTS)
What a week for Matt Wilson. The guy has been a greedy pig at the circle since last Thursday, going 32-15 in the middle of the court, workin’ over anyone that locked horns with him. And his tireless work on D continues to probably have him as the front runner as the best D guy out West this summer. He’s another guy, like Manning, who combines smarts, size and skill like few in the country can. And a leader on top of that. If he can transfer his game to the pros, he’ll have a lot of GM’s kicking themselves for allowing Colorado to scoop him up at 40 in last year’s draft.

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