NLL Insider

The Beat

Edge vs. FCA – Battle of the Border at U of T’s Varsity

With a long weekend hitting most of Canada this weekend (jealous much Nunavut & NFL), anyone near the GTA has a great opportunity to check out some of the best up-and-coming Canadian and American ball players in the sport today, during the Edge versus FCA Challenge at U of T’s Varsity Stadium.

Last year’s inaugural event was held at Hobart College and churned out some stellar ball.

For those not aware, Edge Lacrosse is an Ontario based elite level lacrosse program that helps some of the top studs in Southern Ontario showcase their talent in an attempt to land a scholarship in the US. All six of Edge Lacrosse’s teams, from U12 to the Senior squad, will be playing this weekend. READ MORE »

NLL

NLL’s Blazers bring local boys home

The Boston Blazers struck a pair of deals this week that bring Sean Morris and Jack Reid back to their stompin’ grounds while sending Devan Wray and Tom Johnson back to where they were.

On Wednesday, Boston sent defender Kyle Laverty (picked up in the July 24 expansion draft) to the Rochester Knighthawks for Reid. The defender was a first-team All-American at UMass and helped lead the Minutemen to the 2006 NCAA championship game. In Thursday’s deal, Reid is reunited with Morris, who was an attackman at UMass. Bottom line? The Blazers picked up Morris, along with defender Steve Panarelli, in a three-way deal that lands Wray back in Calgary and Johnson and defender Travis Gillespie back in San Jose.

READ MORE »

Road to the Mann Cup

7 games in 11 days!

So there I sat, immersed in a bowl of 5-spice Edamame beans from The Local Kitchen (my favorite restaurant in Victoria), enjoying my ritualistic night before game meal when the bartender, a buddy of his and I got onto the topic of sports. The buddy had mentioned he played rugby and the bartender said he ‘would never put his body through that’! I had to agree with him. Rugby players are some of the toughest athletes out there and I have a ton of respect for them and no way would I want to be at the bottom of one of those rucks! So the friend asked me what sport i played and I said I played lacrosse for the Shamrocks. Almost immediately he shot back with, ‘I’d never put my body through that!’ I laughed but thought to myself, ‘man, if rugby guys think that about us, hell we must be doing something right’! READ MORE »

B.C. Junior A

Lakers eliminate Adanacs in semi-finals

Despite being one of the most consistently highest-ranked teams in Canada and having a line-up that looked like it had been assembled specifically for a trip to the Minto, last night the Coquitlam Adanacs’ season ended in the exact manner that it started: a 4-3 loss to the Burnaby Lakers. The Lakers, led by an impressive goaltending tandem, completed the three-game sweep of the BCJALL regular season champs.

Scott Lowe started the game in net for Burnaby, making 18 saves and shutting out the Adanacs for the entirety of the first period and six minutes of the second before receiving a game misconduct for illegal equipment. Tom Wray stepped into the game, making 22 saves on 25 shots and keeping the Adanacs from completing their third period comeback. READ MORE »

NLL

Blazers’ Roster Shaping Up

We made it through the Arizona Dispersal Draft and last Thursday’s National Lacrosse League Expansion Draft.  The 09 Blazers’ Roster is starting to take shape.  We still have a few loose ends to tie up, but I feel good about where we are and where we are headed. 

Let’s take a look at what we know.

Dan Dawson.  What can I say about Dan? He is one of the most impactful players in the game today.

READ MORE »

National Ranking

National Junior A Ranking: Week 10

Last week the big question out west was, what kinda attitude were Coquitlam and Victoria gonna come out with after having to watch the first round of the post-season from the sidelines?

We speculated they’d either come out guns a blazin’ or as weak as TIm Sylvia’s chin. Both kinda happened.

Victoria took their series by the, well, by the you know whats, and have a commanding 2-0 lead on what looked like a surging New West team. In the other series, Burnaby turned up the heat and chased the Adanacs straight outta the kitchen, taking a two to zilch series lead themselves. Think you can probably figure out which one of ‘em came with their game intact and ready to go balls out from start to finish. READ MORE »

WLA

WLA: Battle for third

Two key games are on tap tonight in the Western Lacrosse Association (WLA) as we enter the last week of the regular season. Third-place Burnaby (8-7-2) is at Langley and fourth-place Victoria (8-8-1) hosts Nanaimo.

The playoff schedule is not online yet, but will begin in two weeks time. The first best-of-seven series is scheduled to kick off on Tuesday August 5, with the second series starting a day later. Each series will have a game every other day.

As Shanny summed up in this week’s CLA Power Rankings, both Burnaby and Victoria are looking to win out tonight in order to try and avoid the New Westminster Salmonbellies (16-1) in the first round. READ MORE »

Major Series Lacrosse

Brampton-Brooklin kicks off tonight; Peterborough-St. Regis on Sunday

We’re all set and all updated.  The dates, sites and times for both Major Series Lacrosse semifinal rounds have been set and it all starts tonight with Brooklin at Brampton.

Brampton’s top seed gives it the home-floor advantage for its series against No. 4 Brooklin and faceoff for Game 1 of that series is at 8 p.m. It’s a best-of-seven series and the winner there advances to play the winner of the No. 2 Peterborough vs. No. 3 St. Regis series, which kicks off Sunday night. Game 1 of this series begins at St. Regis with a 7 p.m. faceoff.  Peterborough gets to host Games 2 and 3 and, if necessary, Games 5 and 7. So before either one of these series gets underway, check out Shanny’s Senior A Rankings as you try to guess which teams are gonna do what.

• Double-duty for Ratcliff: The Province
• Hamley to enter Ontario Lacrosse Hall of Fame: Sun Times

Senior A

CLA Power Rankings: Week 10

The preliminary playoff round is over in the OLA playoffs so we are down to the final four and in a few days the WLA regular season will end so we’ll be down to the final four out there as well. Maybe the WLA should also consider adding a preliminary round in the future because it would at least give some drama and hope for the bottom three teams who have been “out of it” for weeks, if not months. READ MORE »

NLL

Boston Blazers swap Kyle Laverty for Jack Reid

Selected fourth in the expansion draft just last Thursday, Kyle Laverty probably hadn’t yet adjusted to the idea of being a Boston Blazer. No matter. Today the Blazers sent the veteran defender back to upstate New York, this time as a member of the Rochester Knighthawks. In return, the Blazers receive former All-American defender Jack Reid.

In two seasons with the Knighthawks, the 24 year-old Reid played in 16 games, scooping 56 looseballs. The 6′3″ 220 lb. U-Mass alumnus is currently playing for the Rochester Rattlers of the MLL. Having grown up in Glastonbury, CT, Reid will likely be a big draw for local lacrosse fans. Laverty will be joining his Peterborough Laker teammates Shawn Evans, Scott Evans, Pat O’Toole, John Grant and perhaps Cory Vitarelli during the NLL season. A veteran of two Champion’s Cup games with the Buffalo Bandits (including one championship win) Laverty brings eight years of NLL experience to the Knighthawks defense.