NLL Insider

 Anthony Cosmo just had about 50,000 miles knocked off his annual travel schedule when he got traded from the San Jose Stealth to the Chicago Shamrox last month. Actually there is one player in the NLL has traveled more than Cosmo in the last 4 years but  the accumulation of Air Miles will slow down considerably for Cosmo in 2009.

On August 28^th just moments after the Brampton Excelsiors had defeated the Peterborough Lakers in the 7^th game of the Ontario Major Series lacrosse Championship , Brampton goaltender Anthony Cosmo met Peterborough Coach Jamie Batley in the traditional postgame handshake. Batley is also the coach and GM of the Chicago Shamrox. It was during this handshake that Batley told a surprised Anthony Cosmo that he would be playing for Chicago this winter. Batley had finalized a deal with the San Jose Stealth that brought Cosmo over for Matt Roik and two first round draft choices.

Ironically, earlier that day I bumped into Cosmo and asked him if he was happy going back to San Jose. Neither of us had heard any rumblings of a deal at that point. A year ago he had requested a trade back to the East when he felt his contract negotiations were not going well but he was ready for the 2009 season in San Jose and really liked the prospects for the Stealth. He knew that there would come a time when it would be impossible to continue the onerous travel schedule but he really liked the direction the Stealth had gone and was prepared to do it for another season. On the floor the team had gone from 4-12 in 2005 to first place in 2008. And although it might not have been obvious to the casual fan, the team’s new ownership had impressed players with their commitment to the future.

  How much traveling was he doing? In 2008, if you include the playoff games and All Star game, Cosmo flew to San Jose 10 times, Edmonton 3 times, Colorado twice, Portland, Calgary, Philadelphia and New York. In total Cosmo flew 70,000 miles and averaged 3700 miles for each game. He totaled about 150 hours flying time (about 8 hours per game) and that does not include time spent in the airports waiting in busy Customs lines and security. He also had to miss approximately 12 days from work (without pay). Back at his day job, Cosmo is a grade 8 teacher at St. Herbert’s Catholic school in Mississauga where he is a hero to the students. Luckily Cosmo’s colleagues and principal Greg Kelly (a former OLA Junior A goaltender with the Lakeshore Maple Leafs in the 1970’s) are very supportive of his lacrosse career. Cosmo loved playing for the Stealth but he knew that it was a matter of time before his teaching career and future family will make it impossible to continue his West Coast weekends. Last year Cosmo only had two games where the return distance was less than 1000 miles. This year there will only be two games where the distance is greater than 1000 miles.

Of course if Cosmo had his choice of East teams to play for Chicago was not likely at the top of his list but its not hard to see why the Shamrox would covet him.  Anthony Cosmo is arguably best indoor goalie on the planet.  He is only 30 year old, and many great goalies have played well into their late 30’s. He has won just won his second Mann Cup in 4 years and both times he was named the series MVP (Mike Kelly Award). He is only the 10^th player in the history of the Mann Cup to win the award more than once. He was Canada’s gold medal goalie in the World Indoor Box Championships in 2007. That year he also was voted the NLL’s best goaltender with the best goals against average and save percentage. He won a Minto Cup as a junior in Burnaby and has won three NLL Championships as a backup goalie for the Toronto Rock. Obviously this man knows something about winning and last year he was also recognized as Mississauga’s Athlete of the Year.  This is exactly what Jamie Batley was counting on when he gave up two first rounders and Matt Roik to get him. Two years ago the expansion Chicago Shamrox  came within a whisker of making it to the playoffs when they rode some great goaltending of Brandon Miller. Last season Miller struggled and so did the Shamrox .  After trading Miller to Philadelphia for Matt Roik the Shamrox went on a late season rally when Roik got hot. Obviously Batley felt that his team’s fortunes went up and down with goaltending so he went out and got the best goalie in the league. Batley is counting on Cosmo’s competitive nature to lead Chicago to the playoffs.  The fact he gave up Roik as well as two first round picks is a testament to how valuable Batley thinks Cosmo is.  If Cosmo can lead the Shamrox to the playoffs this season then the deal works for Batley. If the Shamrox falter, then he won’t care about the 2009 draft choice because Batley wont likely be around for the draft.

From San Jose’s point of view they didn’t trade Cosmo as a favor to him. They have pretty good depth in that net with two very good young goalies Tyler Richards and Aaron Bold but the starting job is Matt Roik’s to lose. When Chris Hall coached England in the World Championships in 2007, Matt Roik was his starter and Hall is a big supporter of the often misunderstood and temperamental goalie. San Jose is hoping that between the three of them they will have no problems in net. However the key to the deal for San Jose is definitely the two first round picks. They used the 2008 pick to get Rhys Duch and if Chicago doesn’t improve their positioning this season then the 2009 draft will be very good for the Stealth.

I know it sounds like I’m sitting on the fence but this is a deal that works for both teams. San Jose might be the only team in the NLL that can afford to trade a  goaltender with Anthony Cosmo’s pedigree. And Chicago gets a superstar goalie with another 10 years in the tank.  As well they get a veteran player who knows what it takes to win championships. As for Cosmo – his students will finally get to see him play lacrosse in Toronto.

Did you guess which player has traveled more than Cosmo in the last 4 years? Pat Jones of  Portland.

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