NLL Insider

This summer we’ve been steadily tracking the happenings of Ontario Jr. B lacrosse, and while there’s never any shortage of action in the Ontario loop, there’s a whole wide world of B ball out there with plenty of teams gearing up for the Founders Cup that we would be remiss to go without mentioning. To start with, we’ll take a look at the Alberta Jr. B lacrosse North Division.

1ST: SASKATCHEWAN SWAT

Record: 11-5-2
Interdivisional record: 8-1-1 with the single loss coming against the second-in-the-north Edmonton Warriors
The pros: You may have noticed that in the list of teams in Alberta Jr. B ball, one of those things is not like the others. Fact is, the Saskatchewan SWAT takes their team out of province to play at a higher level of lacrosse, and they bring their very best to do it, with over 300 players showing up at this year’s tryouts. The result is a stud-riddled divisional powerhouse that has only once this season allowed an opponent into double digit scoring. Kent Murton is fourth in divisional scoring with his 38 points, and Tandon Naylor, Tanner Kittler, Brett Boyko and Regan Harding not only sound like a bunch of made-up names, they’re also sitting 6, 7, 8, and 9 in the stats.
The cons: Take the SWAT out of their divisional comfort zone and they’re 3-4-1. If they can’t hang with the Junior Mounties and Shamrocks, how are they going to fare against unfamiliar opponents during Founders?
Outlook: Pretty positive. They may struggle a bit out of their division, but they’ve proven they can win the tight ones, with five of their wins coming with scant one or two goal margins. They’ve got two games left against divisional rivals Rampage and Crude, two teams they have yet to lose to, so a 13-5-2 finish is well within reach of the Saskatchewan All-Stars.

2ND: EDMONTON WARRIORS

Record: 10-7
Interdivisional record: 4-5
The pros: An A calibre goalie in a B sweater whose play is as sharp as it is smart, the Founders hosts have been benefiting all season from the addition of Kyle Kowalchuk to their line-up, as Edmonton has allowed the fewest goals in the division. With the back end taken care of, forwards Adam Stuckless, David Lehman, and Mark Lawrence are free to focus on the offense and are in spots 1, 2, and 3 in divisional scoring, with Stuckless’s 26 goals and 48 points both leading the league. Though their divisional record is less than stellar, it can be argued that the South division is the slightly tougher one, and the Warriors routinely dummy teams like the Jr. Mounties and Shamrocks who are one and two down there.
The cons: Though he could very well be putting a cape on under his equipment every single game, even Kowalchuk is bound to be worn down if his team is consistently being outshot by double-digit margins. The Warriors have been a little streaky this year; one week they’re finishing up a five game winning tear and looking like the best team in the league, and the next they’re dropping three in a row and looking like a guaranteed trip to Founders is good enough for them.
Outlook: They’ve got all the ingredients of a great, disciplined team, it’s just a matter of getting them all on the same page and then keeping them there. Chances are, the closer they get to Founders, the more they’ll shake the complacency. If they can give Kowalchuk the run support he deserves, they’ll go down as one of the least gracious hosts the Jr. B tourney has ever seen.

3RD: RED DEER RAMPAGE

Record: 8-6-3
Interdivisional record: 7-3
The pros: The Red Deer scoring is about as far flung as it comes in Jr. ball, with no shortage of defenders ready to go sprinting in for a goal and apparently this chaos is hard to defend against, because the Rampage have won four of their last five and will have another crack at the two teams ahead of them in the division before the regular season finishes out. Leading team scoring is Darren Kinnear with his 27 points in 13 games.
The cons: You can’t help but wonder what kind of damage the Rampage could do if they had a designated finisher. No knock on Kinnear and his hard-working teammates, but picture someone like Mimico’s Reilly Smith (30g 9a) transplanted to the Rampage and see if this season doesn’t shake out differently.
Outlook: What the Rampage make of the rest of ‘09 is pretty much up to them. They should be able to give a few good teams a pretty big scare with the fast break, but only time and box scores will tell if they’re able to control the flow of the game when it goes the other way. Their remaining games vs. the SWAT and Warriors should paint a more complete picture.

4TH: NORTHERN ALBERTA CRUDE

Record: 6-10
Interdivisional record: 4-6
The pros: In Mike Cunningham they have probably the second best keeper in the North, and building out from there they’ve got a team that thrives in uneven strength situations and has an innate ability to slow the game down to their liking. Daniel Rodgers and Evan Dyki lead on offense with 28 points and 24, respectively, while Matt Hansen and Dan Bourbonnais head up the transition game.
The cons: If they can’t manage to keep control of the game’s pace then look out, because the gritty Crude flat out don’t have the speed that a team like the SWAT brings to the table. They’re always pretty good at keeping it close, but whether or not they have enough left in the tank to seal up the win is a bit of a concern.
Outlook: They’ve got a good foundation, and the importance of a good goaltender can’t be underestimated, plus Hansen and Bourbonnais have the team on the right track heading up the floor. If the Crude can keep a closer eye on the opposition breaking in on Cunningham this team is on its way to being right there in the mix with the toughest competition Alberta B has to offer.

5TH: SHERWOOD PARK TITANS

Record: 1-15-2
Interdivisional record: 1-9-1
The pros: Calvin Roberts, fifth in division scoring. This guy alone has scored nearly a quarter of the Titans’ goals (Roberts has 20 while the team has a total of 86). Add to that a pretty steady team defense and Tyler Holik and Bob Hamley’s son Brock splitting time in net and altogether, it’s not as bad as that record makes it seem. You’d expect a team with only one win to be blown out pretty regularly, but that’s not the case at all with the Titans. With only a few notable exceptions, they’ve kept their scores fairly close and have held the first-place SWAT to a tie and beaten the Crude.
The cons: Well, it’s obvious that a few things aren’t quite clicking, but sitting here and typing ‘gee whiz, maybe they should try to score more goals’ isn’t an optimal use of time or word count. Since they came into the league in 2004 the Titans have been an unpredictable force that have spent their fair share of time at the top. No shame in rebuilding.
Outlook: With two games left against two tough teams (Warriors and Jr. Mounties) here’s to some hard-fought Titans lacrosse and better luck next year.

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