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B.C. Junior A

BC Junior A: understanding the standings

With a little thing called the Champion’s Cup out of the way (not that we’ll be leaving the NLL behind any time soon), we can now turn our attention to the summer leagues where the BC Junior A Lacrosse League has been in action for over one month. From the surprisingly surging Burnaby Lakers to the struggling South Fraser Stickmen, here’s a quick catch-up on what’s been going on and what we can expect from the premier junior players on the West coast. The standings so far:
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B.C. Junior A

Jr. A Timberman no longer banned from box

There are a lot of ways off-season recruitment can go wrong. Finding a guy sitting on the floor in a hallway after playing a completely different sport than the one you’re recruiting for and asking him if he wants to play for your team? Typically not the greatest idea. In fact, we have probably just uncovered how Matt Millen finds the Detroit Lions’ draft picks.

Luckily for the Nanaimo Timbermen, star forward Matt Wray knew exactly what he was doing when he approached John Flatters after a WHL hockey game.

Flatters, a big blue-collar defender from Calgary, was quick to answer in the affirmative after spending four years forbidden from playing lacrosse. After just three games in the BCJALL, Flatters is already finding himself ranked alongside Wray as one of the toughest players in the league.

Nanaimo will be looking to do a lot more than drop the gloves tonight, however, as they try to bounce back from an 11-2 loss in Victoria. The Timbermen will be taking on the Port Coquitlam Saints at the Nanaimo Ice Centre at 5 pm.

B.C. Junior A

B.C. Junior A News

It’s been a little over a week since the start of the British Columbia Junior A Lacrosse League schedule, and thanks to their win over the Nanaimo Timbermen last night, the Victoria Shamrocks are sitting in first place with a record of 3-0.

At the other end of the standings are the South Fraser Stickmen, who have dropped all three of their games so far, including an 11-1 loss to the Coquitlam Adanacs. While it’s looking like it could be another long season for South Fraser, formerly Surrey, next year they’ll be looking to Langley for a fresh start.

Standings so far:

B.C. Junior A

Jr. A Nanaimo Timbermen get fancy

It seems like only yesterday I told you that the Portland Lumberjax plaid third was unofficially and unscientifically voted the fan favourite special edition jersey. It’s more impressive if you skip over the unofficially and unscientifically part, but nevertheless the BC Junior A Nanaimo Timbermen are following in the Jax’s big, tree-chopping footsteps and have unveiled their own plaid third. I’d kind of hoped I could stop complimenting plaid so much after moving away from Northern Ontario, but this time I’m not standing in a bowling alley on prom night so I say with no shame whatsoever: nice going guys. Check out that collar!

The T-men are heading into just their fourth season in BCJALL and in addition to wanting to build on last year’s success on the floor–which included five regular season wins and a trip to the playoffs–they’re looking to build on their success in the stands and increase fan interest. Will a wacky third jersey help with that? Only time will tell, but I do know there is at least one person looking to order one with a CAPTAIN SUPER CHAMP name plate on the back. It’s for a friend.

It might be worth noting that while the T-men’s plaids came out later than Portland’s, the idea was actually conceived during a road trip last season. It’s definitely worth noting that Junior T-men graduate Ryan Clark is going to be playing a big role on the senior team.

B.C. Junior A, Q&A

B.C. Jr. A Q&A with Burnaby Lakers GM Richard Appels

In his first year as the General Manager of the dynasty Junior A Burnaby Lakers, Richard Appels is well aware of the size of the shoes he’s expected to fill. With less than two weeks to go until the first face-off of the ‘08 season, the Burnaby boss talks his 12 graduated players, the Alex Gajic rumours, and the loss of Mr. Lacrosse.

Last year the Burnaby Lakers were 19-2, which landed you a first place finish and a trip to the Minto. Are your expectations for the ‘08 season that lofty?
Well of course they’re as high, we want to go to the Minto. But because we lost 12 players last year what we’re hoping for is third place, fighting for second. We’ll probably end up in third but we figure we might end up in second. READ MORE »