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Hey there indoor lax fans. Over on InsideLacrosse.com right now, we’ve got an exclusive Q&A with former Whitby Warrior/Duke Blue Devil Zack Greer. He talks about his time at Duke, how he explored playing hockey and lacrosse this year and how he landed at Bryant. It’s a good read, so check it out.
Inside Lacrosse: Zack Greer Q&A
If the old saying that defense wins championships is true then it’s no wonder that the Orangeville Northmen have just swept their way to the Ontario finals. Known for stressing defense above anything else, it takes a pretty big talent to stand out on a blueline like the one belonging to the Northmen, and this year that big talent is named Jon Harnett. When he’s not busy helping Nick Rose hold opponents to under five goals per game and earning accolades like a nomination for NLLinsider’s Defender of the Year, Harnett’s doing what every good Orangeville player does: thinking about a trip to Calgary at the end of August. READ MORE »
For all the lacrosse fans who are going to need to play catch-up on Sr. B, where are you in the season currently?
We’re in the playoffs, right now we’re heading into the semi-finals.
Could you talk a little bit about the playoff format? READ MORE »
In the summer Mike O’Brien is a defenseman for the Kitchener-Waterloo Braves in the Ontario Junior A Lacrosse League, but during the school year he’ll be back in the Division 1 Hobart Statesmen line-up. Sounds unsurprising, right? Except that O’Brien isn’t one of the many Canadians in the NCAA ranks—he’s an American infiltrating Ontario. Here he talks differences between the games, playing without the long pole, and what brand of lacrosse he honestly likes better.
Now, you grew up playing the field game at the Gunnery in Connecticut, and now your playing for Hobart College, an NCAA Div. I team in upstate New York – how did you get interested in the box game and what brought you to Canada to play? READ MORE »
Thanks for the email questions about the Canadian Lacrosse Association (CLA). I posed some of them to Joey Harris, CLA President. This quick five question Q&A is largely centered around rule structures and the marketing presence of the CLA.
When the subject of Jr. A lacrosse comes up, all too often it begins and ends with Ontario and BC. But over in Alberta, there’s a young league playing a steadily-improving brand of ball and if you’re looking for a good reason to pay attention to the Rocky Mountain Lacrosse League, look no further than Simon Giourmetakis. The Captain of the Edmonton Eclipse has spent the last two years leading his league in scoring and gearing up for what could be the most important season in the history of his team. The sharp-shooting lefty talks league set-up, where he’s headed, and how the boys in Alberta don’t get a whole lot of respect.
Looking at your schedule, you guys play both the Jr. A and Sr. B teams. Could you explain how that works?
This year one of the Sr. B teams dropped out because they couldn’t get enough people out, so it’s a little different than it was last year. The last two years that I’ve played in Jr. we played only the North Sr. teams, the teams from Edmonton. This year we play both of the North Sr. teams once, and then we play both of the South Sr. teams as well. We play all of the Jr. A teams four times this year. READ MORE »
Just a few short years ago it would have been a bit of a shock to see the words ‘Billy Dee Smith‘ and ‘offensive threat’ anywhere near each other, except for possibly in a description of an on-floor altercation. But if 2007 was the year of the subdued Smith, 2008 can be considered the season the hard-nosed defender learned to hit a team where it really hurts. The newly-minted transition piston takes time out from being Uncle Billy in the backyard with the Steenhuis Jrs to talk about how his game has evolved, how his reputation hasn’t, and whether or not we’ll be seeing a Mark Steenhuis mohawk.
Given that the Buffalo Bandits are the top seed, have home floor advantage, are considered the favourites, and haven’t won a championship since 1996, do you guys feel like you’re under a lot of pressure?
I don’t really feel like there’s that much pressure. I think we felt more pressure two years ago against Colorado. We just seem a lot more at ease this year. We’re confident but not over-confident, we’re not trying to do too much. What it comes down to is that both teams are 2-0 in the playoffs; the regular season doesn’t really matter. To be the favourites – that’s nice, but we’re not looking too far into it. READ MORE »
Not a lot of people could decide on a whim that at the age of 28 they’d like to give professional lacrosse a shot and end up walking on to a Buffalo Bandits roster. Not a lot of people are Ray Guze. With two days to go until the first Western Division final in franchise history, the Portland Lumberjax defender discusses the importance of discipline, life after Dawson, and how we almost lost him to Hollywood.
You guys didn’t start the season off so hot, and now you’re headed to the western division finals. Is there anything specific you would credit for the turnaround of this team?
I would think it’s just timing, really. We just seemed to come together at the right time, as you saw in the last playoff game and even before that–the San Jose game that we won in overtime. Just prior to the playoffs we started to see things kind of gel and come together in all aspects of our game. READ MORE »
Tyler Codron is having a great rookie campaign playing with the Portland Lumberjax of the National Lacrosse League (NLL). He’ll suit up this weekend for the chance to help capture the NLL’s Western Division title and advance to the Champion’s Cup game the weekend of May 16-18.
“He is my choice for rookie of the year,” said Portland GM and head coach Derek Keenan. The ‘Jax have given Codron marquee assignments lately, asking him to defend some of the league’s leading scorers. “He has become our No. 1 shutdown defender. He is very strong and has tremendously quick feet. He is also a very good transition player.”
Currently one of the hottest players on one of the hottest teams, New York Titans forward Pat Maddalena has plenty to talk about when it comes to the postseason. Heading into the first playoff appearance for the second-year franchise, the good doctor discusses momentum, maturity, and emails from Mitch.
We did a players poll a couple of weeks ago that basically asked what is the single most important factor in a successful playoff run, and the number one answer we got was that a team has to be peaking at the right time. Is that an answer you would agree with?
Absolutely. I mean you have teams that start out very well and they go through some struggles during the year and they usually lose in the first round because it’s tough to gather the momentum at the end of the year. I would definitely agree with that answer. READ MORE »
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