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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 »
With less than one week to go until the start of the season, the buzz about the Burnaby Lakers being knocked from their BC Junior A throne is building. Leading the charge? Matt Wilson and the Coquitlam Adanacs. A top defender with a punishing presence and an impressive lexicon of Junior A information, Wilson talks bouncing back from his knee injury, how he sees the standings shaping up, and whether or not there really is extra incentive to beat the Burnaby Lakers.
First and foremost, how is your knee doing?
My knee is good, really good. I tore my ACL in the last game of the regular season last year and it’s been about seven months since surgery. I’m playing with a brace right now, the doctors have told me to play with a brace but it’s also a mental thing for me–I’m a lot more comfortable knowing that I have some extra support there. I get chirped a lot about it but it’s definitely necessary. READ MORE »
With a home game on the way, his Wings pulling themselves out of a slump, and a little thing called the single-season scoring record, Philadelphia forward Athan Iannucci has plenty to celebrate tonight in addition to his birthday. (26 today!) The second-year standout talks record breaking, what went wrong with the Wings, and the corny rhyme that can take a little credit for his big success.
At what point this season did you start to seriously think you could break Gary Gait’s record?
It didn’t really cross my mind until after about the third game somebody said to me ‘oh man, if you stay on this pace you’ll break the record.’ Once someone told me that if I stayed on pace I could do it, it made me think it might be possible. I knew I’d already had my production at that level so if I could keep it there then why not? I just had to work to keep it there. READ MORE »
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 »
While contraction of the National Lacrosse League spared no team from tough decisions, there was perhaps no one as notably hit as the Philadelphia Wings, where last year’s All-Star starter became this year’s odd man out. So when a mid-season move sent Matt Roik to the struggling Chicago Shamrox, the veteran goaltender quickly made the best of it. And then he quickly made it better. With the Shamrox on their first winning streak since last season, Roik discusses his new mindset, his old fans, and the writing on the wall in Philadelphia.
Were you surprised to see the Wings pick up Rob Blasdell in the dispersal draft last November?
Yes and no. I thought maybe Philadelphia could use another defenseman if they were going to be missing players like Taylor Wray and Shawn Nadelen [due to NCAA coaching gigs], but to pick up a goalie like Blasdell I thought it was a bonus. I had the opportunity to play with Blazer in Barrie and with his experience and so forth I thought it was a definite plus, especially in a tough position like goaltending, you can never have too many goaltenders, really. I think it really solidified the position and I was looking forward to it. READ MORE »
With the past four years having seen the Six Nations Arrows with four league titles and four appearances in the Minto, it’s now pretty easy to classify the 2007 Minto Cup champions as a perennial powerhouse. It’s no coincidence that top-ranked transition piston and Syracuse recruit Kent Squire-Hill (#7) has spent all four of those years on the Arrows roster. Here he discusses roster additions, the pressure to win, and taking it one game at a time.
Last year, of course, the Six Nations Arrows won the Minto and the entire season it just seemed like there was no stopping you. Is that how you guys felt?
Not really, we took it game by game. We never really felt unstoppable, we just felt like if we play our game then we’ll win. READ MORE »
This week we chatted with former Syracuse All-American defender Steve Panarelli, from the San Jose Stealth, about his rookie season thus far in the National Lacrosse League (NLL).
A tough stay-at-home defender with an imposing presence and the intelligence to match, the Mammoth’s John Gallant has been an important cog in a Colorado system that’s kept its team near the top of the National Lacrosse League. With a week off to get back on track, the ‘07 All-Star discusses the recent Mammoth downslide, the importance of playing smart, and why you can say whatever you want about him on the internet.
With the trade deadline having recently passed, are you surprised the Mammoth didn’t make many moves?
Not really, we have a very good team and we believe in the players and personnel that we have. We are on a little bit of a down-slope here right now but at one point we were 5-0. We’ve got a veteran team, it’s not like we have a lot of young guys, we have a lot of guys that have experience here and we’re comfortable with the way we’re playing.
I think the one deal that we did make to get another left-handed player to help Dan Carey was a very big move. [Chris] Gill was instrumental in us winning the championship two years ago so I’m sure he’ll do a great job when he gets here. READ MORE »
With the National Lacrosse League in full swing — complete with an increasingly intense playoff race — you’re forgiven if you forgot there’s other lacrosse out there. Here’s your wake-up call.
With just a few weeks to go before Junior A training camps open, who better to kick off our coverage than Corey Hallman, GM of the Kitchener-Waterloo Braves and Chairman of the Junior A Board of Governors. A new-school big-wig with an impressive vision and a plan to match, Hallman talks the KW Braves, recruiting Americans, where the league needs to go, and how the NLL can help them get there. READ MORE »
With the National Lacrosse League trade deadline rapidly approaching, hard-nosed defender Ian Rubel has found himself a somewhat surprising beneficiary of the wheeling and dealing. The newest piece of the Minnesota Swarm puzzle, Rubel has a quick conversation about moving up in the standings, what he hopes to bring to the team, and what the Toronto Rock told him about why he wasn’t playing.
I guess we’ll get the most obvious question out of the way first: were you surprised to be traded?
Yes and no. I kind of had a feeling that something was going on but it was surprising. I’ve been with Toronto for seven years and I thought possibly I was going to end my career there but, you know, things happen.
READ MORE »
Making the jump to National Lacrosse League (NLL) as a rookie is never easy, especially when box lacrosse isn’t the game you grew up playing.
But Cornell’s former All-American defender Mitch Belisle (pronounced Bell-ile) seems to be making the adjustment well with the New York Titans.
In this edition of our weekly Rookie Q&A, Mitch talks about how he’s handled making the cross-over from field to box, and his advice to other young field players hoping to make the pro ranks.
With the single season assist record, six All-Pro appearances and a Champion’s Cup ring, the Toronto Rock’s Josh Sanderson is no stranger to greatness. These days, however, he’s also no stranger to battling it out for a playoff spot in the tough eastern division. On the eve of a major match-up between New York and Toronto, Shooter Sanderson talks offensive woes, trade rumours, and that other Glenn Clark incident.
This year, just like the past few years, the Rock are right in the middle of a playoff hunt. How much importance are you guys placing on this game versus New York?
It’s huge, actually. We’re putting a lot of importance on it because it’s a tiebreaker in the division and everybody in the east at the top end is winning so we have to keep pace.
You’ve beaten the Titans once before this season, what are the keys to winning this game?
They’re a high-scoring team so we’re going to try to minimize their chances. Last game we played against them we played one good half and they really outplayed us for a half so we want to try to play a full 60 minutes.
READ MORE »
Steve Hutchins came into this year as the first pick in the second round, No. 15 overall in the 2007 NLL Entry Draft. Edmonton were slotted to pick No. 20 overall, but moved up in the draft to select the Whitby forward by trading to Boston Dan Finck and their No. 20 pick (Keegan Davidson).
When I talked to former Rush head coach Paul Day after their 2008 camp, he said he expected Hutchins to play a depth role, but noted to watch out if he got in.
“He is young but he may surprise some people and, who knows if he gets into some action we may never take him out,” said Day.
Hutchins got that opportunity in Edmonton’s last game when the team’s top scorer Mike Accursi was sick. Hutchins not only cracked the line-up, he also ended up on the powerplay and recorded one goal, six points in Edmonton’s first victory of the season, a 9-7 win over Portland.
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