NLL Insider

Major Series Lacrosse, Road to the Mann Cup, Senior A

2008 Mann Cup Finals: Brampton celebration photos

Happy Wednesday, everybody.

No doubt the folks in Brampton are celebrating today, after the Excelsiors captured their ninth Mann Cup championship with a 4-0 sweep of the New Westminister Salmonbellies. Their previous eight came in 1930, ‘31, ‘42 (combined with Mimico), ‘80, ‘92, ‘93, ‘98 and 2002.

The folks at Pellerins Photography and Christine Kurt were kind enough to send us some photos from the post-game celebration, where Brampton was awarded the Cup and goalie Anthony Cosmo was awarded the Mike Kelly award as MVP of the finals. Check out the action after the jump (Click on the individual photos to see the larger versions) READ MORE »

Major League Lacrosse, Major Series Lacrosse, NLL, Senior A

Knighthawks set up get-well message service for Grant

With well wishes pouring in from around the lacrosse world for John Grant Jr., the Rochester Knighthawks have set up a service to convey their thoughts to the ailing superstar.

It was announced on Monday that Grant, the reigning MLL MVP for the Rochester Rattlers and a five-time NLL first team All Pro, would miss the 2009 season after an infection that spread to his knee and required the removal of his ACL.

Fans that wish to send their wishes to the Peterborough native can send letters to the Knighthawks’ office:

C/O John Grant
The Blue Cross Arena
100 Exchange Street
Rochester, NY 14614.

Fans can also send emails to jgrant@knighthawks.net. Both methods of delivery will be active as of Wednesday, September 10th. To read the full release from the Knighthawks, follow after the jump. READ MORE »

Major League Lacrosse, Major Series Lacrosse, NLL, NLL Insider, Senior A

John Grant Jr. to miss 2009 season after emergency surgery

John Grant Jr. will miss the 2009 NLL season after emergency surgery<br>(Joe O'Rourke)

The Ontario native, who was recently named Major League Lacrosse MVP for helping lead the Rochester Rattlers to their first championship, will be out indefinitely after an infection that required emergency surgery last week.

According to the release, the infection spread from his elbow into his knee, and doctors were required to remove his left ACL and screws attaching the ligament to the bone itself. Grant will be in a knee brace from four to 12 months, after which he will undergo another surgery to re-insert his ACL.

Check back with NLLInsider.com for further details on this story. To read the full Rochester press release, continue reading after the jump. READ MORE »

Senior A

CLA Power Rankings : Week 11

As most of us predicted the East is once again shaping up for another classic Brampton Peterborough final. Both teams have 2-0 leads in their best of seven semi-finals. Game three is the critical game in a best of seven series. If St. Regis, or Brooklin can take that pivotal game then they might be in a series – otherwise its over. A 2-1 series can go either direction but coming back from 3-0 is so rare that we might see it once every 20 years – and it won’t happen against Peterborough or Brampton this season. READ MORE »

Senior A

CLA Power Rankings: Week 10

The preliminary playoff round is over in the OLA playoffs so we are down to the final four and in a few days the WLA regular season will end so we’ll be down to the final four out there as well. Maybe the WLA should also consider adding a preliminary round in the future because it would at least give some drama and hope for the bottom three teams who have been “out of it” for weeks, if not months. READ MORE »

Senior A

CLA Power Rankings : Week 9

The regular season is done in the East and even though there is still one week left in the WLA the only thing to be determined is who will take third place, Victoria or Burnaby. In the East, only Barrie is out while Brampton and Peterborough have earned first round byes.  READ MORE »

Senior A

CLA Power Rankings : Week 8

There are no changes at the top of the Power rankings but don’t be surprised if it looks different next week. New West’s record is pretty impressive but there are definitely a few weak sisters in the West and right now any team in the East is capable of a victory on any given night. With only a couple of weeks left in the regular season the East is heading towards a much more exciting finish than the West where the 4 playoff teams are all but clinched. Coquitlam might give New West a fight for first but there is no way that any of the bottom three are going to overtake Burnaby or Victoria for the last playoff spot. READ MORE »

Senior A

CLA Power Rankings : Week 7

Wth the World Under 19 field lacrosse championships taking place in BC it will make for another quiet weekend in the WLA with only 4 games coming up this week. On the other hand the Ontario Major League will play 8 games this week. What happended last week? READ MORE »

Senior A

CLA Power Rankings: Week 6

As I called it in last week’s Power Rankings, the New Westminster Salmonbellies finally lost their first game of the year. It didn’t take Kreskin powers to realize that the law of averages would finally put them on the wrong end of one of those close battles and a game in Coquitlam is never easy. However that one loss is not enough to knock New West out of top spot in the Power rankings. READ MORE »

Senior A

CLA Power Rankings: Week 5

Although they are not dominating (two one goal victories last week) the New Westminster Salmonbellies keep winning and their very impressive 10-0 record have made it very easy to keep them a top the National rankings – especially when you combine that with Brampton’s two losses last week.  This coming week will be pivotal for the defending Mann Cup winning Peterborough Lakers. With 3 games in 5 nights the Lakers hope to shake off their early season rust and show that they are once again a contender. Having Shawn Evans back in the lineup should help. READ MORE »