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The Beat

K’Hawks positioning for Cody Jamieson, deny Grant rumour, plus the links

The Rochester front office at the '09 entry draft in Buffalo. (Photo: Chris Sherrer)

Will four varying positioned first round draft picks be enough to pry the first overall selection away from whatever team, last place or possibly expansion, hold the first overall grab at the 2010 entry draft?

As has been rumoured for the past almost two years, the Rochester Knighthawks are definitely hoping they’ve stockpiled enough future picks to be the team trading for and then planting their jersey over Cody Jamieson’s dome at next summer’s already much talked about and debated draft. READ MORE »

The Beat

More on Gavin Prout trade, plus the links

The Edmonton brass, led by Derek Keenan, added Gavin Prout to their offense earlier today. (Photo: Chris Sherrer)

Earlier today the Edmonton Rush officially announced their most recent blockbuster off-season move, trading for both Gavin Prout and Dean Hill from the Rochester Knighthawks, giving up just a 2011 first round pick and conditional second rounder sometime over the next two drafts.

“We made significant changes to the team over the past few months and I liked how our team was shaping up,” said Rush GM and head coach Derek Keenan through a statement issued by the team. “But I had been saying for a long time that I wanted to add one more marquee offensive player and we’ve done that now with the additional of Gavin. READ MORE »

The Beat

Lacrosse Links: Corey Small signs with Edmonton

Solid news out of Edmonton yesterday, as the Rush announced the signing of 2009 Entry Draft pick Corey Small. The ninth overall pick in last year’s draft, Small scored 31 goals in his final year at Albany last spring. Edmonton also solidified their goalie position by signing Matt Disher and Brandon Atherton to new contracts. READ MORE »

NLL, The Beat

Lacrosse Links: Brock University wins 18th CUFLA National Championship

Brock University completed a perfect 13-0 season Sunday, winning the Canadian University Field Lacrosse Association championship over McMaster University, 12-11. Mike McLeod, the player of the game, led the way with three goals and two assists.
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The Beat

Lacrosse Links: Join the conversation at the forums

It’s a nice lazy Sunday, so now’s a perfect time to dive into some of the debates going on over at the NLL Forums, like this one discussing the viability of the use of wood sticks in the NLL (which was a reaction to this post by Bob Chavez). READ MORE »

The Beat

Lacrosse Links: Canadians invade, conquer Hawaii

In case the change from fall to winter hasn’t been depressing enough, you can take heart in the fact that some members of the fraternity we call lacrosse got to spend a good chunk of the past month out in sunny Hawaii, where Crease Monkeys took home the title at the Hawaii Invitational.

Why should I care about this fact as an NLL-loving sports fan, you ask? Well, the USA selection left the elite squads looking to fill some holes and – go figure – they reached out to a couple of your favorites to power up. Crease Monkeys alone had Zack Greer, Gavin Prout, Geoff Snider, John Grant Jr., Jordan Hall and Jeff Zywicki. READ MORE »

The Beat

Lacrosse Links: Keenan and Staff Set The Tone For Edmonton’s Season

A 5-11 record in 2009 left the Edmonton Rush outside of the postseason for a fourth straight season and in need of some serious changes – improving an anemic offense that scored fewer goals than any team in the league, igniting some sort of transition game and addressing a defense that allowed 12.5 goals per game.

Enter former Portland LumberJax head coach Derek Keenan, who was named the new head coach and general manager of the Rush in early July. Keenan added Brodie Merrill and Scott Stewart to the roster to take care of those transition issues and brought in Ryan Ward to add some athleticism to the offense. Now, Keenan and the Rush are about to embark on the 2009-2010 season with the start of training camp and Keenan’s message to set the tone for how things are going to be is pretty simple: Show up in shape or don’t show up at all.

Check out the whole story on the Edmonton Rush website.
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The Beat

Lacrosse Links: Hitting the Slopes with Tyler Jewell

Though not Canadian, Tyler Jewell will be spending plenty of time up there this winter, as the former lacrosse player at Boston College will be heading to Vancouver as part of the US Snowboard Team for the upcoming Olympic Games. READ MORE »

The Beat

Lacrosse Links: Reaction from the Gavin Prout trade, US Team Selection

The Gavin Prout trade story in the Durham Region News led with a hook on his reunion with Shawn Williams — but was quick to point out that neither is returning to the Brooklin Redmen in the MSL.

Check out the story with quotes from Prout and Knighthawks owner and CEO Curt Styres here.
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The Beat

Lacrosse Links: U.S. Team comes together with familiar NLL names

The final 23-man Team U.S.A. roster was announced yesterday, and the debate over the final grouping has already been heated among fans. Among familiar NLL names: Ryan Boyle (Orlando Titans), Brendan Mundorf (Titans), Ryan Powell (Portland Lumberjax), Paul Rabil (Washington Stealth), Eric Martin (Washington Stealth), Shawn Nadelen (Philly Wings) and Kyle Sweeney (Philly Wings). You can check out IL’s initial thought of the roster here at the podcast, or read IL editor Terry Foy’s total team breakdown. READ MORE »