How the Jr Adanacs landed Fryer

Here's an interesting read on how the Coquitlam Adanacs landed former Brampton goalie Steve Fryer.
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In their quest to defend their Minto Cup title, the Coquitlam junior A Adanacs have found help in unexpected places.
On Thursday, the club addressed one of its biggest needs when it acquired the playing rights to Brampton, Ont. native Steve Fryer, a six-foot-one goaltender.
"I talked with (Coquitlam head coach Curt Malawsky) today and felt great," Fryer told The NOW in an exclusive interview. "I hopped right on the computer to book the earliest flight I could."
The acquisition came just days after a Canadian Lacrosse Association ruling appeared to stop the 21-year-old's ambitions of playing in Adanac gold.
Coquitlam and the Brampton Excelsiors took part in a conference call Monday with the CLA over their dispute over Fryer's rights. At the end of the meeting, the CLA ruled in Brampton's favour.
The turning point came, Coquitlam general manager Ken Wood noted, when an Adanac supporter stepped forward and worked out an agreement with Brampton over Fryer's playing rights. The amount paid was not disclosed.
"This one move really puts our season in shape," said Wood. "Prior to that, there was some serious concerns on our ability to defend the Minto Cup title... So we gained a quality, starting goalkeeper and got an unbelievable offer of support from this one individual. I can't say how grateful we are."
To read the rest of the story from Coquitlam Now click here  http://www.thenownews.com/sports/Adanacs+little+help+from+friends+signing+goalie/4658828/story.html#ixzz1KlyoDCbX

Adanacs open BCJLL with win over Salmonbellies

The Coquitlam Adanacs kicked off the BCJLL season with a convincing 9-4 win over the New Westminster Salmonbellies.

The Adanacs never trailed in the game, despite being outshot by New West 49-40. Coquitlam jumped out to a 2-0 lead with a pair of power play goals by Eric Ransom and Travis Cornwall. Brandon Goodwin got one of those back for the Salmonbellies late in the first period, beating Adanacs goalie Steve Fryer off a set up by Drew House.

Wesley Berg restored Coquitlam's two-goal advantage with 48 seconds left in the frame.

Luke Gillespie's unassisted goal got New West back to within a goal eight minutes into the second period. Matthew Dinsdale made it 4-2 for the Adanacs but 24 seconds later Justin Goodwin scored for the 'bellies. That's as close as they got, as Coquitlam outscored their rivals 5-1 the rest of the way.

Leif Mydske led the Salmonbellies' scorers with a goal and an assist. Cornwall added three assists to his goal and Berg had a four point night to lead the Adanacs.

OLA Junior A schedule finally released

I guess it's better late than never.
For some reason the Ontario Lacrosse Association seems to be slow about everything, including releasing schedules. After weeks and even months of anticipation, the OLA Junior A schedule is online.
The season will kick off Saturday May 7, when the Mississauga Tomahawks  head to the Anowarako:wa to tangle with the new-look Akwesasne Indians at 8 p.m. On Monday May 9, the Peterborough Lakers will host the Toronto Beaches at 7:30 p.m.
Here's the linkfor the entire schedule  http://www.pointstreak.com/prostats/leagueschedule.html?leagueid=619&seasonid=6896
Now if only we can get an MSL schedule and website up.

Holdon Vyse goes back out west to Coquitlam

As reported by Teddy Jenner from Off The Crosse Bar today, the Coquitlam Adanacs announced that the Six Nations Chiefs from Major Series Lacrosse have agreed to allow Holdon Vyse to join the Adanacs for the upcoming season.  Vyse played out west last season with the North Shore Indians and joined the Adanacs for the remainder of the season when his team was eliminated from playoffs.  
He played fourregular season games with the Adanacs before playing in the playoff series against the Victoria Shamrocks. 
Prior to last season, Vyse played with the Six Nations Arrows for five seasons, where he won the Minto Cup in 2007.
“We are very happy to have Holdon back here.” Adanacs general manager Les Wingrove said. ”He gave our back end a big boost last year going into the playoffs and having him here for most of the season will add to our depth. He was a good fit and has already made the transition onto our team and he is another young versatile player.  We are thankful to Six Nations for the opportunity to have him here.”
Vyse is 22 , stands  5’11” and weighs 215 pounds. He is a right-handed defender who can transition the ball well and play both ends of the floor if needed. He is also plays on the short man team.  
He has spent some time this winter with the Buffalo Bandits and Rochester Nighthawks in the National Lacrosse League. In May, Vyse will be a member of the Iroquois Nationals team who will compete for the World Indoor Lacrosse Championship (WILC) in Prague. 
Vyse will join the Adanacs the first week of June at the completion of that tournament.

In other Adanacs news, Ginny Capicchioni will attend the Adanacs training camp in order to prepare herself for the WILC Championships in Prague. Capicchioni was named as one of the goaltenders for Team USA.  The American team is also one of the stronger teams in the competition.  Capicchioni made history last season by being the first female goaltender to play in the Western Lacrosse Association and has achieved one of her goals to represent her country in international competition.  She resides in New Jersey.

Kahnawake hunts down Knights

While many of us were at work Monday, the Kahnawake Hunters netted five unanswered goals in the third period to spoil the Nepean Knights’ OLA Junior B season opener.

The Knights lost the game 9-7 at the Merivale Arena after controlling the play for most of the way until the Hunters offensive onslaught.

With the score tied 4-4 heading into the final frame, the Knights went ahead on goals by Eric Albert, Keeghan McLeod and Brett Lewandowsky and looked to be well on their way to victory.

Tokwirihson Goodleaf, Arontase Paul, Nick Angus, Oran Horn and Atewennio Deer allowed the Hunters to catch their prey.

To read the rest of the story by Daniel Nugent-Bowman from  http://www.yourottawaregion.com click here 

http://www.yourottawaregion.com/sports/local/article/998050--knights-edged-in-season-opener-by-hunters

TOJLL kicks off with a Raiders win

The Kamloops Venom opened the Thompson-Okanagan Junior Lacrosse League regular season with a 4-3 loss to the host Kelowna Raiders.
Kelowna only has one team this season after the amalgamation of the Kelowna Warriors and Rutland Raiders, and it appears to be a favourite. The Venom are the defending league and provincial champion.
Tyler French, the defending league MVP, opened the scoring for Kelowna, before Venom rookie Jerome Thorne tied it. Scott Renner and Kamloops’ Blaine Boomer again traded goals to make it 2-2, before Riley Donahue made it 3-2 for the Venom.
French scored again before the second period was finished, and Brendan Urban scored the lone goal of the third for Kelowna.

Miller, Lindsay Sanderson to be inducted into Orangeville Sports Hall of Fame

The Orangeville Sports Hall of Fame selection committee announced its list of inductees for 2011.

Lacrosse figured prominently in the selection process with two of this year’s inductees having made their name wearing the black and silver of the Orangeville Northmen.

Nominated under the athlete category, Kyle Miller began playing lacrosse at the age of three, making his way up through the Orangeville lacrosse system, which included a stint with the Junior A Northmen.

Backstopping the Canadian U19 Field Lacrosse team to silver in Australia, Miller was off next to Cornell University where he had received a lacrosse scholarship. 

A diagnosis of cancer in his sophomore year couldn’t keep Miller from the game he loved. After a year of treatment including chemotherapy and radical surgery that saw his knee joint and part of his tibia replaced, Miller returned to school and helped coach Cornell to a championship. 

In 2006, Miller was back on the field where he joined with another future Orangeville Sports Hall of Fame member — Chris Sanderson — and was part of the team that won gold at World Men’s Field Lacrosse Championships in London, Ontario.

Chosen as both an Athlete and as a Builder, Lindsay Sanderson needs little introduction. 

Known as both a leader and fierce competitor on the floor, Sanderson saw action with Brampton and Owen Sound, as well as Orangeville, before moving from on the bench to behind it.

He has coached every level from minor through Junior and on up to the National Lacrosse League, in addition to being a part of many provincial and national championship teams. 

In 2010, Sanderson was inducted into the Ontario Lacrosse Hall of Fame under the Builder category and has been touted by many as one of the driving forces behind the success of the Northmen program.

Lakers ink Evans brothers

Here's a story from Mike Davies of the  Peterborough Examiner.

The Peterborough Lakers have insured two big pieces to their puzzle won’t be going anywhere in the near future.
The Lakers have agreed to four-year contracts with Mann Cup MVP Shawn Evans and older brother Scott, a two-time MSL scoring champion.
Shawn Evans, 24, the 2010 MSL scoring champion, set a Mann Cup record for assists and tied the points record in the Lakers’ six-game win over the New Westminster Salmonbellies in September.
Scott Evans, 29, scored 12 goals in the final two games of the series.
“ We’re both Peterborough kids and we’re going to be here for our whole careers,” said Scott Evans, who lives in Peterborough but works for Ontario Hydro in the Ottawa area and plays pro lacrosse in Edmonton. “We’re both home bodies.”
The brothers have been an integral part of the Lakers resurgence which began nine years ago and has resulted in four Mann Cup titles and five Ontario championships in the past seven years.
“I’ve seen it grow from my first year when we had 200 people at the game, friends and family,” said Evans.
“I think I’ve been a big part of that and the core guys who came up with me, us Peterborough guys, have really built something here. It’s good to see it through.”
Since teams are only allowed to assign player cards one year at a time, it’s not been a common practice to sign players to multiyear contracts.
 To read the rest of the story click here http://www.thepeterboroughexaminer.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=3092568

Shamrocks find a new way to build a winner

Here's a good read from Sharie Epp of the Times Colonist about the Victoria Shamrocks new philosophy on building a winner.


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The days of ring chasers and hired guns are over in Senior A men's lacrosse, according to Victoria Shamrocks general manager Chris Welch. As the Shamrocks prepare to open their training camp on Monday, Welch said the fact the Mann Cup is in the West this season, won't change the team's development strategy.
"We're about making household names, not buying household names," Welch said.
The national championship series alternates between East and West each season. Previously, that meant teams would bulk up with the sports elite, such as legendary snipers John Tavares, Jim Veltman or John Grant Jr., while anchoring a home-floor run to the Cup.
Now, however, the rules regarding cross-country player movement have tightened up, and teams aren't as willing to bankroll a top player who won't become a long-term addition.
"Teams have been built that way and had success, but it's almost impossible to do that now. You don't have the ring-chasers like in the past," Welch said. "We have to round out our team with imports, but today's import tends to be a young guy trying to make his way up."
A good example of a talented young import from Edmonton rather than Ontario is the Shamrocks' latest acquisition, Jamie Shewchuk. A Minto Cup winner with the Burnaby Lakers in junior, Shewchuk is in his fifth pro season in the National Lacrosse League, and is now playing with the Minnesota Swarm. In 80 career games in the NLL, he has 126 goals and 167 assists.
To read the rest of the story click here  http://www.timescolonist.com/sports/Shamrocks+ready+build+winner+from+inside/4666990/story.html#ixzz1KVLrGtxk

OLA Junior B rundown

The first full weekend of OLA action took place this weekend and here's a rundown of hte action.
Click on thescores to read the boxscores
Green Gaels 19 Orillia 4
Six Nations 13 Welland 3
Wallaceberg 17 Hamilton 12
Spartans 7 London 6
Halton Hills 9 Kahnawake 7
Windsor 16 Sarnia 9
Oakville 19 Orillia 2

Akwesasne 6 Halton Hills 4

Bellies TV

The New Westminster Salmonbellies are blazing a trail that will hopefully be duplicated by other lacrosse teams across the country.

The WLA team is launching Bellies TV,  a brand new initiative for the 2011 season. 

Six of the team’s regular season games will be available as a live webcast through the team’s website and in conjunction with their new partner Sportwave.ca. Fans will be able to visit salmonbellies.com and click on the new Bellies TV icon to watch any of the feature games for free.

Veteran announcer Steve Erickson and his crew from Sportswave will be doing all sxi games of exciting WLA action free of charge. 

Sportswave is based in Delta, BC and promotes amateur sports at all levels. Visit www.sportswave.ca to find out more.

The Bellies TV schedule for the upcoming season will be:

• June 2Maple Ridge at New Westminster (Home Opener)
• June 9Victoria at New Westminster (Seats for Soldiers) Sponsored by Sierra Sil
• June 23 Victoria at New Westminster
• **June 26New Westminster at Nanaimo Sponsored by Rivers Reach Pub
• June 30 Coquitlam at New Westminster  
• **July 8 New Westminster at Victoria Sponsored by Rivers Reach Pub

** The Rivers Reach, a proud sponsor of the Salmonbellies and Bellies TV, will be showing both road webcast games live at the pub.

There are opportunities still available for webcast game sponsors. Please contact Dan Richardson at generalmanager@salmonbellies.com for further details.

Shewchuk a Shamrock

The Victoria Shamrocks made a big splash prior to the WLA season, acquiring Jamie Shewchuk from the Burnaby Lakers for their first round pick in the 2013 draft."We're thrilled to add Jamie to our group,"  Shamrocks general manager Chris Welch said. "Elite left shooting offensive players don't exactly grow on trees these days so we feel very fortunate that we were able to find one in Jamie who will step right in and immediately make us better."
Shewchuk, 25, is currently playing for the Minnesota Swarm in his fifth season in the National Lacrosse League. In 80 career NLL regular season and playoff games to date with the Swarm and the Colorado Mammoth, he has scored 126 goals and added 167 assists for 293 points. He led Colorado in scoring in 2010 with 66 points in 16 games before being dealt to Minnesota earlier this year.
Originally from Edmonton, Shewchuk played his final two years of junior lacrosse with the Burnaby Junior Lakers in 2005 and 2006. He was a Minto Cup champion in 2005 and he was the leading scorer in the BC Junior A league in 2006. The Senior Lakers drafted him fifth overall in the first round of the 2007 WLA Draft but he opted instead to play Senior B close to home in Alberta for two years before he relocated to Denver while playing for the Mammoth.
"The Lakers were holding Jamie's WLA playing rights on their holdout list,"  Welch said. "When we learned he was relocating to BC and was looking to play in the WLA, we made it a priority to get him. We certainly think he is worth the price of a first round pick at this point because he's a proven player who is still very young and has a lot of good lacrosse left in him. We look forward to his WLA debut as a Shamrock and seeing him in the green and white for years to come."

- Victoria Shamrocks release

Derek Dickson joins Junior Bellies coaching staff

The New Westminster Junior A Salmonbellies announced the addition of Derek Dickson to their coaching staff.  Dickson had a very successful 10 year playing career both in junior A and the WLA. He won two Minto Cups with Burnaby Cablevision (1977 and 1978) and in his fiour years of junior A, was a league First Team all-star twice.  He played in the WLA with the Salmonbellies for six years, winning one Mann Cup in 1981, a runner up on three other occasions and earning a Second Team all-star in 1982. Dickson was named a director for the Sr Salmonbellies in 1990 and in 2006 he became the club’s Junior Scout. He has six years coaching experience in the minor ranks coaching his son, former Junior ‘Bellie’ and current NLL Calgary Roughneck, Curtis. Head coach Dan Perreault and Dickson have known each other for quite some time, being teammates on the Minto Cup teams. Perreault feels Dickson will bring a unique aspect to the team.  "I am extremely excited to have Derek as part of our coaching staff. Derek brings a savvy blend of knowledge, communication and leadership," general manager Doug Zack said. "Derek was a great teammate; he was a player that brought passion and a thirst for winning. Derek’s ability to not only teach the fundamentals but provide a vast degree of experience on the bench will be a huge bonus for Dan and our entire coaching staff. Derek brings to our organization an aggressive and competitive coaching style but with a very positive attitude with a unique sense of humour.”

OLA junior B season kicks off

The OLA season kicked off with a pair of junior B games Sunday.

The Six Nations Rebels have a new coaching staff and several new players but they delivered the same old message when they opened their 2011 regular-season schedule Sunday night.

The Rebels defeated the Welland Warlords 13-4 in an Ontario Lacrosse Association Junior “ B” League game between South West Division rivals.

The victory extended the Rebels’ regular-season unbeaten streak to 24 games. They haven’t lost since June 7, 2009 when they were edged 7-6 by Owen Sound.

The Rebels won for new head coach Ron Chatelain and assistant coaches Cam Bomberry, Jason Johns and Murray Porter. Goalie coach Derek General is the only member of last year’s coaching staff returning to the team this year.

The Rebels never trailed the Warlords.

They led 2-1 at the end of the first period on goals by Tony Doxtator and Randy Martin.

The Rebels were off to the races when Brandon Montour and Vaughn Harris scored unassisted goals early in the second period.

Goals by Chris Attwood, Jacob Bomberry, Carney Johnson, Danny Vyse and Montour built the lead to 9-1 by the end of the second period.

Johnson, Attwood, Harris and Martin scored goals in the third period.

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In Guelph, a lapse in the second half of the first period proved costly to the Guelph Regals in their Ontario junior B lacrosse season opener Sunday at the Victoria Road arena.

The Regals surrendered five goals in the final 10 minutes of the first period, including four in the final five and a half minutes, in a game they eventually lost 10-8 to the St. Catharines Spartans.

“We’re definitely disappointed,” Guelph’s Jamie Speck said. “We ran with them the whole game and they’re expected to be one of the top teams this year. We really thought we had them in the third when we had it tied up, but what can you do? Two minutes left in the game, that’s lacrosse. It happens.”

“They’re not happy with the loss, they wanted the W,” Guelph coach Jimmy Leworthy said. “Spartans are a very good team. They’re expected to be one of the top teams in the province so they can take some pride in knowing that they’re running with these teams.”

After scoring the first three goals of the game, the Regals trailed 5-4 at the end of the first period and 7-6 at the end of the second. They did have the score tied twice in the third period, but the Spartans netted a pair of goals in the final 1:34 – the last one into an empty net – to claim the win.

To read the rest of the story by Rob Massey of the Guelph Mercury click here http://www.guelphmercury.com/sports/local/article/518293--guelph-regals-edged-in-season-opener

Some lacrosse struggles

I thought this was an interesting read.


For years lacrosse was the little known, yet very Canadian, national sport.
Now splitting that title with hockey, it's easy to forget about the pride of Canada's little cousin.
It's even easier in Fort McMurray.
Lacrosse is, quite simply, struggling in Fort McMurray. It is in most communities a grassroots sport, and is always fighting to get off the ground. But in the isolation of Fort McMurray, it's struggling to stay on the ground.
The Fort McMurray Minor Lacrosse Association averaged between 60 and 80 registered players in the league over the past few years.
By contrast, minor baseball is expecting to break the 500 mark this season.
Even on the high end, at 80 players, that's barely enough to form teams. Spread out over a variety of age groups, many teams play mainly outside tournaments and inter-squad scrimmages.
"Lacrosse cycles. It's a 10-year cycle, but I think we're at the bottom of the cycle," said Wes Price, former league president and coach of the Junior 'B' Wolves.
"Hopefully we can keep it alive so we can climb back up."
To read the rest of the story by Greg Downs from Fort McMurray Today click here http://www.fortmcmurraytoday.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=3071244