IL Indoor

Road to the Minto Cup

Northmen capture Minto Cup 9-4

If there’s one thing the 2008 Orangeville Northmen weren’t very good at in this Minto Cup tournament, it was keeping the crowd in suspense. With a 9-4 win last night over the Victoria Shamrocks, the Northmen will be bringing the Minto Cup back to Orangeville for the first time in 12 years.

“I’ve been waiting for this since my first year of junior A,” tournament MVP Stephen Keogh told the Calgary Herald. “All the guys came together. We’ve been wanting this since we came here. It’s been a great year for me, winning an NCAA championship and now this. It’s a great feeling.” READ MORE »

Road to the Minto Cup

Joel Henry is a bull-riding man

From Athan Iannucci and Rob Van Beek’s motorcycle plans last season to Dan Ladouceur and the SWAT team, lacrosse players get up to some fascinating things when they’re not on the floor. But as far as the player with the most intriguing endeavor goes, ladies and gentlemen we have a new contender. For Victoria Shamrock Joel Henry this weekend, the Minto Cup. Next weekend, the world a pro rodeo in New Sarepta, Alberta. (Note: that’s not Henry in the picture.)

In other Shamrocks news, today in preparation for one of the biggest games of their lives the boys will be switching on a Vince Vaughn movie, since every time they watch one on a road trip they are successful. In case you’re wondering, Shamrocks head coach Danny Green says they didn’t get a chance to watch one before the 10-5 round robin loss to the Northmen last week that included six fights and 150 penalty minutes, which is surprising because that one looked like it had Fred Claus written all over it.

• War predicted for Minto finale: Calgary Herald
• Hosts gather mountain of experience: Calgary Sun

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Stealth coach Jeff Dowling talks trade, keepers and draft picks

San Jose Stealth Head Coach, Jeff Dowling,  confirmed with NLL Insider last night that the Stealth did in fact receive the Chicago Shamrox’s first round draft picks in 2008 and 2009 in the keeper swap the two teams completed on Thursday afternoon.

There was some confusion yesterday as to what year the draft picks were in and even the amount of picks that were changing hands, after the team’s sent out contradicting press releases late Friday afternoon.

So again, the official trade sees San Jose dealing starting keeper Anthony Cosmo to the Chicago Shamrox in exchange for tender Matt Roik and Chicago’s first round pick over the next two drafts. READ MORE »

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Chicago GM Jamie Batley confirms NLL Insider’s initial report

NLL Insider has confirmed with Chicago Shamrox’s GM Jamie Batley that the initial report NLL Insider released late last night was indeed the correct terms of the trade that went down between the Shamrox and San Jose Stealth.

The official deal sees the San Jose Stealth trading keeper Anthony Cosmo to the Chicago Shamrox in exchange for goaltender Matt Roik, as well as Chicago’s first round selection in both the 2008 and 2009 entry draft.

Reports from both teams made earlier today contradicted the official deal, but Batley confirms that the above trade is how things played out and the team has since corrected the miscommunication on their website.

Batley coached against Cosmo’s Brampton Excelsiors last night as his Peterborough Lakers were edged out by the now Ontario champion Excels in a hard fought seven game war. Batley had previously coached the Lakers to the past four Mann Cups and just missed out on last year’s NLL post-season as his Shamrox strung together an amazing second half of the season.

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Shamrox and Stealth press releases contain major differences in what was exchanged

Well, the confusion as to what exactly changed hands in the Anthonay Cosmo and Matt Roik deal is getting even more confusing, with the only constant being the two high profile keepers.

Shortly after the Stealth released a reportstating that the team had traded Cosmo to Chicago for Roik and the Shamrox’s first round pick in next week’s entry draft, the Chicago Shamrox posted a vastly different breakdown of the trade on their website.

The Shamrox are claiming, that outside of the two keepers exchanged, Chicago also gave up first round picks in the 2009 and 2010 entry draft, not the 2008 draft as the Stealth have announced. READ MORE »

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Anthony Cosmo for Matt Roik trade made official via press release

The San Jose Stealth have officially announced the deal involving All-Star keeper Anthony Cosmo that NLL Insider had reported late last night, with one minor correction.

Instead of gaining both a first rounder in 2008 and 2009, the Stealth are reporting via a press release that they have only obtained Chicago’s first round pick this year, along with goaltender Matt Roik of course.

The press release also strangely identifies Roik as being a rookie last season with the Chicago Shamrox, the third overall draft selection in fact. Roik has been a long time vet of the NLL, playing for  such teams as the New Jersey Storm, the Anaheim Storm, the Philadelphia Wings and of course most recently with the Chicago Shamrox. READ MORE »

Road to the Minto Cup

Shamrocks barely get by Mounties, Minto final set

Orangeville defender and tough guy Andrew Suitor will lock horns with Victoria again on Saturday night in the Minto Cup final.

Well, the host Calgary Mountaineers continued to play some inspired lacrosse during this year’s Minto Cup, going stride-for-stride with the heavily favored Victoria Shamrocks, but ultimately succumbing to the BC champs in the final minutes of the third period, losing 7-4.

The Mounties stormed back early in the third period with goals from Kiel Donahue, Tyler Prindham and Danny Farmer, knotting things up at four and pushing the Shamrocks right up against the wall.

The momentum was definitely in Calgary’s favor, that is until Victoria got two clutch goals in the span of 28 seconds from Cayle Ratcliff, both goals coming in the 18th minute of the intense Minto semi-final.

“They weren’t willing to give up,” Ratcliff told the Calgary Herald after last night’s late game heroics. “When your season’s on the line, you’re willing to do a lot. They were great competitors. I have a lot of respect for them.” READ MORE »

Road to the Mann Cup

Excels dominate game seven for Mann spot, John Grant has emergency surgery

The Brampton Excelsiors dominated an intense Game 7 last night, dropping the Peterborough Lakers 7-2 and snapping the Lakers’ four-year MSL champ streak, which also included three Mann Cup wins.

The Excelsiors will now host this year’s Mann Cup against the WLA champion New Westminster Salmonbellies, who posted one of the most impressive regular seasons and playoffs the Senior game has ever witnessed.

Game 1 of the Mann Cup is expected to start next Friday night at the Powerade Centre in Brampton at 7:30PM.

The Lakers lackluster offense, which was without forwards John Grant and Josh Gillam, could not muster up much production and although the effort seemed there, they just continuously couldn’t connect.

The loss of Grant, who had emergency surgery on Thursday afternoon, obviously didn’t help matters for Peterborough’s O. READ MORE »

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Dan Dawson staying in Boston, Dawson swapped for Veltman

Two months ago, it seemed extremely unlikely, but the buzz leading up to yesterday’s blockbuster trade that saw San Jose and Chicago swap keepers, was that Dan Dawson, the man linked to about 20 rumoured moves this off-season, would be staying with the expansion Boston Blazers.

Many felt a trade between Boston and the Edmonton Rush was imminent, and although none of the parties involved in a possible trade have had any comment for most of the summer, a number of sources close to the situation had told NLL Insider that Dawson will be staying in Boston heading into the 2009 NLL season.

In fact, sources have also confirmed with NLL Insider that the Blazers traded for Dan’s younger brother, Paul Dawson, from the San Jose Stealth in exchange for Peter Veltman yesterday. READ MORE »

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Anthony Cosmo dealt to Chicago for Matt Roik and a pair of first rounders

Anthony Cosmo

NLL Insider has learned from various sources that the San Jose Stealth have dealt keeper Anthony Cosmo to the Chicago Shamrox in exchange for tender Matt Roik, as well as Chicago’s first round picks in this year’s and 2009’s Entry Draft, in a blockbuster move completed on Thursday afternoon.

The trade sends Cosmo back east, a move that’s come close to happening the last couple of off-seasons, in order for him to be closer to home and work in Mississauga, Ontario.

The deal also allows Roik, who recently made the move out west to play for the New Westminster Salmonbellies of the WLA, to set up shop at the other end of the country for both summer and winter ball.

The two will also coincidentally be going head-to-head against one another in this year’s Mann Cup, with Cosmo’s Brampton Excelsiors edging out the reigning Mann Cup champion Peterborough Lakers in a seven game war in the MSL final last night. READ MORE »