KW Kodiaks hurting without Ryan Benesch, Chris O’Dougherty crosses the border into the WLA, plus the links

May 26th, 2010 by Paul Tutka

Ryan Benesch, who had his best pro season with Minnesota, is unlikely to suit up in KW this summer (Photo: Larry Palumbo)

The Major Series Lacrosse season is three games deep, all involving the Kitchener Waterloo Kodiaks, all games KW has found themselves on the wrong side of the scoresheet.

The Kodiaks, who had arguably their best MSL season last summer (9-9) since joining the league in ‘06, have dropped two games to the defending Mann Cup champion Brampton Excelsiors and, last night, a 10-7 loss to the Six Nations Chiefs, so far this year. It also looks like the Kodiaks will be without last year’s leading scorer (72-points in 17 games) and local product Ryan Benesch, the KW Record reporting that Benesch is likely headed West to the WLA, the Kodiaks not expecting him in their lineup in 2010.

“It’s tough for the ownership group because they’d like to compensate everybody,” KW GM Steve Dietrich tells The Record, the Kodiaks unable to offer the same kind of payday the premier clubs in Ontario and BC can for the sport’s top ball players. “It puts Ryan in a tough position because he’d like to play here. But to continue to ask him to put it on the line for nothing is hard to do,” Dietrich added.

Benesch had bit of a breakout pro season in Minnesota this past winter, the former NLL rookie of the year registering a career high 83-points with the Swarm, fitting him into the league’s Top 10 point getters.

“It ties your hands,” Kodiaks head coach Greg Hummel told The Record in regards to the absence of Benesch so far this year. “But we’ll get some young guys in the lineup and see where they go.”

KW sports high profile MSL rookies Mat MacLeod (Orlando Titans), Ryan Learn (Orlando Titans) and Jon Harnett (Boston Blazers), and other pro prospects like Evan Kirk (Hobart, NLL draft eligible 2011), Dan Coates(Canisius, NLL draft eligible 2010) and Garrett Kerr (Quinnipiac, NLL draft eligible 2010). Filling Benesch’s spot at the top of the Kodiaks’ scoring charts currently is Corey Small (Edmonton Rush).

PLUS THE LINKS

Turns out that the return of Chris Panos to the Canadian summer scene (BC Local News), the former Champion’s and Mann Cup winner suiting up for the Langley Thunder this year, isn’t the only case of an American crossing the boarder and spending his summer playing ball in Canada in 2010. Washington Stealth rookie Chris O’Dougherty, originally from Kinnelon, New Jersey and playing his college lacrosse at Rutgers, has joined a number of Stealth players in Nanaimo this year, getting his first taste of Canadian summer lacrosse with the WLA’s Timbermen. “It’s a winning mentality that’s going to spread through the organization and it’s going to be a fun thing to be a part of,” O’Dougherty told the Nanaimo News Bulletin about joining a number of his Champion’s Cup winning teammates in Nanaimo… Although it won’t be officially known until later today what the status of John Tavares and Mark Steenhuis will be in Peterborough, Steve Toll, who signed with the Lakers last week after being picked up in the St. Regis dispersal draft, is excited to be part of a team he’s warred against in many classic battles over the years. “I am very excited to be part of the Lakers’ organization. They are first class all the way, and average 3,000 people a game. The fans know the game and are very supportive. I think we are heading in the right direction to compete for a Mann Cup, but first there are some huge hurdles in the East to worry about. Brampton is the two-time champ. They are definitely the favorites. Their line-up is awesome. The thing I like is to be the best we are going to have to beat the best.” – Toll (Rochester Knighthawks)