IL Indoor

Alex Kedoh Hill and the Arrows have taken the OLA over by storm so far this year, undefeated early. (Ward Laforme Jr.)

While the BCJALL is still being ruled by last year’s Minto Cup champs – the Coquitlam Adanacs – Ontario has continued to see a shift in their standings. The Six Nations Arrows have continued their stellar play in 2011, 8-0 on the season and led by a powerful and versatile attack that includes Alex Kedoh Hill, Marty Hill, Joey Cupido and last year’s Rookie of the Year, Johnny Powless. The province of Alberta has seen last year’s Minto reps, the Calgary Raiders, continue to lead the loop, recently scooping up former Horn Head Cody McMahon. Check out where everyone stands in our first Junior ‘A’ Power Rankings of 2011.

1 Coquitlam Adanacs (BCJALL) 10-0-0
Last Week: Delta 17-7W
This Week: vs. New Westminster, @ Victoria and @ New Westminster
No Mark Matthews, no problem. The Adanacs have looked as good as they did during last year’s regular season, even with Matthews back in Whitby. A call-up for most of the season last year, Wesley Berg is playing his first full “official” season for the defending Minto kings, and his having an MVP worthy run so far. How scary will the A’s be with Robert Church and Ben McIntosh back from class.

2 Six Nations Arrows (OLA) 8-0-0
Last Week: 19-6W Toronto and 17-4W Burlington
This Week: vs. Toronto, @ K-W and @ Whitby
No one has had an answer for them so far in the OLA. While their offense is getting a lot of the praise, Six Nations also sports an impressive defensive unit led by 2010 Defender of the Year contender Mike McNamara and impressive NLL rookie Ryan Dilks (Boston Blazers). As always though, the Arrows have a really hard working team concept back-end where absolutely everyone contributes.

3 St. Catharines Athletics (OLA) 8-2-0
Last Week: 10-6W Toronto, 13-9W Barrie and 14-6W Akwesasne
This Week: vs. Mississauga and @ Akwesasne
Even with Shayne Adams lost for the season, the A’s offense hasn’t missed a beat, again maintaining a heavy hand on offense led by high profile ball players like Joel Matthews and Tyler Walsh. Even more impressive might be the play of Junior ‘B’ regular Chris Attwood, who on top of ripping it up with the Six Nations Rebels, is also a big contributor with the Athletics this year. He’s averaging more points-per-game than virtually anyone in the country and has really made mainstream eyes take notice.

4 Peterborough Lakers (OLA) 7-3-0
Last Week: 11-5W Brampton and 11-9W K-W
This Week: @ Mississauga and @ Burlington
They’ve had some big name grads leave the team since they last won it all (2006), traded Brock Sorensen last year, but the Lakers haven’t panicked even for a second during their recent rebuild, that commitment paying off this year with an impressive 7-3 start. Great first month by Turner Evans, who should blast past all his offensive numbers from a season ago.

5 Orangeville Northmen (OLA) 5-3-0
Last Week: 14-1W Mississauga, 19-6W Mississauga and 13-8 Toronto
This Week: @ Whitby, vs. Toronto and @ Akwesasne
It’s been a while since the Northmen have sat at anything close to a 5-3 record, but with names like Jeremy Noble, Jason Noble and off-season score AJ Masson slowly filtering back from school, Orangeville should be back closer to their regular form soon, currently rolling with a 3-game win streak since their 11-7 to OLA leaders Six Nations. The Horn Heads and Arrows don’t meet again until July 8th.

6 Victoria Shamrocks (BCJALL) 8-3-0
Last Week: Nanaimo 11-10W, 11-10W Burnaby and 13-12L Delta
This Week: vs. Coquitlam
In a bit of a surprise move, the Shamrocks unloaded last year’s scoring leader Casey Jackson, but have arguably looked even better this year, their charts led by a bit of a BCJALL unknown in Brody Eastwood (23G, 21A). And how important is do-anything-and-everything ball player Karsen Leung to their bottom line? Vic is 2-3 without Leung in the lineup, 6-0 when he’s on the gameday roster.

7 New Westminster Salmonbellies (BCJALL) 6-3-0
Last Week: 7-6L Langley, 9-5W Port Coquitlam and 7-5W Delta
This Week: vs. Burnaby, @ Coquitlam, @ Langley and vs. Coquitlam
A lot was and still is expected from this year’s cast in New West, most feeling they would give the Adanacs a serious run at the BCJALL title and Minto spot. While an 0-2 start and recent loss to the upstart Thunder blemish their record a bit, the Bellies should still factor into the Cup hunt. Last year’s BCJALL scoring champ, Tyler Digby, might not fit in a full season after coming back late from Robert Morris, but his points-per-game is even better than last year (5.8 vs. 4.5).

8 Whitby Warriors (OLA) 5-4-0
Last Week: 19-7W Akwesasne, 13-3W Burlington and 14-4W Toronto
This Week: vs. Orangeville, @ Brampton and vs. Six Nations
A less than ideal start with Mark Matthews and Zach Palmer only just returning, Mark Cockerton still yet to play, and Head Coach Derek Keenan only getting back from the WILC in Prague last week. Since the arrival of most of those names, the Warriors have bounced back with three straight W’s and have a high profile clash tonight vs. Orangeville.

9 Delta Islanders (BCJALL) 6-5-0
Last Week: 17-7L Coquitlam, 7-5L New Westminster and 13-12W Victoria
This Week: vs. Port Coquitlam
With two coaching changes since last year’s impressive run, the Islanders have actually managed to still play pretty good lacrosse, coming off an  impressive one-goal win over the Shamrocks on the weekend. Michael Berekoff is set for a career best summer, ditto for fellow forward Ryan Keith. A year removed from his stellar rookie season, Mike Mallory has picked up where he left off with 26-points in just 7-starts. The Islanders looked destined for another post-season spot, especially when you consider Logan Schuss has still yet to return to the lineup after a quality season at Ohio State, leading the Buckeyes with 52-points in just his soph season.

10 Burlington Chiefs (OLA) 6-4-0
Last Week: 13-3L Whitby, 17-4L Six Nations and 14-11W Barrie
This Week: vs. Brampton and vs. Peterborough
It might be next to impossible to replace 2010 JOTY finalists Kiel Matisz and Jordan MacIntosh in Burlington this year, but really impressive stuff from pint sized stud Jacob Ruest, who has stepped up considerably with a few of those high profile departures. The Chiefs still have NLLer Josh Ruys (Rochester Knighthawks) and should get a good spark back in the lineup with Kyle Aquin’s return from RIT. Maybe not the most skilled roster they’ve owned, but the Chiefs are a hardworking group that should be competitive.

11 Calgary Raiders (RMLL) 10-2-0
Last Week: 11-4W Senior ‘B’ Raiders, 9-5W Eclipse and 10-8W Junior ‘A’ Miners
This Week: vs. Senior ‘B’ Mountaineers and vs. Junior ‘A’ Mountaineers
We won’t see another undefeated run from the Raiders like we did last year (19-0-1), the Minto hosts already with a pair of losses to the Junior ‘A’ Mounties, but the Raiders look primed for another Alberta title. The addition of Cody McMahon last week grabbed the headlines, but the most impressive player so far this year is probably rookie Holden Cattoni who leads the province in goals (24) and sits third in overall point production (37). “He’s got a bright future in this game, no doubt,” Calgary Head Coach Bruce Codd told the Okotoks Western Wheel of his 17-year-old gem. ”We’re ecstatic to have him. He’s an impact player already.”

12 Brampton Excelsiors (OLA) 5-4-0
Last Week: 10-9W K-W, 11-5L Peterborough and 22-14W Barrie
This Week: @ Burlington, vs. Whitby and vs. Toronto
Any early MVP frontrunner? Maybe Brampton forward Mitchell Jones, the Delta-native currently leading the OLA in scoring, behind only Wesley Berg’s 56-points Canada-wide. Nice start by defender JJ Laforet too, the defensive leader back from Stony Brook in recent weeks. Laforet should be a contender for IL Indoor’s Defender of the Year if his impressive play continues in 2011.

13 K-W Braves (OLA) 4-6-0
Last Week: 10-9L Brampton, 17-11W Akwesasne and 11-9L Peterborough
This Week: vs. Barrie, @ Barrie, vs. Six Nations and @ Toronto
Right now the Braves, who again appear to be battling with consistency issues, are outside of the playoffs in Ontario. Really big home-and-home with the Barrie Lakeshores, who are just a single win behind them, on Thursday and Friday. Could be a season changing series for the Brian Beisel led Braves.

14 Akwesasne Indians (OLA) 5-5-0
Last Week: 19-7L Whitby, 14-6L St. Catharines and 17-11L K-W
This Week: vs. St. Catharines and vs. Orangeville
A really exciting roster led by the likes of Thompson brothers, Seth Oakes and Hank Delisle, but after dropping three straight and currently out of the playoff mix, the Indians need to really come up big over the next couple weeks with games against some of Ontario’s best on their plate.

15 Langley Thunder (BCJALL) 4-6-0
Last Week: 7-6W New Westminster, 9-8W Langley and 10-8L Burnaby
This Week: @ Port Coquitlam, vs. New Westminster and vs. Burnaby
The Thunder are the most competitive we’ve seen in years. The coaching change at the start of the year, which sees NLLer Chris Levis serving as head coach, has the team winning more games and seemingly playing with more confidence than we’ve ever seen since the switch to Langley. Securing a playoff spot would be a huge victory for this group and shut a lot of people up.

16 Calgary Mountaineers (RMLL) 6-3-0
Last Week: 7-4W Senior ‘B’ Mountaineers, 10-9L Junior ‘A’ Miners
This Week: vs. Knights and vs. Junior ‘A’ Raiders
Note: Result @ Eclipse not provided at time of publishing
Tyler Melnyk and Dan Taylor are leading the Moutnies offensively again, but after beating the Raiders twice earlier this year, and an unconfirmed loss to the Edmonton Eclipse this past weekend, Calgary, like a lot of teams, are struggling for consistency in their schedule. Big game on Sunday against the Junior ‘A’ Raiders.

17 Barrie Lakeshores (OLA) 3-7-0
Last Week: 13-9L St. Catharines, 22-14L Brampton and 14-11L Burlington
This Week: @ K-W, vs. K-W and vs. Mississauga
The young Lakeshores likely will miss the playoffs this year, but as we mentioned above, they have a big home-and-home with K-W late in the week that could prove otherwise. A mini-series sweep there would catapult them right into the post-season picture. Big fan of defensive defender Mitch Bernard, a hulking force in Barrie’s own end that probably won’t get the recognition he deserves playing in Barrie.

18 Burnaby Lakers (BAJLL) 3-6-0
Last Week: 11-10L Victoria, 10-8W Langley
This Week: @ New Westminster, vs. Nanaimo and @ Langley
After starting 2-0, some wondered if the Lakers might be making a bit of an unexpected push in 2011, but after going 1-5 since then, which included a six game losing streak, things have fallen apart slightly (on paper at least). With Laxson Lee, Mackenzie Davis and Jackson Decker, this team is still pretty potent at their best, and wins over Nanaimo and Langley, sandwiching them in the standings, would be really big results.

19 Nanaimo Timbermen (BCJALL) 3-8-0
Last Week: 11-10L Victoria and 12-8L
This Week: @ Burnaby
Will Cody Bremner remain on the island after this year’s trade deadline? Last year the impact forward was moved to New Westminster in hopes of aiding the Salmonbellies chances at a Minto title. Back in Nanaimo in 2011, albeit only in four games after returning from his Freshmen season at Cornell, Bremner is a high impact difference maker that should be the most highly coveted player at this year’s deadline if the T-Men remain on the outside of the Top 6.

20 Edmonton Miners (RMLL) 4-7-0
Last Week: 9-5W Slash, 10-9W Junior ‘A’ Mountaineers and 10-8L Junior ‘A’ Raiders
This Week: @ Eclipse and @ Outlaws
Hello Darren Kinnear, who in about half the amount of time has already almost matched his 2010 offensive totals. Obviously big shoes to fill in the Miners camp after the graduation of last year’s Alberta scoring champ Kevin Wallin, who put up filthy digits a season ago. Not a bad week for Edmonton, who edged out the Mounties and played competitive ball against the league leading Raiders.

21 Port Coquitlam Saints (BCJALL) 1-10-0
Last Week: 9-8L Langley, 9-5L New Westminster and 12-8W Nanaimo
This Week: vs. Langley and @ Delta
They’ll need to play at the very least .500 lacrosse if they hope to crash the post-season, PoCo even on a bit of a hot streak after dumping the T-Men on Sunday. The second half of their schedule is substantially easier than their first, only seeing the top dawgs a few times over the next month. Don’t be surprised to see a big push from the Saints soon.

22 Edmonton Eclipse (RMLL) 3-7-0
Last Week: 9-6L Outlaws and 9-5L Raiders
This Week: @ Slash and vs. Junior ‘A’ Miners
Note: Result vs. Eclipse not provided at time of publishing
The same team that repped Alberta at the Minto just two short seasons ago, continues on a slippery slope, currently either last or tied for last in the province. Big offensive output from Greg Bourret so far this year, currently leaving Alberta with 43-points. Another former Eclipse player, Eric Ransom, has picked up and made the move out West with the Adanacs earlier this summer, already fitting into 9-games with the undefeated Minto defenders.

23 Toronto Beaches (OLA) 1-10-0
Last Week: 10-6L St. Catharines, 19-6L Six Nations, 13-8L Orangeville and 14-4L Whitby
This Week: @ Six Nations, @ Orangeville, @ Brampton and vs. K-W
The Beach Boys have not hit single game double digit scoring even once this year and have allowed 10 or more in all but one start so far. With just a single W so far this year, looks like the Beaches will miss the playoffs for what will be their fifth straight summer.

24 Mississauga Tomahawks (OLA) 0-9-0
Last Week: 14-1L Orangeville and 19-6L Orangeville
This Week: @ St. Catharines, vs. Peterborough and @ Barrie
Same old same old in Missy. Will it ever get any better?

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