IL Indoor

Jackson Decker is one of the top prospects for the 2012 WLA junior draft. (Photo: Lisa King, Coquitlam Now)

Editor’s Note: We’re pleased to welcome Carly Rigby to the IL Indoor family. Rigby is the PR Manager for the New Westminster Salmonbellies and a knowledgeable observer of lacrosse on the coast. She’ll bring us regular reports on what’s going on out west.

With the Coquitlam Adanacs appointing Randy Delmonico to the position of General Manager to replace Les Wingrove, the Victoria Shamrocks hiring Bob Heyes after head coach Walt Christianson stepped down and, most recently, the New Westminster Salmonbellies announcing that Sheldon Palidwor will take the place of Troy Poelzer as assistant coach, most of the off-season announcements coming out of the WLA have been focused on the staff. February 6^th, when the league hosts the 2012 Draft of Graduating Juniors in Burnaby, will mark the time when teams turn to the floor and add new blood to the rebuild of last year’s rosters.

This is one of the last two years that the draft will occur without any territorial affiliation. Once 2014 rolls around, the most appealing player within each team’s affiliated junior organization and, therefore, the majority of the most eligible, will be plucked from the group of graduating juniors to play with their senior club.

Though many call 2012 a draft year without much depth while waiting it out until 2013 rolls around, there are still a number of players with plenty to offer a senior club. Among them are Travis Cornwall, Jackson Decker, Karsen Leung, Michael Krgovich and goaltender Steve Fryer.

It’s quite likely this draft will have an interesting impact on how the seven team league plays out this summer. With the fourth through sixth teams finishing last season in a three-way tie, just two points ahead of last place and two points behind third, calling it a tight race is an understatement. Come draft night, the teams that finished 2011 in the top three spots—New Westminster, Victoria and Langley—will  have but three picks in the first two rounds collectively. This leaves the bottom four teams to fight it out over this new crop of eligible players much the way they did that final play-off spot last July.

Until last night, it looked as though the 2011 WLA champions, the Langley Thunder, would draft once in the first round (fifth overall) and then not again until the third. However, in a notice distributed by WLA Commissioner Casey Cook late yesterday afternoon, it was announced that the Thunder had received the ninth overall pick in this draft in exchange for the western playing rights of Aaron Bold. Langley made good on their early picks in last year’s draft, choosing WLA Rookie of the Year Brodie McDonald second overall and defender Jarrett Toll ninth. McDonald’s outstanding performance in goal was key in advancing the Thunder to the Mann Cup and Toll provided a steady and solid presence on the floor.

The second-place team after regular season play, the Victoria Shamrocks, will be sixth in the line-up of picks this year before taking a break until the third round. Once there, they have a cluster of picks (17^th, 19^th & 20^th overall) to make before the regular season league-leading Salmonbellies get a kick at this year’s draft can.

Over the past few years, the Salmonbellies have traded away all of their picks in the first and second rounds of the 2012 draft and won’t be selecting the next member of their club until the very end of the third round, 21^st overall.

As for who will be picking early, the Coquitlam Adanacs pick first by virtue of their last-place finish. Look to the Burnaby Lakers, who were just one win short of making the play-offs last season, to dominate the early draft with five of the first fourteen selections, two of which are in the first round. The Maple Ridge Burrards pick 4^th and Nanaimo Timbermen 7^th.

The fact remains, it’s been years since a #1 pick in the WLA draft has actually played in the year they were drafted. Last year’s top choice, Matt Beers, was sidelined by shoulder surgery while the first overall picks in both 2009 (Alex Gajic) and 2010 (Kevin Crowley) held out for trades to New Westminster from Langley and Burnaby, respectively.

So, will this year’s #1 be seen in an Adanacs jersey in 2012? One can speculate that the answer to that question will be yes. Cornwall is largely considered the most appealing choice and rightfully so. He is a versatile player in either end and at 6’2” this lefty would add size to the roster. A lifelong Adanac, he would quite likely suit up in his hometown with pride. Cornwall, who made his NLL debut with the Calgary Roughnecks last weekend, ended his final season of junior third in scoring for the both his team and the league with a whopping 106 points (42g, 64a.) He also led the league in post-season scoring with eight goals and 24 assists in eight games.

Decker is another prospect deserving of attention. Weighed down by the struggling junior Lakers for most of the season, he still put up 42 points in nine games before being traded to the Adanacs and adding another 13 points in the final three games of the season. On the club’s eight-game road to the Minto Cup, he scored 12 goals and added 17 assists for 29 points.

Victoria native Leung may also make an impact with a senior squad. In 11 games with the junior Shamrocks, he posted 55 points then added another 17 in five playoff games. He is currently playing at Bellarmine University while studying finance.

2012 WLA Draft of Graduating Juniors draft order

Round 1

1. Coquitlam Adanacs
2. Burnaby Lakers (from Nanaimo, New Westminster)
3. Burnaby Lakers
4. Maple Ridge Burrards
5. Langley Thunder
6. Victoria Shamrocks
7. Nanaimo Timbermen (from New Westminster)

Round 2

1. Coquitlam Adanacs
2. Langley Thunder (from Nanaimo, Victoria, Coquitlam)
3. Burnaby Lakers
4. Maple Ridge Burrards
5. Burnaby Lakers (from Langley)
6. Burnaby Lakers (from Victoria, Coquitlam)
7. Nanaimo Timbermen (from New Westminster)

Round 3

1. Coquitlam Adanacs
2. Nanaimo Timbermen
3. Victoria Shamrocks (from Burnaby)
4. Maple Ridge Burrards
5. Victoria Shamrocks (from Langley)
6. Victoria Shamrocks
7. New Westminster Salmonbellies

Round 4

1. Coquitlam Adanacs
2. Nanaimo Timbermen
3. Burnaby Lakers
4. Maple Ridge Burrards
5. Langley Thunder
6. Victoria Shamrocks
7. New Westminster Salmonbellies

**The pattern in round four will repeat until the end of the draft or until ten rounds have been completed.

The annual Draft of Graduating Juniors takes place Monday, February 6^th, 2012 at 7pm. It will be held at the Firefighters Club in Burnaby. Doors open at 6pm and the event is open to the public.

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