IL Indoor

B.C. Junior A, IL Indoor

BCJALL 3 Stars: Delta’s Cody Nass sets early pace in scoring race with 19-point week

Cody Nass

The BCJALL has been off and running since late April and even in the early going, the league table is wrapped up pretty tight. There’s still plenty of time for the contenders to separate themselves from the pretenders, and the same goes on an individual level as well. Who will win the scoring title? Which goalie is rise to the top? Which defender will stake his claim as the top shut-down guy? Plenty and plenty of lacrosse left to play here, but that doesn’t mean we aren’t getting at least some idea of who these stars are going to be. ILIndoor gets started with tracking these emerging stars for the 2013 season with our first installment of the BCJALL 3 stars from the past week of games. READ MORE »

Alberta Junior A, B.C. Junior A, Ontario Junior B, Road to the Founders, Road to the Minto Cup, Road to the Presidents Cup, Senior A, Senior B

Last night: Saints & James Gang remain perfect in OLA Sr B, plus all the scores

The St. Catharines Saints and Norwood James Gang both remained perfect, each posting their fifth straight win to open the OLA Senior B season Saturday, and they’re on target for a clash of the titans in two weeks. St. Catharines rode Corey Fowler’s 7-point night (3g, 4a) and a hat trick from transition man Jay Thorimbert to a 16-9 thrashing of the Owen Sound North Stars. Norwood blanked Sarnia 3-0 in the third period to pull out a gritty 6-4 win over the Beavers to keep pace.

The James Gang gave up the first goal to Sarnia but then replied with a trio of their own to lead 3-1 after the first period. Chad Evans got Norwood’s first two goals on outside shots then Greg Reilly buried a beautiful touch pass over a pair of defenders from Gavin Barrie. READ MORE »

Alberta Junior A, B.C. Junior A, CLA, IL Indoor, Inside Lacrosse, Ontario Junior A, Road to the Minto Cup, The Buzz

Queens Park Arena to host 2013 Minto Cup

Get ready B.C. lacrosse fans, high-energy, high-skilled, intense lacrosse action is coming your way this August as the Minto Cup is returning to British Columbia for the 2013 Minto Cup championship. Hosted by the British Columbia Lacrosse Association (BCLA) and the BC Junior ‘A’ Lacrosse League (BCJALL), the Canadian Lacrosse Association’s (CLA) Canadian Junior ‘A’ National Championship will operate in its current four-team format. The championship will start with round-robin play on Saturday August 17 at Queens Park Arena in New Westminster, B.C. After four days of round-robin play, the championship round will begin Thursday August 22 with the final two teams competing for the coveted title in a best-of-five playoff series. READ MORE »

B.C. Junior A, Ontario Junior A, Road to the Minto Cup

Junior A teams gearing up for season

The Peterborough Lakers and Nanaimo Timbermen are excited for their Ontario and B.C. summer junior seasons to get started, the former because of who’s coming back and the latter because of who’s joining them. For the Lakers, almost their whole cast is back from last season, when they finished fourth in the league and at times looked like they could go toe-to-toe with the top Minto Cup contenders. Last year, they were a bit young to be consistent enough to get beyond the semi-finals, but Head Coach Mat Giles tells Peterborough This Week his team is more experienced and ready to make a serious run. The loss of Matt Crough should be offset by the maturation of players like Cam Milligan and the return from injury of Nathan White. Defender Robert Hope will be tough to replace, but the biggest challenge may be between the nets, where the team has seen Tye Belanger and Connor Danko graduate in successive years. READ MORE »

2011 World Indoor Lacrosse Championship, B.C. Junior A, CLA, Futures Report, IL Indoor, Inside Lacrosse, International, National Lacrosse League, Off the Rug, Road to the Minto Cup, Rookie Report, The Ballers, The Buzz, The Life, Victoria Shamrocks

Did the Jr. Shamrocks just open European pipeline in signing Czech young gun Pesek?

Dominik Pesek about to, as Patrick Merrill puts it, 'Run right by me' during a friendly before the 2011 World Championships.

Quick: when I say “Czech Republic” what sport do you think of? OK, step out the lacrosse box for a minute and take an unbiased stance. Most people will automatically think hockey, soccer or even tennis as the dominant sports, producing names such as Dominik Hasek, Jaromir Jagr, Peter Nedved, Martina Navratilova, Ivan Lendl. Well, while he may not be in the upper echelon of Czech athletes, one name lacrosse fans can start to get used to is the newest member of the Victoria Jr Shamrocks: Dominik Pesek. READ MORE »

2011 World Indoor Lacrosse Championship, B.C. Junior A, Futures Report, International

Video: Czech star Dominik Pesek brings mad skills to the Victoria Junior Shamrocks

Dominik Pesek arrived in Victoria yesterday. The 21-year-old righty forward from the Czech Republic will arrive in the British Columbia Junior A Lacrosse League April 27 when he makes his Canadian debut with the Shamrocks as they play host to the New Westminster Salmonbellies. While Pesek is new to North America, he’s not a complete mystery to dedicated lacrosse fans who have caught his high-skill style with the Czech Republic at the 2011 World Indoor Lacrosse Championships. He was one of his country’s leading scorers as they reached the semi-finals and a eventual bronze-medal matchup against the United States. He’s also been a visible presence at the Ales Hrebesky Memorial tournament in Prague each April, although he won’t be able to make it this year. But if you haven’t had a chance to catch Pesek in action and you can’t wait till the end of next month, this video’s a primer on what the talented youngster can do with a lacrosse stick.

B.C. Junior A, IL Indoor

Nanaimo Jr. A T-men add to coaching staff

Brad Dougan is the new coach of the Nanaimo Junior A Timbermen, and his staff is starting to take shape for the 2013 season. Dougan tapped Junior B coach Ken Morrison to run the Junior A offense and the former Senior A teammates are looking forward to working together. “(Dougan’s) leaving the offence to me and I’m leaving the defence with him, and I think we’re going to work well together,” Morrison told the Nanaimo Daily News. “There’s a lot of talent there and a lot of skill. I will bring a fast-paced, high-scoring offence. I helped last year in an exhibition game and they have some nice talent there.” Morrison, who also was the Junior B team’s GM, said he’ll stay on as a director to help find the team a new coach. Al House was named GM of the Junior B team.

B.C. Junior A, Futures Report, Nanaimo Timbermen, WLA

Pair of young players excited about being drafted by Timbermen

Paul Brebber battles against the Victoria Shamrocks in BCJALL play. (Photo: Greg Sakaki)

Paul Brebber grew up in Nanaimo, played his minor and most of his junior lacrosse in Nanaimo, and now has a chance to begin his senior career in Nanaimo as well. Brebber was the Timbermen’s first pick (and 16th overall with the second pick of the third round) in the Western Lacrosse Association’s draft last week. Staying in his home town for summer lax seems only natural for the 6′1, 195-pound Brebber, who is currently in Louisville, Kentucky as a freshman at Bellarmine University. ”I’ve always watched them growing up and I’ve played with them a few times, getting called up, so I have some experience there and some in roads. I know quite a few of the guys on the team, so it’s nice to stick with the guys I know,” Brebber told Canada.com.

T’Men GM Earl Nicholson said they had been hoping to get Brebber and even tried to trade up into the second round to make sure they could, so they were thrilled he was available when their pick came up. “He’s a local kid, he’s just got a solid two-way game,” Nicholson said. “He’s coachable and he’s everything that you’re looking for when you’re trying to add a piece.”

Later in the draft, Nanaimo selected Adam Bakular-Evans, making him the first product of the Comox Valley Lacrosse Association to be drafted by the WLA, according to the Comox Valley Echo. Bakular-Evans, who is at Lake Erie College in Ohio, was a teammate of Brebber with the Junior Timbermen.

B.C. Junior A, Burnaby Lakers, Coquitlam Adanacs, Futures Report, IL Indoor, Langley Thunder, Maple Ridge Burrards, Nanaimo Timbermen, New Westminster Salmonbellies, Victoria Shamrocks, WLA

Ben McIntosh the first among many Junior Adanacs headlining last night’s WLA draft

Ben McIntosh was the first pick in the 2013 WLA draft held last night. (Photo: Tim Prothero)

When half of the players on a team that has represented the BC Junior A Lacrosse League at the last four Minto Cups graduates in one year, it creates a rich draft for the Western Lacrosse Association. That scenario played itself out last night in one of the strongest WLA drafts in years, if not ever. Four graduates of the Coquitlam Junior Adanacs were taken in the first round and 10 in the first six rounds, headed by the Big Four of Ben McIntosh, Jeff Cornwall, Robert Church and Matthew Dinsdale being snapped up among the first five picks.

The Maple Ridge Burrards opened proceedings at the Langley Events Centre last night by taking righty forward McIntosh, who scored 3 goals per game (27g, 15a, 42pts in 9 games) after returning to the Adanacs from school partway through last summer and finished second in scoring at the 2012 Minto Cup. READ MORE »

Alberta Junior A, B.C. Junior A, Behind the Scenes, CLA, Ontario Junior A, Ontario Junior B, Ontario Junior C, Senior A, Senior B

Hall of Famer Don Barrie is not a fan of new fighting rules or the association that created them

Don Barrie has devoted much of his life to the game of lacrosse. He’s a Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Famer and he served as convenor of the last pair of Mann Cups held in Peterborough (2010, 2012). He’s also a man with strong opinions who isn’t afraid to share them, and he has a pulpit from which to do so as a columnist with the Peterborough Examiner. So it’s no surprise that he has waded–actually dived is more like it–into the debate about the merits of the Canadian Lacrosse Association’s new rules regarding penalties for fighting. Saying that many of the CLA executive “have come no closer to lacrosse than pulling the sweater over a young lacrosse player’s pads then standing behind the glass of an arena, sipping their latte and wondering if the game will be over soon enough to get to the mall,” Barrie doesn’t like the new rules and doesn’t think the national association should be making decisions about how the game is played. For more of his take on the latest rules as well as the bungling of the drug testing at the Mann Cup this summer, check out his latest column.