IL Indoor

B.C. Junior A, CLA, IL Indoor, Inside Lacrosse, Off the Rug, Road to the Minto Cup

BCJALL Power Rankings- And they’re off

The Langley Thunder sit atop the first BCJALL Power Rankings.

For the first time in over a decade, there will be no automatic qualifier for the Minto Cup and that makes the 2013 season even more hotly contested. There are now two spots up for grabs for the eight teams competing out west and they’re already a month in. After just a few short weeks though, we are already seeing some separation from the top six teams but that’s bound to change as more players return from their college duties down south. The big question will be as it has been the past few seasons, will anyone be able to dethrone the Coquitlam Adanacs as BC champions. Well this year could be the year as the gap continues to close year after year and no longer at the A’s and Bellies guaranteed tickets to the big dance. Queen’s Park Arena will host the 2013 Minto Cup and four teams will compete for the National Championships- the road to Queens Park begins now and eight BC teams want to punch their ticket.

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CLA, IL Indoor, Inside Lacrosse, Road to the Mann Cup, Senior A, The Buzz, WLA

The WLA will allow fighting as long as it’s not staged or involves an instigator

As we all know, the Canadian Lacrosse Association has implemented new rules for fighting this year for all levels of lacrosse:

Rule 45 – Fighting
(a) A major penalty and game misconduct penalty shall be assessed to any player/goalkeeper who fights. A goalkeeper penalty shall be served by a player who was on the floor at the time of the infraction.  The major penalty must be served in its duration.
(b) If there is an instigator or clear aggressor in a fight, a major penalty and a game misconduct plus any other penalties shall be assessed to the offending player(s).  Where an instigator or clear aggressor penalty is assessed the non-offending player shall not receive a game misconduct under 45 (a).

Well, it appears the Western Lacrosse Association (WLA) Board of Governors has voted that its interpretation of the rules will allow fighting for the 2013 season. WLA commissioner Casey Cook told IL Indoor today in an exclusive interview that they feel as a league they are “being compliant with the CLA Rule 45.” READ MORE »

CLA, IL Indoor, Inside Lacrosse, Off the Rug, Road to the Mann Cup, Senior A, The Ballers, The Life, Victoria Shamrocks, WLA

Shamrocks add more local fire power with addition of Rhys Duch

The Victoria Shamrocks are very pleased to announce the return of Rhys Duch for the 2013 Western Lacrosse Association season. The 26 year-old Victoria native is coming off a career year in the National Lacrosse League in which he earned All-Pro First Team honours after scoring in every game to lead the NLL with 45 goals, finishing third in leagues scoring with 96 points and leading his Washington Stealth team to the championship final. In his previous four seasons with the Shamrocks between 2008 and 2011, Duch appeared in 76 regular season and playoff games in which he scored 152 goals and added 171 assists for 323 points. He is a three-time WLA all-star including two First Team honours in 2010 and 2011. Last summer he played for the Six Nations Chiefs in Ontario. 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 »

CLA, IL Indoor, Inside Lacrosse, New Westminster Salmonbellies, Off the Rug, Road to the Mann Cup, Senior A, The Ballers, Victoria Shamrocks, WLA

Shamrocks acquire western rights to Rory Smith but he won’t report in 2013

The Victoria Shamrocks have acquired Rory Smith's WLA rights from New Westminster. (Photo: Larry Palumbo)

The Victoria Shamrocks are pleased to announce they have acquired the WLA playing rights to Rory Smith and a 2nd round pick in the 2014 WLA Draft from the New Westminster Salmonbellies in exchange for the WLA playing rights to Chet Koneczny and a conditional 1st round pick in the 2016 WLA Draft. If Smith, who is committed to the Six Nations Chiefs in Ontario for the 2013 season, plays in the WLA in 2014 or 2015, New Westminster will receive the 1^st round draft pick. If he does not, then the Shamrocks retain the pick and Smith’s rights revert back to the Salmonbellies in 2016.

“This deal is made with the future I mind,” said Shamrocks general manager Chris Welch. “We believe Rory is interested in returning to the WLA next year so we made sure that if he does, he’ll be in green and white.  We’re very familiar with how difficult is to play against him so we’re hoping we can get him on our side.” READ MORE »

Behind the Scenes, CLA, IL Indoor, Inside Lacrosse, National Lacrosse League, Off the Rug, Ontario Junior A, Rochester Knighthawks, The Life

Off the Crossebar Podcast: GM Talks continue as Curt Styres talks about life at Six Nations, culture and Tony Stewart?

Knighthawks owner Curt Styres is more than an NLL champion, he's a champion for the game. (Photo: Larry Palumbo)

If you’ve ever met Curt Styres, you’d know he’s a very proud man that loves his family, his job and his lacrosse. But he’s got his hands in so many pots that it’s often hard to get a still moment with him. Even during our interview he was having to take a moment or two to answer questions from those in his office who needed his assistance with some work matters. You see, Styres isn’t just the owner and general manager of the Rochester Knighthawks, he’s got part ownership in a raceway, gas stations, arenas, convenience stores, restaurants, gyms, spas, construction companies, mining companies, music studios and the list goes on. He has so many employees world-wide that he’s still unsure of the exact number. READ MORE »

CLA, IL Indoor, Inside Lacrosse, MSL, National Lacrosse League, Oakville Rock, Off the Rug, Road to the Mann Cup, Senior A, The Life, Toronto Rock

Off the Crossebar Podcast: GM Talks hit the East Division and Rock GM Terry Sanderson

Terry Sanderson has built winning NLL teams before and he's done it again in Toronto with the Rock. (Photo: Toronto Rock)

The other night I was sitting with the Pee-Wee team I’m coaching and asked them who their favorite player was and shockingly many of them didn’t have one. Not one of them said John Grant, Mark Matthews, Rhys Duch, Kyle Rubisch, Matt Vinc or any current Victoria Shamrock player. Now maybe it’s today’s video game culture that has these kids not paying as much attention to the players who are the best in the world but it completely blew me away that they didn’t have a favorite player.

I grew up idolizing Paul and Gary Gait, Art Webster, Bob Cool, Kevin Alexander, and Jack Bionda; those were the guys that I wanted to be like and as I got older and paid more attention to the game I started to get an idea of people I wanted to play for.  I wanted Marty O’Neil to draft me in Philadelphia, I wanted to step on to the floor with Jr and as I became more knowledgeable I knew that playing for Terry Sanderson would be a once in a lifetime opportunity. That chance never manifested itself but over my career I was able to battle against teams coached and managed by the man commonly knows as just ‘T.’ READ MORE »

Behind the Scenes, CLA, MSL, Peterborough Lakers

Batley accepts responsibility for Lakers role in Mann Cup shenanigans, promises better in the future

At a press conference held at the entrance to the Peterborough Sports Hall of Fame at the Memorial Centre, with pictures of Lakers Mann Cup championship teams as a backdrop, Head Coach and GM Jamie Batley acknowledged that he and his team could have handled the doping testing situation at the 2012 Mann Cup better and vowed that he will make sure his players and staff are ready to do so in the future.

“We stopped the people from going into the room so we stopped them from doing their job,” Batley told the assembled members of the media, as reported by the Peterborough Examiner. “There was some argumentation and some raising of voices and there was some swearing. All of that could have been not done. Because of that, those are CLA Code of Conduct violations, that you have to be respectful. We weren’t respectful,” he said. READ MORE »

Behind the Scenes, CLA, IL Indoor, Langley Thunder, Peterborough Lakers

Suspensions and fines handed down in Mann Cup doping testing brouhaha

Sanctions have been imposed by the Canadian Lacrosse Association on members of the Langley Thunder and Peterborough Lakers organizations stemming from the botched doping control testing procedures at the 2012 Mann Cup, which Peterborough won at home in six games. Thunder Head Coach Rod Jensen received the stiffest penalty, being suspended for 10 games of the Western Lacrosse Association season after being found to have committed four violations of the CLA code of conduct. Langley was also assessed a $3,500 fine, according to a document posted on the CLA web site in the wake of hearings into the incidents at the Mann Cup.

The Lakers were fined $5,000 and Head Coach Jamie Batley was suspended for five games for his role in the situation, according to the CLA’s posted decision on the Lakers. Other suspensions assessed include two games for Lakers trainer Steve Hynes and one game for Langley GM Gerry Van Beek. READ MORE »

CLA, IL Indoor, Inside Lacrosse, Road to the Mann Cup, Senior A, The Ballers, Victoria Shamrocks

Victoria Shamrocks continue to bolster their 2013 roster by adding goaltender Matt Vinc

Matt Vinc

It’s safe to say that the Western Lacrosse Association’s Victoria Shamrocks have been the busiest Sr. A team this offseason and today they continue that trend by adding one of the game’s best goalies to their 2013 roster. Coming off a National Lacrosse League Champion’s Cup run with the Rochester Knighthawks, Matt Vinc has been at the top of the lacrosse world for the past few years and at just 30 years old, he has plenty of great years ahead of him.

For Victoria, the addition of Vinc gives it some stability in between the pipes they haven’t had since Anthony Cosmo left after the 2006 season, the last year the Shammies were in the Mann Cup finals. Since then, they have run through Nick Patterson, Aaron Bold, Chris Levis and Matt Flindell, who are all very talented goalies in their own right but were just unable to get the job done. READ MORE »