Archive for the ‘Editorial’ Category


Editorial, IL Indoor, MSL

New rules in Canada: Help or hindrance?

June 7th, 2013 by Bob Chavez

Are the new fighting rules in Canada having the desired effect on the game? (Photo: Tim Prothero, VintageLax.com)
Are the new fighting rules in Canada having the desired effect on the game? (Photo: Tim Prothero, VintageLax.com)

Fighting. Cages. Controversy. There’s been plenty of it this summer in Canada, and a lot of fingers are pointing to the Canadian Lacrosse Association. Jesse Thomas of MyKawartha.com and an occasional ILIndoor contributor, is asking the same questions many fans and players are asking: If it’s not broken, why fix it? “The new ban on fighting brought down by the Canadian Lacrosse Association in an effort to clean up the game is transforming the Major Series Lacrosse into a lowdown, dirty, slash happy, cheap shot lumberjack feud … The popularity of the sport seems to be growing but lacrosse is still recognized as a niche game. The CLA keeps trying to fix the game but is bringing the game down and giving it negative publicity.” Is the game we know changing for better or for worse? It’s a subjective and perhaps rhetorical question, but the fact that it’s even being asked may be cause for concern.

To comment visit the NLLForums

Editorial, IL Indoor

Time for NLL to rethink its playoff format

May 28th, 2013 by Marty ONeill

Marty O'Neill
Marty O'Neill

Back in December when training camps wrapped, I listened to chatter of teams not wanting to peak too soon or essentially place a high value on the coming National Lacrosse League regular season. The 2012 championship had been won by the 7-9 Rochester Knighthawks, plus recent past had been littered with championship contenders like the 2012 Edmonton Rush or the 2008 Portland LumberJax teams that made the pinnacle game through grandma’s storm door in the backyard with a 6-10 records. Rochester posted another sub-par 8-win, 8-loss .500 record this season and was once more rewarded with a no-pressure season until its last game of the regular slate on its way to immortality. Over the winter months, I’ve had conversations with some ex-NLL personalities and the conversation often included the talking point that the NLL regular season had become meaningless. READ MORE »

To comment visit the NLLForums

Editorial, IL Indoor

Player safety: CLA needs to rethink Policy 12.4 when it comes to mandated facemasks

May 23rd, 2013 by Teddy Jenner
player-safety-cla-needs-to-rethink-policy-12-4-when-it-comes-to-mandated-facemasks

The summer lacrosse season is well underway and the road to provincial and national championships are being heavily contested all across this great country by thousands of lacrosse players. But there is a growing concern north of the border and that is player safety. The Canadian Lacrosse Association has come under heavy fire the past few months for a number of issues and the list seems to get longer each passing week. At the top of the list right now is the “mandated” new face-mask policy that every player in any CLA league must wear. The issue with the cages is that they appear to be doing the opposite of what they are intended to do and in just a few short months have allegedly caused numerous injuries. The CLA is Canada’s governing body for the sport of lacrosse and something needs to change quickly before more players get hurt. Players are starting to rally and the question is, will the CLA listen? READ MORE »

To comment visit the NLLForums

Editorial, IL Indoor

Voting for National Lacrosse League award winners is about more than just numbers

May 20th, 2013 by Marty ONeill

What does Calgary's Geoff Snider have to do to win the NLL Transition Player of the Year award? (Photo: Larry Palumbo)
What does Calgary's Geoff Snider have to do to win the NLL Transition Player of the Year award? (Photo: Larry Palumbo)

The National Lacrosse League season has come and gone and what remains to be valued for an entirety is the awards levied on the performers for the 2013 campaign. Some award winners would be regarded as obvious and others not so much, nothing out of the ordinary here. Award decisions are the challenges of any league in any sport. The process in all walks of lacrosse has been flawed for years. The reason for this inadequacy is the lack of journalists covering the NLL, senior or junior lacrosse unlike other professional sports. Those dedicated journalists covering their sports daily to break down the week-to-week action and monthly segments that make up a season of a sport, those same journalists that vote on awards. READ MORE »

To comment visit the NLLForums

Editorial, IL Indoor, National Lacrosse League

Not much separates the Knighthawks and Stealth as they battle for NLL supremacy

May 10th, 2013 by Marty ONeill

Marty O'Neill
Marty O'Neill

The National Lacrosse League championship game is 24 hours away and it is a true statement that the season has come full circle from the stand-alone game that was played in Everett on Jan. 5 between the same two teams competing in Langley tomorrow. That game ended in a 13-12 come from behind Washington victory that preceeded a 7-6 low scoring affair on Feb.2 in Blue Cross Arena that favored the home team. These teams are as tight as they come. The compelling storyline has the defending champions playing last year’s only playoff non-participant. These two teams have navigated a much different path to Langley if you consider the ups and downs from the past two NLL regular seasons. READ MORE »

To comment visit the NLLForums

Editorial, IL Indoor, National Lacrosse League

Calgary’s Dickson is a talent to behold

May 8th, 2013 by Ty Pilson
calgarys-dickson-is-a-talent-to-behold

I hate ‘Coulda, Woulda, Shouldas’ in sports. When a team loses, folks (most often the losing team’s fans) will point out how an extra goal here, a big stop there, a converted breakaway here, another PP marker there would have been the difference for their team. Especially if it was a close loss. However, no one ever says what if all of the above happened to the winning team? They would have won by an even larger margin. The ‘Coulda, Woulda, Shouda’ applies to both teams in any game. With that said, I have to wonder if the outcome of Saturday’s National Lacrosse League West Final Coulda been different had the Riggers done more to get Curtis Dickson the ball in the first half. READ MORE »

To comment visit the NLLForums

Editorial, IL Indoor, National Lacrosse League

Success of Swarm based on an old recipe

May 3rd, 2013 by Marty ONeill

Mark Miyashata's winning goal against the Toronto Rock in this 2006 game was a big step for the development of a young Minnesota Swarm team. (Photo: Courtesy of Marty O'Neill)
Mark Miyashata's winning goal against the Toronto Rock in this 2006 game was a big step for the development of a young Minnesota Swarm team. (Photo: Courtesy of Marty O'Neill)

I thought about writing this story and then I wondered if my thoughts held any relevance to current happenings. It was a serious case of deja vu for myself, the former GM of the Minnesota Swarm. The Swarm are the best team in the National Lacrosse League this week because they took out the top seed last Sunday afternoon. Just so happens in 2013 that No. 1 regular season seeded team is the all mighty Toronto Rock, the most successful franchise in the NLL with its six championships. What went down at the ACC Sunday was certainly a surprise for many. READ MORE »

To comment visit the NLLForums

Editorial, IL Indoor, National Lacrosse League

Division finals promise plenty of intrigue

May 1st, 2013 by Ty Pilson
division-finals-promise-plenty-of-intrigue

Say what you will about the National Lacrosse League playoff format but once the post-season arrives the games never disappoint. Last weekend’s four playoff tilts covered the gambit for fans: Two close contests and two blowouts. There was no shortage of drama (see my thoughts below in Quick Sticks on some of the things that stood out to me in each game). And now there are four teams left standing. The divisional championship matches shouldn’t disappoint, either. Here’s my thoughts on this coming weekend and one thing to watch out for which could be the difference in each tilt. READ MORE »

To comment visit the NLLForums

Editorial, IL Indoor, National Lacrosse League

Wild ride of a regular season about to kick it up a notch as NLL playoffs get started

April 24th, 2013 by Ty Pilson
wild-ride-of-a-regular-season-about-to-kick-it-up-a-notch-as-nll-playoffs-get-started

That was one helluva regular season! While the nay-sayers will continue to lament on the perceived uselessness of it, I’d argue we got exactly what we paid for and hoped for: Some amazing lacrosse with no shortage of great individual and team storylines. Parity reigned supreme with just 10 wins being enough to clinch first overall for the Rock. The Roughnecks and Rush played a Battle of Alberta for the history books, going deep into overtime before Calgary won to clinch the West with nine wins, bumping also 9-7 Edmonton down to third. Oh, and the 9-7 Stealth finished second. In what would have been unthinkable just a few short seasons ago, the once-mighty Bandits were the lone team to miss the playoffs, leaving one of the most-rabid fan bases in the league — which set a single-game, regular-season attendance record in the final tilt of the campaign — wondering how the franchise can right the ship. READ MORE »

To comment visit the NLLForums

Editorial, IL Indoor, MSL, Six Nations Chiefs

Lessons from Summer of 1995 remain vital

April 19th, 2013 by Marty ONeill

The 1995 Six Nations Chiefs. (Photo: Courtesy of Marty O'Neill)
The 1995 Six Nations Chiefs. (Photo: Courtesy of Marty O'Neill)

The other day we got a piece of fine video making on life in Six Nations. That piece was like an old song stirring up memories for myself. Seems like not that long ago but in fact it was 18 years ago I played for the Six Nations Chiefs. There are points in your life that seem large in the moment and then they unravel to have more relevance as time carries on. Looking back on the summer that was 1995 and lacrosse, I had no idea that what I was getting into would possibly be the greatest lacrosse lesson of my life. That was the summer I left Victoria in mid-June to travel to Ontario by car to play for the Six Nations Chiefs of the Ontario Major Series. READ MORE »

To comment visit the NLLForums
« Previous Entries