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Behind the Scenes, Futures Report, IL Indoor, Kitchener-Waterloo Kodiaks, MSL, WLA

Prospect Tracker: Noble’s MSL debut just reinforces positive impressions

Dillon Ward was one of a pair of Kodiaks making impressive debuts this week. (Photo: Tim Prothero)

The big prospect news this week is the debut of Jason Noble with the Kitchener-Waterloo Kodiaks. Noble was the second overall pick in the Major Series Lacrosse draft behind is brother Jeremy and could easily go in the same spot in the National Lacrosse League draft this fall (only this time it would most likely be behind Logan Schuss). Noble missed KW’s first two games of the season while he was helping Cornell reach the final four of the NCAA field lacrosse championship.

Monday, Noble appeared in the grey, black and purple of the Kodiaks for the first time and he immediately showed why he was such a coveted player coming out of the Orangeville Northmen system. The 2012 OLA Jr A defender of the year played a solid defensive game, showing that the intelligence, strength and footwork that made him so successful in junior and college will allow him to succeed at the highest levels of the game, as well. READ MORE »

Behind the Scenes, Futures Report, IL Indoor, MSL, NLL Entry Draft, WLA

Prospect Tracker: Keeping an eye on candidates for the 2013 NLL Entry Draft

Rob Pannell won the Tewaaraton Award after his brilliant senior season with Cornell. (Photo: Larry Palumbo)

Each week during the summer, IL Indoor will track the progress of prospects for the 2013 National Lacrosse League draft. We’ll keep an eye on the Logan Schusses and Jason Nobles—the guys expected to be top picks—but we’ll also try to share how players whose ranking in the draft is a little less certain are faring during the summer and how it may impact their draft status. And if there’s someone you think we’re missing out on that lacrosse fans would like to hear about, let us know—my email is at the bottom of the story. To see what’s happening with some of the players that NLL teams will be looking to select this September, make the jump. READ MORE »

Behind the Scenes, Futures Report, Grassroots, National Lacrosse League, Philadelphia Wings

Brodie Merrill advocates multiple sports for young athletes

Brodie Merrill looking like a wide receiver going horizontal. (Photo: Larry Palumbo)

We are in an age of specialization. Kids are encouraged to pick a sport early and focus on it, often to the exclusion of playing other games. The practice has generated a backlash, much of it from pro athletes who remember playing lots of things when they were younger and who see that broad approach to sport as valuable. Now Brodie Merrill has joined the ranks of those advocating that kids play a variety of sports and the Philadelphia Wings’ captain has done so eloquently with his latest Wingin’ It blog entry for Philly.com.  Merrill references versatile former lacrosse players like Jim Brown, Wayne Gretzky and Joe Nieuwendyk, Hall of Famers all in other sports. He also makes an interesting comparison between the athleticism of Kevin Crowley and Tom Brady. Can’t you just see Crowley running the Patriots’ offence? No, seriously, think about it and see if it’s really that much of a stretch.

Behind the Scenes, Futures Report, Minnesota Swarm, National Lacrosse League

Minnesota Swarm fan/ticket intern set to wed on floor at half time this Saturday

Sarah O'Brien (right) and Daelen Snow will be married on the floor at half time of Minnesota's game Saturday.

For the past seven years, Sarah O’Brien has gone to almost every Swarm game, whether as a fan or dedicated employee. The 22 year-old Apple Valley native is currently in her second season as a ticket operations intern, where she helps process ticket requests and assists the ticket department in the box office on gamedays. This Saturday, however, will be anything but an ordinary day at the office for O’Brien as she is set to marry her fiancé, Daelen Snow, on the field during the Swarm game.

“It’s going to be very cool, I’m kind of nervous,” O’Brien said. “I feel like having 10,000 people watching me as opposed to the typical 200 guests is going to be a little nerve-racking, but it should be fun.”

The ceremony will be held at halftime of Minnesota’s game against the Buffalo Bandits on Treasure Island Field at Xcel Energy Center and will be the first on-field wedding in team history. 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.

Behind the Scenes, Futures Report, IL Indoor, Ontario Junior A, Road to the Minto Cup

Nathan White is ready to go after recovering from concussions

Nathan White

With concussions a common topic in sports news these days, most of the news is bad. In lacrosse, we’ve seen the ends of the careers of Merrick Thomson and Ken Montour and what is looking like the end for Phil Sanderson, who was released by the Toronto Rock in January. So it’s refreshing to hear some good news on the concussion front, and here it is: 20-year-old forward Nathan White says he is ready to resume his career in box lacrosse after fully recovering from a series of concussions that have kept him out of the game for most of the past three years.

White has played 23 total games for the Peterborough Junior Lakers: 14 in 2010, 8 in 2011 and just one last summer. He was going to Onondaga Community College but was told by the school last fall, midway through his second semester, that he would not longer be able to stay because the school felt he was too big of a liability risk. The shock was all the greater, he said, because he was feeling really good and hadn’t heard a word about it from the school—they broke the news in an email to his parents. READ MORE »

Futures Report, IL Indoor, NLL Entry Draft, National Lacrosse League, Ontario Junior A, Road to the Minto Cup

Randy Staats is going to Syracuse

Randy Staats will be heading to Syracuse University in 2014. (Photo: Tim Prothero)

Young star Randy Staats, who has been rumoured to be heading to the pros in each of the past couple of National Lacrosse League entry drafts despite saying he was staying in school, has made it official. The Six Nations Arrows righty forward has committed to attend Syracuse University, just a hop, skip and a jump away from Onondaga Community College where he is currently attending. He will actually take this fall off from lacrosse while he wraps up his studies at OCC, Staats told IL Indoor, then will enrol at Syracuse next January and start playing for the Orange and studying communications. “Injuring my knee twice, I’ve learned that lacrosse may not always be there,” Staats said, referring to the two major injuries that forced him to miss the entire 2010 and 2011 Junior A seasons after putting up 95 points as a 16-year-old in 2009. “I want to have my education to fall back on.” READ MORE »

Ajax Rock, Behind the Scenes, Brampton Excelsiors, Brooklin Redmen, Futures Report, IL Indoor, Kitchener-Waterloo Kodiaks, MSL, Peterborough Lakers, Six Nations Chiefs

MSL Update: Internet Down, Kodiaks Up

The Noble twins won the Minto together and now they'll head to Major Series Lacrosse together. They were the first two picks of the 2013 MSL draft by the Kitchener-Waterloo Kodiaks.

First off, apologies to those who tried to check in for the live blog of the Major Series Lacrosse draft tonight. The internet was down at the Iroquois Park Sports Centre where the draft was held. Ironically, Brooklin Redmen coach/GM Wayne Colley works for the city of Whitby (IPSC is a city facility), but even he couldn’t help with the problem since it originated with the facility’s server. I did tweet the progress of the draft in real time, so thanks to those of you who followed along and sorry about the couple of mistakes I made. Things were moving quickly and I didn’t get everything entered correctly. The big news of the night was that the Kitchener-Waterloo Kodiaks were able to pull off the deal that I had suggested was a likely scenario. They acquired the first overall pick from the Ajax Rock, giving them the first two picks, which they used to select twin brothers Jeremy and Jason Noble from the Orangeville Northmen. Make the jump for more details and the full draft results. READ MORE »

Ajax Rock, Behind the Scenes, Brampton Excelsiors, Brooklin Redmen, Futures Report, IL Indoor, Kitchener-Waterloo Kodiaks, MSL, MSL Notebook, Peterborough Lakers, Six Nations Chiefs

Major Series Lacrosse draft Wednesday features a boatload of talent

Jeremy Noble (left) will be among the first picks in the MSL draft but Mitch Jones is a territorial protection by Brampton. (Photo: Tim Prothero, VintageLax)

Teams in Ontario Major Series Lacrosse will hold their annual draft in Whitby this Wednesday and they have plenty of outstanding players to choose from despite some high-end talent being unavailable as territorial protected players of the clubs. The strength and depth of this draft is thanks largely to the 13 graduating players from Orangeville’s Minto Cup champion Northmen squad. Orangeville isn’t affiliated with an MSL team, so the likes of Jeremy and Jason Noble, Hayden Smith, Jordan Critch and Dillon Ward are up for grabs. One notable Northmen name you won’t hear called, though, is Mitchell Jones. The lefty forward who exploded for 6 goals and 7 assists in the first game of the Minto final was traded to Orangeville during the off-season, so his rights remain with his previous junior team. That makes Brampton’s one-two protected punch of Jones and fellow left Kyle Pereira an enviable addition to the Excelsiors lineup for 2013. READ MORE »