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Major Series Lacrosse returning to 20-game schedule, four of six teams make playoffs

Fans of the Peterborough/Brampton rivalry will be happy to know they teams will meet 4 times in 2013, rather than the twice they did last year. (Photo: Tim Prothero, VintageLax)

Major Series Lacrosse is returning to the 20-game schedule that teams played in 2011, but this year the playoffs will be reduced to two rounds with four teams making the postseason instead of all six. The board of governors agreed to the changes to the schedule at the league’s meeting this past week. As was the case in 2011, teams will play four games against each other team in the league, two at home and two on the road. Unlike 2011, there will actually be a playoff race this summer. The league has done away with the divisional format that last year saw three teams in each of two divisions and the first two rounds of playoffs played within the divisions. READ MORE »

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Major Series Lacrosse Draft Live Blog

IL Indoor will be live blogging from the Major Series Lacrosse draft tonight starting at 7 pm. Among the top players available are Jeremy and Jason Noble, Hayden Smith, Zach Palmer, Dillon Ward, Jordan Critch, Justin Pychel, Mitchell Wilde, Billy Hostrawser and Shayne Adams. You can read about the possibility of someone managing to snag both the Noble twins here. For a list of territorial protection players for each team and the full draft order, go here.

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Can Kitchener-Waterloo make like Brian Burke and bring the twins to town?

Jason Noble is one of the top players available in the MSL draft, along with his twin brother and Orangeville teammate Jeremy. (Photo: Tim Prothero, VintageLax)

As the 1999 NHL draft approached, Vancouver GM Brian Burke was hard at work manoeuvring to make a huge splash. What he pulled off at that draft turned out to be at the heart of the turnaround that made the Canucks perennial Stanley Cup contenders and the home of back-to-back Art Ross Trophy winners as league scoring champions. What does all that have to do with lacrosse? Just like that NHL draft held the allure of Daniel and Henrik Sedin, the 2013 Major Series Lacrosse draft features a pair of twins who are among the best players available and who would like nothing better than to continue playing together. The big question is, can anyone set themselves up to be able to draft both Jeremy and Jason Noble? READ MORE »

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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 »

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MSL Notebook: 2012 Awards Edition

Shawn Williams was on target for Brooklin again, winning his second straight scoring title. (Photo: Tim Prothero)

Roll out the red carpet. Sound the horns. Let loose the pigeons. It’s time for IL Indoor’s annual MSL year-end awards. What an exciting, unpredictable season 2012 was in Major Series Lacrosse. It’s no big surprise that Peterborough is playing Brooklin for the East Division title and Six Nations is facing Brampton for West Division supremacy, but there were plenty of twists and turns through the season. This year’s official league awards will be announced soon, but today we hand out the virtual hardware for the best performers of the summer. A quick recap of last year: Shawn Williams was the MVP, Jordan MacIntosh the Rookie of the Year and Best Transition Player, and Chris White was the Best Defensive Player. Make the jump to see who’s at the top of the heap this year. READ MORE »

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MSL Power Rankings: Five teams enter the season’s final days with hope for a title

John Tavares and the Peterborough Lakers retained top spot in the Power Rankings with wins over KW and Ajax. (Photo: Tim Prothero)

It’s coming down to the short strokes for Major Series Lacrosse in the summer of 2012 and five teams can still profess to be contenders for the Mann Cup. Kitchener-Waterloo gave Peterborough a good challenge and laid a thumping on Brampton this week. The Kodiaks were also within two goals of Brooklin six minutes into the third period of their  third game of the week. The Redmen pulled away with five straight goals, thanks partly to their newest weapon, National Lacrosse League Rookie of the Year Adam Jones.

There’s still plenty of intrigue left about who will finish where in each division and IL Indoor detailed why that’s important yesterday. Tomorrow night will go a long way towards clearing up the playoff positioning picture. Brooklin visits Brampton and Six Nations will face the Lakers in Peterborough. Free live webstreaming of the Chiefs/Lakers battle of the Power Rankings’ top two teams is available through the MSL web site. READ MORE »

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MSL Notebook and Power Rankings: Live streaming starts tonight, Lakers rise to top

Caleb Wiles and the Brooklin Redmen will have their sights set on climbing the Power Rankings ladder when they face Six Nations tonight. (Photo: Tim Prothero, VintageLax)

It wasn’t a great week for the top two teams in IL Indoor’s Major Series Lacrosse Power Rankings. Six Nations had a loss and a tie while Brooklin barely avoided the same fate or worse, losing to the Lakers then squeaking out an overtime win against Ajax. They’ll get a chance to see who will rebound quickest when they face off against each other tonight at 8 pm. You can see the game, too, even if you don’t live anywhere near Whitby. Tonight’s match will be the first regular-season contest of the year streamed live and is available to view free. To see the game just go to the MSL web site. Thursday’s game between Kitchener-Waterloo and Peterborough will also be streamed live. Four of the six teams have new rungs on the rankings ladder. Make the jump to see where they stand. READ MORE »

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MSL Notebook: Mid-year awards contenders and Power Rankings

Shawn Williams was the Major Series Lacrosse MVP last year and is a leading contender once again. (Photo: Tim Prothero)

As hard as it may be to believe, Major Series Lacrosse is already half-way through the 2012 season. Almost, at least, as last night’s Kitchener-Waterloo win over Six Nations was the 20^th game of the 42-game regular season. In such a compressed schedule the season slips by quickly. There has been enough action to suggest who is proving themselves to be the top players this summer as well as story lines to watch for the second half. Today, IL Indoor will provide an early take on the leading contenders for awards so far and what to keep an eye on as MSL races towards the playoffs for the right to play host to the Mann Cup in September. Make the jump for that plus this week’s Power Rankings. READ MORE »

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MSL Power Rankings: Lots of movement in the top five positions

Joe Resetarits is filling the net and helping Brampton to a strong start in defense of its Mann Cup title. (Photo: Tim Prothero)

There are two ways of looking at the parity evident in Major Series Lacrosse so far this summer. One is that everyone is flawed. Brooklin relies too heavily on two scorers. Brampton simply can’t score much. Peterborough’s goaltending is shaky. Six Nations is up and down and doesn’t put teams away. Kitchener-Waterloo can’t find ways to win close games. Ajax can’t find ways to win at all. I prefer to look at the positive side, though, which is that all six teams are filled with talented players and the competition is better than it has been for years. Even winless Ajax has been competitive in every game they’ve played since their season-opening blowout loss to KW. Make the jump to see how the parity affects this week’s IL Indoor MSL Power Rankings. READ MORE »

Ajax Rock, Brampton Excelsiors, Brooklin Redmen, Kitchener-Waterloo Kodiaks, MSL Notebook, Peterborough Lakers, Six Nations Chiefs

MSL Notebook and Power Rankings: dearth of scoring is puzzling

Defense is the name of the game in MSL this year and veteran Brooklin captain Derek Suddons is one of its leading practitioners. (Photo: Jason Leibregts)

Major Series Lacrosse is known for its star power and much of the attention focuses, quite naturally, on the offensive prowess of its players. Offense produces numbers that are easy to understand. Last season, Shawn Williams led MSL in scoring with 120 points in 17 games, an average of 7.1 per contest. We know that’s really good. Defense is harder to quantify and goaltending numbers like goals against average are heavily influenced by the defense playing in front of a goalie. So the reasons for the early-season scoring decline this summer are a bit elusive. READ MORE »