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Kitchener-Waterloo Kodiaks, MSL, Road to the Mann Cup, Six Nations Chiefs

Major Series Lacrosse: Evan Kirk and Mike Poulin have been traded for each other

Evan Kirk is headed from the KW Kodiaks to the Six Nations Chiefs for Mike Poulin in an MSL trade.

Mike Poulin is headed back to Kitchener-Waterloo. The former league MVP for the Kodiaks has been traded from the Six Nations Chiefs, who acquired him from KW in 2011, back to his former team. The Kodiaks also receive the Chiefs’ second round draft pick in 2016 and considerations. Going the other way is Evan Kirk, who emerged as a star in Major Series Lacrosse after Poulin was dealt away.

At the time of the trade, KW said that part of the reason was to give Kirk a chance to showcase himself for the National Lacrosse League draft, in which he wound up going sixth overall to the Minnesota Swarm, with whom he has played the past two seasons. Poulin was the 2012 NLL Goalie of the Year with the Calgary Roughnecks.

In a separate deal, the teams traded yet another goalie. Angus Goodleaf goes from KW, for whom he didn’t play after being acquired from the Peterborough Lakers last year, to Six Nations in exchange for a third round pick in the same 2016 draft.

Behind the Scenes, IL Indoor, Kitchener-Waterloo Kodiaks, MSL, NLL Entry Draft, National Lacrosse League, Ontario Junior A

Jason Noble “just does everything right.”

If you haven’t heard of Jason Noble yet, you will soon. The 21-year-old defender was the second selection in the Major Series Lacrosse draft this year (behind his twin brother Jeremy, the offensive half of the brilliant yin and yang of Noble lacrosse). He won’t go much lower than second when the National Lacrosse League gathers this September for its annual entry draft, if at all. Jason isn’t the biggest defender around, but he was voted the best in the Ontario Junior A league last summer.

In fact, he’s better without a stick than many players are with one. That’s not idle speculation or hyperbole, either. Noble lost his stick early in a shift during last summer’s OLA semi-finals against Whitby. He was manned up against one of the Warriors stud offensive talents and never let him get so much as a sniff of the net. That’s how good his positioning and footwork are. Think Sandy Chapman with the potential to be even better than the Rock star. READ MORE »

Buffalo Bandits, IL Indoor, Inside Lacrosse, Kitchener-Waterloo Kodiaks, MSL, National Lacrosse League, Off the Rug, The Life

Week 7 of the GM Talks on the Off the Crossebar Podcast; this week Bandits GM Steve Dietrich and his worst game, Hall of Fame career and an NFL Back-up QB.

Steve Dietrich (left) with Troy Cordingley at Chugger's Hall of Fame induction. (Photo: NLL.com)

One of the toughest GM jobs in the National Lacrosse League could very well be the one bestowed upon Steve Dietrich. After Darris Kilgour was relieved of his duties last off-season, the former Bandit goalie was welcomed back to Banditland and was immediately thrust into the spotlight. How do you improve an aging roster that has been struggling to find chemistry, symmetry and consistency ever since winning the 2008 NLL title game on their home floor? It’s all about a hunger for redemption for Dietrich and that comes from building through the draft and finding the right pieces to the puzzle. READ MORE »

Kitchener-Waterloo Kodiaks, MSL, Oakville Rock, Ontario Junior B, Road to the Founders, Road to the Presidents Cup, Senior B

Oakville Rock acquire Thenhaus and a pick for England, plus the links

Craig England

Terry Sanderson has completed his first trade as GM of the Oakville Rock, and it’s for someone he acquired in his other GM role with Toronto. Oakville sent Craig England to the Kitchener-Waterloo Kodiaks in exchange for Brenden Thenhaus and a fourth-round pick in the 2014 Major Series Lacrosse draft. England scored 5 goals and 8 assists in 7 games for the Rock in Ajax last year, his first in the league after graduating from the Orangeville Northmen Jr A program. Thenhaus, a product of the Oakville Jr B team, has spent six years playing MSL with a pair of two-year stints in KW sandwiching two years with the Six Nations Chiefs. He posted 12 goals and 20 assists in 13 games with the Kodiaks last summer. His best statistical season was 2009 with KW when he put up 25 goals and 27 assists for 52 points in 18 games. READ MORE »

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Major Series Lacrosse game between Kodiaks and Lakers to be held in Kingston

There’ll be something a little different when the Kitchener-Waterloo Kodiaks entertain the Peterborough Lakers in a June 8 Major Series Lacrosse game. Rather than playing the contest in their usual home arena, the Kodiaks will face off with the defending Mann Cup champions in front of thousands of fans in Kingston’s K-Rock Centre. That’s the plan, anyway, for the First Capital Cup.

The game is the brainchild of Kodiaks’ owner Al Orth and his business officer/executive assistant for his job in Queen’s University’s human resources department, Nicole Fowler. It is being held June 8 to coincide with the Kingston Krossfire minor lacrosse tournament, which is expected to have 40 teams across the minor age groups. The registration fee for the tournament includes tickets to the game, so Orth and Fowler envision an arena full of young players and their parents and coaches watching what should be an exciting early-season game. READ MORE »

Ajax Rock, Brampton Excelsiors, Brooklin Redmen, IL Indoor, Kitchener-Waterloo Kodiaks, MSL, Peterborough Lakers, Road to the Mann Cup, Six Nations Chiefs

Major Series Lacrosse schedule kicks off in Peterborough May 23

The Brampton Excelsiors will visit the Peterborough Lakers on Thursday May 23 to open the 2013 Major Series Lacrosse season then will return to Peterborough the following week, kicking off the season with a rivalry bang. The Kitchener-Waterloo Kodiaks, who selected Jeremy and Jason Noble with the first two picks in this year’s MSL draft, open their season at the Iroquois Lacrosse Arena to face the Six Nations Chiefs in the first Saturday night game of the year on May 25. The Brooklin Redmen get underway Sunday May 26 when the play host to the Lakers. And the Ajax Rock plan to play the franchise’s first game in Oakville on Monday May 27. The move of the Rock to Oakville is still pending Ontario Lacrosse Association approval.

Other notable MSL contests include a pair of Brampton home games in the Memorial Arena (May 28 vs Ajax and June 20 vs Six Nations) and a Kodiaks home game in Kingston. The latter is part of a big promotion for Kingston minor and junior lacrosse that will see KW take on the Lakers Saturday June 8 in a game being called the First Capital Cup. Kingston lacrosse will be rocking that weekend with the Kingston Krossfire minor tournament going on and clinics being run by Nationwide Lacrosse founders Brad Self and Shawn Evans. READ MORE »

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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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Don’t plan the Mann Cup parade route yet, but don’t overlook the KW Kodiaks

The Kitchener-Waterloo Kodiaks made the biggest splash of the 2013 Major Series Lacrosse draft, swinging a trade with the Ajax Rock for the first overall pick that allowed them, in conjunction with their own pick at #2, to select both Jeremy and Jason Noble. The twin brothers were the playoff MVP and the Ontario Junior A league’s outstanding defensive player, respectively. The Kodiaks also picked up four more of the Nobles’ Orangeville Northmen teammates, selecting Dillon Ward, Billy Hostrawser, Cody McLeod and Brad Gillies from the Minto Cup champions (as well as Whitby defender Mitch Wilde). Kitchener assistant coach Jamie Dubrick talks about what this draft means to the future of the team.

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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 »

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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.