IL Indoor

Alberta Junior A, B.C. Junior A, Ontario Junior B, Road to the Founders, Road to the Minto Cup, Road to the Presidents Cup, Senior A, Senior B

Last night: Saints & James Gang remain perfect in OLA Sr B, plus all the scores

The St. Catharines Saints and Norwood James Gang both remained perfect, each posting their fifth straight win to open the OLA Senior B season Saturday, and they’re on target for a clash of the titans in two weeks. St. Catharines rode Corey Fowler’s 7-point night (3g, 4a) and a hat trick from transition man Jay Thorimbert to a 16-9 thrashing of the Owen Sound North Stars. Norwood blanked Sarnia 3-0 in the third period to pull out a gritty 6-4 win over the Beavers to keep pace.

The James Gang gave up the first goal to Sarnia but then replied with a trio of their own to lead 3-1 after the first period. Chad Evans got Norwood’s first two goals on outside shots then Greg Reilly buried a beautiful touch pass over a pair of defenders from Gavin Barrie. READ MORE »

Burnaby Lakers, Coquitlam Adanacs, Nanaimo Timbermen, Ontario Junior A, Ontario Junior B, Road to the Founders, Road to the Mann Cup, Road to the Minto Cup, Senior A, Victoria Shamrocks, WLA

Last night: Shamrocks and Timbermen win Western Lacrosse Association openers

Defender Ben McCullough was named third star of Victoria's season-opening WLA win.

The Victoria Shamrocks have been loading up for a run at the Mann Cup this year. The early returns are positive—in the form of a 10-6 season-opening win over Coquitlam in which they outshot the Adanacs 63-39. The Shamrocks ran out to a 4-0 lead after the first period and only high save percentages by Nick Rose (.833 in the first period) and Adam Shute (.846 the rest of the way) kept the margin of victory from being bigger.

Scott Ranger scored a hat trick and Cory Conway assisted on 7 of the Shamrocks’ 10 goals. Corey Small scored once and added 4 assists to help Victoria’s cause. Shamrocks’ goalie Matt Flindell posted the exact same numbers as Shute did—33 saves on 39 shots—to earn the win.

Coquitlam’s scoring was spread around with six different players scoring goals. Eastern import Jesse Guerin was their points leader with a goal and 2 assists in his WLA debut. Guerin finished second in Major Series Lacrosse last year with 22 goals and 37 assists for 59 points in 14 games. READ MORE »

IL Indoor, Ontario Junior A, Ontario Junior B, Road to the Founders, Road to the Minto Cup, Road to the Presidents Cup, Senior B

Last night: James Gang continue perfect run to start the season

The Norwood James Gang are out to prove that the Ontario Senior B lacrosse league isn’t a one-team race, and so far they’re doing a pretty good job of it. The St. Catharines Saints are getting lots of attention for the additions they’ve made to the team that already won the last two league titles and earned medals at the last two Presidents Cups. But Norwood has made some additions as well, and they’ve come out to a 4-0 start with last night’s dominating 15-6 win over the Brooklin Merchants, who knocked them out in the first round of playoffs last year.

“We play every year to win. We put out the best effort and we want a championship,” James Gang forward Matt Evans told IL Indoor after the game. “Every year we have a shot, this year I think we have a great chance at it. We’ve got a couple new additions and some real good guys coming off long layoffs.” 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 »

Behind the Scenes, IL Indoor, Ontario Junior B, Road to the Founders

Clarington Green Gaels bringing back coaches Crosbie, Johnson and MacArthur

The Green Gaels are pleased to announce that the return of Head Coach Jason Crosbie, and Assistant Coaches Joel Johnson and Brad MacArthur for the 2013 Ontario Lacrosse Association Junior B Lacrosse Season.

After two seasons with a combined regular season record of 36 – 2 – 2, the staff is returning for their third season together behind the Gaels bench and is expecting to improve their playoff fortunes. The Gaels have been eliminated in the Eastern Conference finals each of the past two seasons.

The coaching staff is excited to get the summer started again. With Green Gaels conditioning camps starting up in March, plans are already underway with regards to the 2013 season.

The Green Gaels are expecting a large roster turnover in 2013 and Assistant Coach Brad MacArthur is already looking forward to the conditioning sessions and training camps to establish some stability. READ MORE »

CLA, IL Indoor, MSL, Road to the Founders, Road to the Mann Cup, Road to the Minto Cup, Road to the Presidents Cup, Senior A, Senior B, The Life, WLA

In 2013, fighting in Canadian lacrosse will come with stiffer punishments

New CLA rules will hopefully deter players like Andrew Suitor from dropping the gloves. (Photo Courtesy: Jessica Nyznik)

A press release from the CLA has surfaced today that will see fighting in all CLA leagues from Minor to Senior enforced with much harsher penalties. Starting in 2013, any player who engages in a fight will be given a major penalty and game misconduct. There is a major caveat to the rule: if there is a clear institgator then the non-offending player will not receive a game-misconduct penalty while the instigator will receive a second major and a second game misconduct.

NOTE: This rule does not apply to CLAX or the NLL as they do not fall under CLA jurisdiction.

NOTE 1.A: Reports have been circluating that the WLA may not abide by these rules. One Governor commented to IL Indoor, however, that will have to be decided by a board of governors meeting that will take place in the coming days. Find the full press release after the jump, then head over to the boards and have your say READ MORE »

Ontario Junior B, Road to the Founders

Red Devils to see if four horns are better than two; will go with two coaches in 2013

After a successful 2012 season in the Ontario Junior B Lacrosse League, the Wallaceburg Red Devils are taking a different approach to try to be even more successful next year. The Devils, who last year lost by a single goal to the eventual Founders Cup champion Six Nations Rebels in the final game of the OLA semi-finals, have decided to go with a pair of co-coaches rather than a single head coach. General manager Rick Shepley told the Wallaceburg Courier Press that Steve Lilley and Kyle VanDamme will share the reins of the  junior B club next season. The pair were teammates on the squad a few years ago. As the Courier Press reports, VanDamme played for the club from 2004 to 2009, scoring 98 points in 98 games while Lilley had 83 points In 71 games from 2004 to 2007.

IL Indoor, Road to the Founders

Founders Cup 2012: One more photo gallery

The Calgary Jr. Mountaineers brought their mullets on the trip East to play in the Founders Cup. (Photo: Casey Vock)

Check out the work of ILGear.com, which made a road trip last weekend to catch the final day of the 2012 Founders Cup at Six Nations. Plenty of sights to behold, even outside of the games being played at the Iroquois Lacrosse Arena. From gear being sold, to shirts and hats, there’s some pretty neat stuff to browse as well, including plenty of memorabilia that illuminates the lacrosse history of Six Nations. There are a ton of photos here to surf through, so make that trip to the fridge, then sit back and enjoy.

IL Indoor, Road to the Founders

Founders Cup 2012: A photo gallery

The Six Nations family celebrates its 2012 Founders Cup championship on Sunday. (Photo: Tim Prothero, VintageLax)

It seems like just yesterday that the Junior B lacrosse season got started. But the 2012 season is no more, and the Six Nations Rebels have the rings to show for it. The Rebels fought through some of the toughest emotion anyone can deal with in losing teammate Carney Johnson. They made no secret for whom they were playing and there’s no doubt who they were thinking of as they celebrated their second straight Junior B championship, and fifth overall, the most Founders Cup titles for any team in Canada. Photographer Tim Prothero of VintageLax.com was on scene and provides us with these images from the tournament. READ MORE »

IL Indoor, Road to the Founders

Video: Founders Cup fisticuffs

Nova Scotia may not have won its Founders Cup game against Six Nations, dropping a 19-7 decision on Tuesday, but Mark Falkenham more than held his own in this scrap with Daniel Henhawk of the Rebels.