IL Indoor

IL Indoor, WLA

WLA Notebook: So far, so good for Nanaimo Timbermen and new head coach Kaleb Toth

Nanaimo is 1-1 so far this season but has some offensive reinforcement coming when high-scoring Cody Bremner, right, finishes his NCAA season at Cornell. (Photo: Dan Brodie)

Kaleb Toth is experiencing a new kind of life in the Western Lacrosse Association as coach of the Nanaimo Timbermen. How he’d do in his new role was just 1 of the many questions the T-men had coming into the 2013 season, and while 2 games into a season doesn’t really answer the questions, he and the Timbermen are happy so far. Kinda. “We’re obviously happy we’re 1-1 but we’re also disappointed that we’re 1-1,” Toth told the Nanaimo News Bulletin. Nanaimo opened it season with an 8-7 win over Burnaby on Friday, then dropped a 15-12 decision to New Westminster on Sunday. READ MORE »

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Last night: Thunder prevail in defensive struggle with Adanacs

Brodie MacDonald stopped 27 of the 30 shots he faced in Langley's win.

If you want to win a championship, you need to be able to win games in various ways. Wednesday night, the two-time defending Western Lacrosse Association champion Langley Thunder showed that they can win a defensive battle, shutting out the Coquitlam Adanacs for the final 27:52 to prevail 5-3 at the Langley Events Centre.

Coquitlam scored the only 2 goals of the first period, both coming off the stick of Jesse Guerin. Athan Iannucci and Alex Turner sandwiched second period Langley power play goals around a marker by Matthew Dinsdale to pull the Thunder within one at 3-2 after 40 minutes. Dinsdale would be the last Adanac to be able to beat Brodie MacDonald in the Thunder net. Adam Shute wasn’t giving up much at the other end of the floor, either. But Iannucci connected at 8:01 and Matt Leveque notched the game winner just 59 seconds later. Kyle Belton rounded out the quiet scoring night with just under five minutes to play to ensure the Thunder stayed perfect on the young season, running their record to 2-0. Coquitlam falls to 0-2. READ MORE »

IL Indoor, WLA

WLA 3 Stars: McCready steps up for Langley, Conway steps right in at Victoria

Tom Johnson

The Western Lacrosse Association kicked off its 2013 season over the weekend. And while some of the rosters are still waiting for certain names to arrive for the season, there are some questions that won’t wait for answers, and some of those questions were present among the 4 games that were played. Can Langley find an offensive player to step up and provide what Lewis Ratcliff used to provide? What sort of effect will all of the offseason moves in Victoria have? And can New Westminster start this season on the right foot as it works for a return to the playoffs following its absence in 2012? ILIndoor’s first installment of the WLA 3 Stars takes a look at some of the top performances of the opening weekend and just might be able to answer some of those questions. At least for now. READ MORE »

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Last Night: Langley opens defense of WLA title with win; Barrie tops Orangeville in OT

Joel McCready, left, led the way for Langley in last night's win with 4 goals and 3 assists. (Photo: Dan Brodie)

The Langley Thunder found out what life without Lewis Ratcliff would be like. And the Maple Ridge Burrards welcomed back life with Curtis Dickson. And waaaaay over in Ontario, the Junior A Barrie Lakeshores are celebrating an early-season, but all the same exciting, victory over the Orangeville Northmen. It gives Barrie a 3-0 record this season, matching its win total already from all of 2012. That’s the kind of action fans were treated to on Sunday and to think, the season of summer lacrosse is just getting started. Ratcliff, of course, is out for 2 seasons as he serves a suspension, and Dickson, of course, is back on the floor after missing most of last season with injury. READ MORE »

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Maple Ridge Burrards have renewed confidence as they open tonight vs. Langley

The Maple Ridge Burrards are eager to show off an improved offense from their 2012 season. (Photo: Dan Brodie)

The Maple Ridge Burrards are absolutely stoked to get 2013 started. And really, can you blame them? Winning just 4 Western Lacrosse Assocation games in 2012, the Burrards believe they’ll do an about-face this summer and team president Lance Andre is brimming with confidence. “We’re going to be one of the highest-scoring teams in the league,” Andre told The Maple Ridge News. “It’ll be exciting.” Sounds bold, but when you have Curtis Dickson back in the lineup after he missed most of last season with an injury, you understand. Throw in the addition of Aaron Pascas, who also missed time with injury, and Joel Dalgarno, who missed all of 2012 for work commitments, and the Burrards are eager to test their new lineup. They’ll get that chance tonight when they open their 2013 season tonight against the Langley Thunder as they take the first step toward turning around a 4-13-1 season from a summer ago.

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, WLA

WLA 2013: Season kicks off tonight with plenty of questions to be answered

Tyler Richards, left, and Nenad Gajic will try to help New West get back to the WLA playoffs. (Photo: Dan Brodie)

It all gets started tonight for the Western Lacrosse Association. And like any new season, there are plenty of questions. Some answers will take longer to realize than others, but that’s half the fun of being a fan, right? Can the Langley Thunder win their third straight regular-season title and a third straight trip to the Mann Cup? Can the re-tooled Victoria Shamrocks climb back to the top? Can the New Westminster Salmonbellies rebound from their lowest win total (11) in a regular season since 2005, when they had 10? Can Nick Rose repeat the phenomenal season he had in goal for Coquitlam? Can the Maple Ridge Burrards climb out of the WLA cellar? Optimism reigns supreme today, when everyone is 0-0. But 4 teams get some of their answers starting tonight as the 2013 season kicks off with the Nanaimo Timbermen visit the Burnaby Lakers and the Coquitlam Adanacs are away to Victoria. Let’s take a quick look at all 7 teams. READ MORE »

CLA, IL Indoor, Inside Lacrosse, Road to the Mann Cup, Senior A, The Buzz, WLA

The WLA will allow fighting as long as it’s not staged or involves an instigator

As we all know, the Canadian Lacrosse Association has implemented new rules for fighting this year for all levels of lacrosse:

Rule 45 – Fighting
(a) A major penalty and game misconduct penalty shall be assessed to any player/goalkeeper who fights. A goalkeeper penalty shall be served by a player who was on the floor at the time of the infraction.  The major penalty must be served in its duration.
(b) If there is an instigator or clear aggressor in a fight, a major penalty and a game misconduct plus any other penalties shall be assessed to the offending player(s).  Where an instigator or clear aggressor penalty is assessed the non-offending player shall not receive a game misconduct under 45 (a).

Well, it appears the Western Lacrosse Association (WLA) Board of Governors has voted that its interpretation of the rules will allow fighting for the 2013 season. WLA commissioner Casey Cook told IL Indoor today in an exclusive interview that they feel as a league they are “being compliant with the CLA Rule 45.” READ MORE »

IL Indoor, Victoria Shamrocks, WLA

Shamrocks players Conway, Flindell shift NHL allegiance, but can you blame them?

Shamrocks goalie Matt Flindell is rooting for the NHL team that eliminated his Canucks -- for good reason. (Photo: Dan Brodie)

As fans of the Vancouver Canucks, the NHL postseason party ended early for Cory Conway and Matt Flindell. But the Victoria Shamrocks aren’t done cheering. Not when former schoolmate Matt Irwin is helping man the defense for the San Jose Sharks. Sure, it was the Sharks who eliminated the Canucks, but rooting for a buddy is easy, no matter who he plays for. “My family is made up of Canucks fans. I don’t like to see them lose, but it’s nice to have friends like that playing on the biggest stage so it doesn’t make it that tough to pick who I will support from this point on,” Conway told the Times-Colonist. They’ve known each other since Grade 1, and Flindell made the trip to San Jose in April to see Irwin and the Sharks play. “It was conflicting to start, but you quickly realize it would mean more to you to see him win instead of the Canucks,” Flindell said. “To see the Cup back in Victoria would be amazing.”

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Shamrocks add more local fire power with addition of Rhys Duch

The Victoria Shamrocks are very pleased to announce the return of Rhys Duch for the 2013 Western Lacrosse Association season. The 26 year-old Victoria native is coming off a career year in the National Lacrosse League in which he earned All-Pro First Team honours after scoring in every game to lead the NLL with 45 goals, finishing third in leagues scoring with 96 points and leading his Washington Stealth team to the championship final. In his previous four seasons with the Shamrocks between 2008 and 2011, Duch appeared in 76 regular season and playoff games in which he scored 152 goals and added 171 assists for 323 points. He is a three-time WLA all-star including two First Team honours in 2010 and 2011. Last summer he played for the Six Nations Chiefs in Ontario. READ MORE »