IL Indoor

Rob Hellyer (18) had a goal and an assist in OT as part of his 5-point game for Orangeville. (Photo: Ward Laforme Jr.)

There were plenty of firsts last night for the Orangeville Northmen, and that’s to be expected in a season opener. Jordan Dance scored his and the game’s first goal. Ian Mackay also scored his first and the Northmen got their first win by a 12-9 count in overtime against the Kitchener-Waterloo at Kinsmen Arena. But there was another “first” of note in last night’s game, and it belonged to Mackay. And just to be clear, this is not an indictment on Mackay, but it’s interesting to see in the box score of last night’s game an “Obscene Language” minor next to his name. It’s part of the OLA’s crackdown on language during games and Mackay just happened to be the first called for it, at least in last night’s game. K-W’s Jake McLay was whistled for the same violation at the same time and if the referees are to continue enforcing this rule, we’re sure this won’t be the only case. (Read More…)

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…)

The Ontario Lacrosse Association’s Jr A league intends to make attending their games a more family-friendly experience by cracking down on enforcement of the language that players and coaches use in games. Observant fans noted that there were four minor penalties handed out for obscene language in the first game of the OLA Jr A season, a 9-7 win by the Peterborough Lakers over the Kitchener-Waterloo Braves.

Jr A league Commissioner Dean McLeod says language was addressed as a point of emphasis with referees before the season in Jr A. “It’s a directive from the league to the teams and the referees, but the request comes from the general managers,” McLeod told IL Indoor. He said that the teams want to clean up the language used by players and coaches that can be offensive to fans. (Read More…)

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.

Logan Schuss is the odds-on favourite to be taken first overall in the 2013 National Lacrosse League Entry Draft.

The 2013 National Lacrosse League season is in the books and it’s only about four months till the league’s teams will gather for the annual distribution of talent known as the NLL Entry Draft. Nothing is set in stone at this point, but it’s always a fun exercise to start figuring how the draft will play out. Today, IL Indoor presents our first mock of the first round of the 2013 draft. It will feature the top candidates to go early this September as well as some dark horses who could be in consideration for high picks. Will a big scoring lefty will go first overall again? Could this be the year that a goalie goes in the first round for the first time in a while? And just how many athletic transition players’ names will be called among the first nine picks? Get the answers to those questions and more after the jump. (Read More…)

The Turku Titans, looking very cool in their circa 1907 Ottawa Senators-looking jerseys, are one of four teams in the Finnish Box Lacrosse League. (Photo: Robin Stitzing)

Box lacrosse has been making inroads and winning fans in outposts around the world, as evidenced by the growth of interest in Europe. The Czech Republic and Germany are noted hot spots, thanks largely to the Ales Hrebesky tournament and the Deutschland Adler Lacrosse Club, respectively. One of the latest signs of the games increasing popularity is the creation of the Finnish Box Lacrosse League. It’s no surprise that Jamie Plunkett and Brian Tyacke were there even before the league got going. In fact, as Samuli Harala writes in a report on the Adler web site, without the pair of passionate boxla promoters the league wouldn’t exist.

But now it does, with four teams taking part last Saturday, May 4 in Turku in the first of three one-day tournaments that will comprise the regular season. The finale will be held in June, just before the field lacrosse season kicks off. Harala reports that local hockey and floorball (I don’t know either–presumably it’s a Euro thing) players are keen to give the game a go, suggesting a bright future for box lacrosse in Finland.

Goalie Matt Vinc was the anchor for Rochester's strong defense in the 2013 season. (Photo: Martin Allinson)

In the course of voting for postseason awards, there are some National Lacrosse League decisions that are difficult and some that are not difficult. This year, the vote for Goalie of the Year was one of those decisions that was not difficult. Not at all. On the surface, there were maybe 3 or 4 very deserving candidates for this award, voted on by 10 of our ILIndoor staffers. But when it got right down to it, there really were just 1 or 2. And considering the voting was done before the playoffs, the emergence of Matt Vinc in the top spot justified the votes for 8 of us, who gave Vinc a first-place vote. But it’s hardly an indictment of the 2 who didn’t, because those 2 votes went to Washington’s Tyler Richards and since both of those goalies helped guide their team into this year’s Champion’s Cup, it was tough to argue anyone was wrong with their first ballot. (Read More…)

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…)

The Edmonton Rush announced today that General Manager and Head Coach Derek Keenan signed a two year agreement.  Keenan enters his fifth year as General Manager and Head Coach for the team .

“We have full confidence in the direction Derek Keenan is taking this team, this past season was another strong campaign that provided a good look into the exciting potential of the club”  states Owner and Governor Bruce Urban.

“Keenan is the finest coach in pro lacrosse at pre game preparation for his players,  if this team executes the game plan night in and night out,  get ready for some winning seasons.” (Read More…)

Every National Lacrosse League team has them. Guys who contribute in lots of little ways that largely escape notice. We at IL Indoor can be just as guilty of overlooking the unsung heroes as anyone. But who doesn’t love the underdog? The player who isn’t the big scoring star or the stud defender getting the attention. The guy who does his job quietly and effectively and helps his team win without needing a ton of external recognition. Today is the day when the Unsung Heroes take centre stage as we award the IL Indoor Unsung Hero of the Year award. Proof that there are plenty of them around is evident in the fact that 21 players received votes, including 8 garnering first-place accolades.

And at the top of the pile is the unassuming sniper of the Toronto Rock, Kasey Beirnes. The 32-year-old righty has 10 20-goal and three 30-goal seasons in his 11 full NLL seasons. That kind of consistency can often go unnoticed, especially when you spend your career playing with luminaries like Colin Doyle, Josh Sanderson and Garrett Billings. But talk to members of the Rock–both players and coaches–and they’ll tell you how important are the contributions of Beirnes to the team’s success. (Read More…)