The Toronto Rock will look a little different in 2017. After a disappointing 2016 season, the team has vowed to get younger and faster, and their first steps toward doing so came at the draft in September on their home turf at the TRAC. Toronto got faster with the addition of Challen Rogers, a 22 year old transition player from Coquitlam. “There were obviously a lot of good players at…
John Grant Jr. wasn’t able to end his Canadian senior lacrosse career the way he wanted to. His Peterborough Lakers fell short of hosting the 2016 Mann Cup after a game seven loss to the Six Nations Chiefs in the MSL final last month. The Chiefs went on to host and win the Mann Cup in five games over the Maple Ridge Burrards. Grant, a native of Peterborough and a…
Josh Currier can finally stop worrying about whether he’ll be drafted to the NLL this year. The 23 year old, who just finished a spectacular sophomore season with the MSL’s Peterborough Lakers, expressed before last Monday’s draft an uncertainty that any team would want him despite mock drafts placing him as high as seventh at one point. It’s not that he didn’t believe in himself. He’s just a truly humble…
While the Saskatchewan Rush didn’t announce anything publicly, first overall pick Ryan Keenan knew days before the 2016 NLL draft that he was their choice. That’s due to the fact that the head coach and general manager of the Rush, the man with the most important input into team decisions, is Ryan’s father, Derek. It was made official on September 26, when NLL commissioner Nick Sakiewicz announced Ryan’s name at…
Monday night was all about the future of the NLL. Tuesday night the cream of the crop gathered at the Toronto Rock Athletic Centre to recognize the league’s current stars, and honour three of its all time best. The league had previously invited fans to the awards night but this year also invited them to the draft. Probably 25 or so came for the draft but many more were present…
Some said that the 2016 draft was a weak one; after the first round and a half, the quality of prospects dropped off. After Monday night’s draft at the Toronto Rock Athletic Centre though, it seemed that all teams were happy with the players they picked. The top three went exactly as expected – Saskatchewan Rush GM Derek Keenan took his son Ryan, a forward, first overall. The Toronto Rock…
People in the East were salivating over the fact that the Mann Cup was coming back “home”. Whispers around the rinks were that the West just wasn’t strong this season. All the talent came back to the MSL this season, so the WLA champion would really just be an also-ran in the Mann Cup. The Maple Ridge Burrards are certainly proving that false. After two games against the Six Nations…
They’re calling it the “reverse sweep.” When the Six Nations Chiefs completed their improbable comeback from an 0-3 deficit to the Peterborough Lakers in the MSL final this past weekend, they made history. No senior Ontario lacrosse team had been down three games in a series to come back and win four straight games until 2016. The Chiefs looked down and out after game three but an 8-1 win in…
It’s been quite a year for Josh Sanderson, and it’s only half over. The 39 year old Orangeville native, one of the best to ever play, earlier this year announced his playing retirement from the NLL. Since then, he has accepted a position as assistant general manager with the Toronto Rock, and this month was named to the NLL’s Hall of Fame. Sanderson was drafted 16th overall in 1997 by…
The first season for the MSL’s Kodiaks in Cobourg was a memorable one. Off the floor, there are good memories. On the floor, however, the last place finish was pretty forgettable. The Kodiaks managed just one win and one tie in 18 games and did not make the playoffs. They’ve been off since July 28 while the league’s top four teams battle for the right to host the Mann Cup….