Many people talk about the amount of players from the Six Nation reservation and their summer teams who play for the Rochester Knighthawks. Now they are not the only team in the NLL to go get players from Six Nations. The New England Black Wolves are stacked with players who call Six Nations their home or have once or still play for the Arrows or Chiefs.
New England will be anchored on defense by goalie Evan Kirk who for the last two summers has been in between the pipes for the Chiefs helping the team to back-to-back Mann Cup victories. Kirk has made a combined 1,177 saves in the regular and playoff seasons the past two summers. He is just one of three Chiefs going into camp this weekend.
This team also drafted Rodd Squire in the second round of the 2014 draft and traded to get defender Mike McNamara from the Colorado Mammoth. Rod is a player who grew up watching his family have a tone of success at the game of the lacrosse including both his dad and uncle both former Toronto Rock players.
After Rodd had excelled with the Six Nation Arrows he went on to have three great years of winning. Rodd went on to play midfield for Onondaga Community college where he was a starter and won back to back NJCAA National titles in 2012 and 2013. Also in 2013 Rodd suited up for Chiefs playing in 12 games while this past summer he played in 13 regular season games but did not suit up in the playoffs. He won the Mann Cup both summers.
For Hamilton native McNamara he grew up not far from Six Nations where he played his A ball for the Arrows. Now for the past three summers he has been a force of defense for the Chiefs. Mike is big physical and not afraid to drop the mitts to defend his teammates. Mike was a great offseason pick up to improve the defense.
The Black Wolves also drafted some Six Nation Arrows and former CLax Ohsweken Demons players in this past draft. First they took Quinn Powless with the eighth pick. Quinn is a big strong forward with soft hands and can also take faceoffs. Quinn not only won the 2014 Minto Cup but also helped the Six Nation Rebels win it all in 2011 and was college teammates with Rod at OCC winning back to back titles.
Another strong offensive player for the Arrows is Josh Johnson. Josh has been a name any fan of Junior A has known since his first full season with the Arrows in 2011. No. 39 is not a very big guy but Josh has put up 401 points and still has another Junior season left. He also won a Clax championship with the Ironman in 2013 and along with Quinn played for the Demons this past winter.
This next guy not many people know played a high caliber of box lacrosse before the NLL, but yes, Joel White was a member of the Arrows in 2009. Joel suited up in 22 games that summer scoring 21 points and grabbing 59 loose balls. You can also find his first box fight on YouTube when Joel and fellow ‘Cuse teammate Tom Guadagnola got into it with a few Orangeville players.
Free agent veteran signee Brett Bucktooth calls Onondaga Nation his home but he also is a Six Nation Arrows alum. Having all these players that know how to score, know how to stop other teams from scoring, and most importantly know how to win is huge for New England in their first year of play. It is also big for Six Nations that one reservation produces so many talented players to the pros.
