Chris Corbeil earned his stripes the hard way in his first season with the Edmonton Rush. In a game against the Buffalo Bandits, the team who drafted him 15th overall in the 2009 Entry Draft, Corbeil found himself in a ‘damned if you do, damned if you don’t’ type of situation and coincidentally it was Jimmy Quinlan, the guy who handed the captain ‘C’ over to him on Friday who put him there. With under four minutes left in regulation at Rexall Place and with the Rush up by four goals, Quinlan exchanged pleasantries with John Tavares as the two were making their way out of the Rush end.
Big Brandon Francis was in earshot, took exception to how Quinlan was treating the living legend and did a nice job earning a cross checking major on the legendary Rush agitator. Corbeil, who was one of the last Rush defenders to leave the floor, saw what happened, knew what he had to do and ran back at Francis like a hiker trying to divert the attention of a grizzly bear so their partner can make a safe get away, except in this case, Corbeil was running into the situation to engage in some good old hand to hand combat. You’ll have to ask Corbeil or Francis if the Rush defender landed any punches in the fight that resulted, but the cut under Corbeil’s eye suggested that Francis tagged him once or twice.
It is moments like that one that define leaders in lacrosse; sacrificing yourself for the team and protecting your teammates without question. The significance of wearing the ‘C’ isn’t lost on the London, Ontario native, “It’s a great honour. It’s a responsibility I don’t take lightly and know there is only nine organizations in the NLL and there is only nine captains so its truly a privilege and an honour to be captain of this organization.” The first questions that the new Rush captain faced were from a group of grade 5 students from Kameyosek Elementary School, located in the south side of Edmonton. I will leave the final word to a gutsy young man who wasn’t about to let Corbeil off easy by lobbing softballs at him in his first press conference as an NLL captain. His question,“What are the goals for the team?” brought applause from the players in the dressing room and gave Corbeil the opportunity to set his team’s course for 2014, “Well, this season I think anything less than a championship would be a failure. We set the bar pretty high but I think we’ve got the guys to do it.”
Kris Partington fell in love with lacrosse as soon as he picked up a stick. Over the last 20 years he has played, coached and refereed in the Edmonton area and is always looking for a way to promote Canada’s Original National Sport. In 2013 he began promoting the Alberta Junior A Lacrosse League on Facebook and Twitter (@ABJrALax) and covered the Minto Cup at iconic Queen’s Park Arena in New Westminster. He continues to play year round, is a dedicated member of Relics Lacrosse and will always be a St. Albert Ram at heart.
You can give him a follow on Twitter @partytown25, e-mail him your thoughts at partytownlax@gmail.com and subscribe to his Spreaker account at www.spreaker.com/partytownlax
