Deadlocked in virtually every single way with the Peterborough Lakers, the Victoria Shamrocks may be closer to bringing lacrosse’s holy grail back to the west coast since they last did so in 2005. But a cautionary tale for the Shamrocks lies ahead, who led the Six Nations Chiefs 2-1 in the past two Mann Cup’s, only to lose three straight games both years. Just one goal separates the two team’s…
The Trip Today was an off day, so there was no game to watch. Most of the fans went sightseeing. I walked around downtown Victoria with my dad for several hours, visiting Chinatown, the Empress Hotel, Miniature World, and the inner harbour area. Being by the water was so peaceful. It was so obvious how much of a tourist destination Victoria is—there were about eight shops between our hotel and…
The Peterborough Lakers did what they do best en route to a 14-7 win over the Victoria Shamrocks Saturday night in front of another sold out crowd at The Q Centre. The best-of-seven series is now tied at one as the two teams take a day off before playing three games in three days starting Monday. All games are at 7 pm PST. The Lakers utilized quick ball movement and…
“Peterborough finds a way to get under your skin.” – Bob Heyes, head coach, Victoria Shamrocks The Trip It’s Saturday, right? Well, Sunday as I type this now. Not much to report on our trip as I stayed up so late last night writing that I slept in and missed a morning drive around town to sightsee. I’m okay with that; I needed the sleep. But here I am again…
The Trip I’m working on hour 36 of being awake now (although this isn’t necessarily accurate as I did squeak in two one our naps during this time period). I took my first plane ride today. I went from cab to bus to plane to bus to boat to bus, from Oshawa, Ontario, to Victoria, British Columbia. All for lacrosse. All for the Peterborough Lakers, who are back in the…
They’re looking like the best bet to bring the Mann out west in years. An entire decade spans the time it’s taken for a BC team to win the pinnacle of box lacrosse. With the way Victoria flew through it with such ease, the Island might be the figurative and literal end of the line for this year’s Mann Cup. The Shamrocks capped off a dominant postseason with the systematic…
It was a fantastic ending to a great WLA season, spearheaded by a three-team race for the final two playoff spots between Langley, Maple Ridge, and Burnaby. The teams all finished with a 9-9 record, but the Lakers were left behind as a result of the WLA’s very confusing goal formula. Losing by a goal to New Westminster ultimately sealed Burnaby’s fate, and they can always wonder what could have…
Statistics in lacrosse have often gone undervalued, without much attention paid to anything more than goals, assists and saves. Although statistics can appear complicated to those who have never focused in on them, they’re just numbers in the end. But those numbers have underlying benefits as they can help give an explanation or a narrative to a question as simple as “what happened?” Consider that the difference between Coquitlam and…
Connor Goodwin, Maple Ridge Burrards The fifth overall selection in February’s WLA Draft, Goodwin has stepped in as an immediate contributor to the Burrards offence. He’s given Ridge another lefty who can operate without the ball, he has size and is a good playmaker for his age. Goodwin’s play really started to take off when Dan Taylor was signed; the duo have taken attention away from the right handers like…
1. Eli McLaughlin – Nanaimo Timbermen McLaughlin came into his rookie season in the WLA after a stellar rookie season in the NLL that saw him pick up 38 points in 17 games with the Colorado Mammoth. McLaughlin hasn’t slowed down much four games into his WLA career, averaging two points per game thus far. This week got off to a slow start for McLaughlin however, tallying just an assist…