The Six Nations Chiefs and Victoria Shamrocks are two of the most historic lacrosse teams in all of North America, but this trip to the Mann Cup has been a long time coming.
The Chiefs were a dynasty in the nineties, winning Mann Cups in 1994, 1995 and 1996. The Chiefs came into existence in 1992 and became a dynasty quickly, and in 1996 they actually swept the Shamrocks.. Since then the Chiefs have not sniffed a Mann Cup. Meanwhile, the Victoria Shamrocks won one in 2005, but after that Brampton and Peterborough have won one every season.
This Mann Cup creates an atmosphere of parity now that we will see a new champion for the first time in eight years. It also means that the Mann Cup might be brought back west for the first time in those eight seasons.
“This is the trophy you grow up as a Canadian hoping to win,” Rhys Duch told the Victoria Times Columnist about playing for his first Mann Cup. “Sure NLL [National Lacrosse League] championships are great and maybe that is the elite league, but this is the one you grow up watching and this is the one you ultimately want to win.”
This season the Shamrocks were 11-7 and second place in the Western Lacrosse Association. They have gone 8-2 in the playoffs and have not lost in four games at home. They are hosting this entire series.
“We’d love to win it back in the West.” said Shamrocks star Jeff Shattler to the Times Columnist. “It’s been in the East for a while, but we’d love to be the first team to bring it back. We’re going to plan on bringing it home.”
There are some other interesting storylines in this series- Six Nations defender Ian Llord is a former Shamrock and top goalie Matt Vinc of the Shamrocks played in net for the Chiefs in 2012, along with Rhys Duch.
Jesse King will be given the opportunity to play for the Mann Cup as Ohio State has given permission according to Island News Sports. Corey Small remains out with a torn ACL.
Evan Kirk of the Chiefs has a perfect 8-0 record in these playoffs as the starter in net the entire way. They swept the Brooklin Redmen and the Kitchener-Waterloo Kodiaks. Meanwhile, Colin Doyle of the Chiefs is searching for a whopping four Mann Cup titles. The Chiefs are loaded offensively, but can they beat a ‘Rocks team led b Vinc in net?
