You may have heard of Marty O’Neill. He was a goaltender in the NLL in the 1990s, has been an NLL GM, most recently with the Minnesota Swarm, and is currently a lacrosse reporter. I got a chance to catch up with him and talk lacrosse with one of the greatest minds in the game.
MI: The draft is months away but the prospects are always interesting. Who are some names of note we could see?
MO: For the draft prospects, it’s an ongoing issue again this coming draft for many NLL teams. Not enough offensive lefties or lefties with size.
Enter Logan Schuss.
Projected #1 prospect is Jeremy Noble, a smallish lefty but destined to be special. Add Schuss, Zach Palmer, Tor Rienholt and Brody Eastwood to the lefty mix with fellow islander Casey Jackson and this draft offers more than 2012 did on the lefty “O” side.
The righties are very good again. Robert Church is a right handed re incarnation of Josh Sanderson himself. Carson Leung, Riley Lowen, Matt Cockerton and my personal fav Scott Jones round out some serious right handed offensive talent.
Defenders of note, Cameron Flint, Brandon Goodwin, Keegan Ball, JJ LaForet and Garrett McIntosh round out the players I know of after not scouting for a couple of years. Acton Reid, Kyle Lindsay, Mitch Wilde and Jordan Houtby come from some good stock, and may be top round picks.
Goaltending is shored up with Dillon Ward, Alex Buque, Warren Hill and Blake Duncan.
Sleeper picks are James Delaney, Mitch McLaren and Matt Melnyk.
MI: What is the state of the NLL right now?
MO: As for the state of the game….in the NLL….
On the field I think the game is at an all time high as far as a product and the way it is being directed by the league, the referees and the players themselves who are a breed apart from the past.
The game is all about speed and talent which makes for exciting lacrosse. People still want to complain about NLL refereeing and that is part and parcel with the sport. It has gotten better and league directives such as instant replays and reviews have impacted the proper decisions being made for a better league. Teams are ultra competitive and very rarely do we get a dud of a game.
The bad news, attendance. Teams are holding tight on attendance but nothing positive going on is dictating an upward trend in attendance or new franchises. This year there was no attrition in teams and we can continue to hope that this type of stability will attract some new teams and more opportunity to gain a major sponsorship deal. I get the feeling some teams are cutting corners to save on arena rent and operations to balance their budgets because they lack the ability to draw in their home markets and they are tired of trying new marketing ideas. I hope that is not the case. The NHL coming back in January was not a good thing for the NLL this year.
MI: What about Canadian lacrosse?
MO: As for Sr. A and Canadian lax in general I offer this perspective.
I don’t follow Senior lacrosse in Canada very closely because it isn’t important to me in the grand scheme of things. It’s a money grab for many players and a business of haves and have nots. The playing field isn’t level. That is a statement that is true. I’m not blaming the teams or the players for what it has become.
The difference between the NLL /MLL and all other lacrosse leagues is that they are regulated by a board of their own members and rules can’t be bent or made to suit a certain part of the association or country. The buying and selling of players in Ontario Lacrosse is out of hand and B.C certainly isn’t without issue. The CLA/OLA does most of it’s work behind closed doors and nothing will change with people in paid positions protecting their jobs as the first order.
As for the teams themselves obviously Peterborough is a dominating team. Thinking about this question leads me to a revelation about mens box lacrosse in Canada in general. Look at the age of many Peterborough players.
The Evans brothers, JGjr, Kelusky, Self bros, White, Laverty, Sharp, Carey, Stienhuis, Gibson, Wasson -McQuiggy, Tavares, Culp, Thompson are all old or getting old together. Some are already done. There has been little room for upward mobility in the last decade of senior A lacrosse Canada wide.
MI: What about the WLA?
MO: There are only a few players getting a shot a playing a regular shift in any contending Senior A lacrosse market. Six Nations, Brampton and Peterborough and now Brooklin are stacked with NLL talent. Out West same could almost be said for Langley, Coquitlam, Victoria and New Westminster.
That leaves Burnaby, Maple Ridge and Nanaimo as WLA destinations for younger talents to get a good unpaid gig with. We’ve seen Curtis Dickson, Ryan Benesch, Jordan McIntosh, Jarret Davis and others use these minutes to speed their growth and excel at the NLL level.
Out east Kitchener has been a turnstile of players every year but there has never been a shortage of young NLL talent in their existance. Still, this team has survived on the selling of players to make budget year after year. Ajax is starting to follow suit and so it doesn’t seem they will ever get to the point of competing for a championship in the MSL.
Because these leagues cater to NLL talent the seasons become very uninteresting with a lack of commitment to do anything other than make the playoffs. Then the real leagues begin.
MI: How do you feel about the other pro leagues?
MO: I have huge respect for CLax and NALL if only for the reason that I know there is less talent but I know everyone is working hard and no one is taking vacation days or getting paid to make an appearance. This is where at least 5 years of backlogged talent is working their trade trying to get ready for the slim chance they may have to get an NLL tryout and make an NLL team.
For Senior A lacrosse to work in Canada again it needs to get a backbone and figure out some rules to level the playing field at this level. An NLL quota is one thought, exiling all NLL players with 10 years of NLL experience is another, and profit sharing as a last resort to aid teams who are in need and keep the rich teams honest.
MI: What isn’t working with Jr A right now?
MO: Ontario Junior A has to stop the selling of players at the half season mark, its becoming a joke. Legitimate trades are Ok, money changing hands is not. B.C and Alberta have dipped their toes in this pond too. If you want to win, you have to match your opponents and again Junior A lacrosse is mimicking the Seniors as to the haves and have nots.
It’s not working, and the sport is suffering in growth because of much of what I’ve talked about. The sport has lost the momentum it created for itself in Canada back in the 2000’s when the Toronto Rock were driving registration canada wide. That is a whole other story un to itself.
