Last year the Langley Thunder fell in five games to the Victoria Shamrocks in the WLA final. This was the first time in the last three years that the Thunder did not represent the WLA at the Mann Cup. The Thunder will once again look to dominate the WLA in 2014.
Going into the 2014 season Langley will hope that their defense can once again be the best in the WLA. In 2013 Langley’s defense allowed the fewest goals in the league allowing just 137 goals on the season which was 24 goals less than the WLA champion Victoria Shamrocks allowed all year. If the Thunder defense can once again be solid they will be in a great position to once again finish first in the WLA.
While Langley’s defense was good, their goaltending was great as Brodie MacDonald finished the 2013 season with an 8-3-2 record, a 7.51 Goals Against Average, and a .821 save percentage. MacDonald was first in every goaltending category in 2013 and will look to continue his strong play this season.
On offence the Thunder will look towards Shayne Jackson and Athan Iannucci to lead the team. Iannucci had 56 points on the season while Shayne Jackson had 49 points on the season. The Langley offense was great at spreading the ball around in 2013 as Langley had six players who had 20 or more points on the season.
The Thunder will be without Garrett Billings to start the season as he is suffering from an ACL tear that he suffered during the NLL season. The Thunder will hope that Kyle Belton will step up this season and improve upon his eight goals and 16 assists from 2013. If Langley can once again spread the ball around they should be able to find holes in most of the defences in the WLA.
2014 is shaping up to be another solid season for the Thunder as they should be competing for top spot in the league once again with Victoria and Burnaby.
