With the WLA season ready to kick off this Friday it seems like a good time to preview what the fans can expect to see this season in the WLA.
Last Year the Victoria Shamrocks finished in second of the WLA standings but they got a rude awakening in the playoffs as the Coquitlam Adanacs beat them in the playoffs. The good news for the Shamrocks is their team looks to be even better this year which is bad news for all the other teams in the WLA. The Shamrocks have added some superstars to their team in the form of Scott Ranger, Matt Vinc, and Cory Conway. Ranger notched a league high 92 points while Conway had 68 points. While Vinc just finished winning the Champions cup and was also named the 2013 NLL Goalie of the year. With the Addition of Ranger and Conway the Shamrocks have five players that finished in the top ten in league scoring. Four of those players were in the top five in scoring last year. The Shamrocks should be able to reign supreme this season if Corey Small and Jeff Shattler play like they did in 2012 and with the additions they have made the Shamrocks are the clear favorite heading into this season.
The reigning WLA champions the Langley Thunder will have their work cut out for them this season. The Thunder have lost Lewis Ratcliff for the season due to suspension. The Thunder will be looking towards Athan Ianucci, Joel McCready and Shayne Jackson. The Thunder though are also hoping to get NLL rookie phenom Mark Matthews but they will need to work out a deal with the Brooklin Redmen in order for him to play as the Redmen have his rights. The Thunder will be in tough this year but they have proven before that they may bend but they won’t break.
The next team to look at is the Coquitlam Adanacs. The Adanacs were last year’s Cinderella story as they rode on the stellar play of WLA MVP Nick Rose all the way to the WLA final. The Adanac’s added some offensive depth this summer signing Jeff Zywicki and Jesse Guerin. The bad news is last year’s leading scorer for the Adanacs Dane Dobbie is out due to injury for at least the first few games of the season. The team will also be without defenseman Kevin Olson who is not playing this year. The Adanacs still have Daryl Veltman and their new additions should help them be competitive even without Dobbie in the lineup. The Adanacs won’t surprise any teams this year but they should have a solid season.
The Rest of the WLA field is really as toss up as the Maple Ridge Burrards are still rebuilding after finishing last in 2012. While Nanaimo lost two of their top scorers so they will also be likely to be at the bottom of the pack once again. While Burnaby and New Westminster will be competitive but neither has the team to compete with Victoria or Langley. In the WLA though you never know as Coquitlam proved last year there is always the possibility of a Cinderella story. The WLA season kicks off May 17 at 7:00pm as the Burnaby Lakers take on the Nanaimo Timbermen and at 7:45pm the Victoria Shamrocks take on the Coquitlam Adanacs.
