Season previews seem to be the most objectionable piece of sports writing out there these days (I’ll concede that a lot of the time it’s true), but they do provide a framework for a season preview. It’s somewhat easier to do so given there’s only seven teams in the WLA – not to mention the fact that Shamrocks have been the benchmark for the past couple seasons – but given the turnover summer lacrosse usually sees, it serves a purpose.
Victoria will surely be the team to beat once more, oozing with offensive talent and big game experience, but what’s more interesting is who can contend beyond that. The landscape is a murky one at best, as many teams have chosen to re-tool their rosters with more youth in the past few WLA drafts. Youth was one of the big factors in Maple Ridge’s push for the WLA championship last summer, and it seems to be the blueprint most teams are following.
Depth is crucial in a summer lacrosse season because, well, it’s summer. Guys have work commitments, travel is a hinderance, and that’s when families have the ability to vacation. Teams need to work around that, and many of them have addressed it through the draft. Sometimes we won’t be able to get a proper read on how good a team is until it’s too late.
There are some increased expectations for teams like Burnaby and New Westminster. It’s suffice to say that both clubs expect to take that next step and challenge Victoria for a Mann Cup appearance.
Maple Ridge had a valiant effort and may have created a little rivalry with the Victoria Shamrocks. They are a nasty piece of business every night and get good goaltending from Frankie Scigliano. Riley Loewen and Ben McIntosh are great building pieces, and the team should be able to survive Curtis Dickson’s move to Peterborough. Dickson played just five regular season games but had 10 goals and was an integral piece in the Burrards beating the Lakers in the playoffs.
The Lakers have a quality team after suffering some down years. They’ll look to bounce back after bowing out to Maple Ridge and should be aided by the breakout season of Tyler Digby with the Stealth. They boast some dangerous offensive weapons beyond Digby – Dane Stevens, Casey Jackson and Robert Church are all smart bets to have good seasons.
The ‘Bellies didn’t score enough last year but played good enough defence to ease those concerns. If Logan Schuss and Cliff Smith can get a few more games under their belt – Schuss is a more complicated situation with his MLL commitment – than New Westminster will be much improved. The draft gave them the opportunity to draft high character players (Gillespie, Goodwin, Takahara, McDougall, etc) that’ll add to a highly skilled group.
After dominating the WLA for a few seasons but never getting over the hump, the Langley Thunder are an intriguing team. They drafted Anthony Malcolm, Jacob Doucet, Brendan Mykle-Winkler and Tyler Buchan who can all contribute right away. Brodie MacDonald had another impressive summer, allowing 8.50 goals per game with an 81 per cent save rate, and he’s one of the league’s more consistent goaltenders. Langley had a large percentage of their offense produced through Alex Turner (34-36-70), Athan Iannucci (25-33-58) and Tyler Melynk (21-13-34), which should be more spread out with Malcolm, Mykle-Winkler and Buchan.
The island’s “other” team might be primed to make some noise this campaign after adding six players in the first two rounds of the WLA Draft, held on Feb. 12. With the never-say-die attitude Kaleb Toth has instilled into the team, the T-Men now have the reinforcements needed to be consistent night in and night out.
Nanaimo did hold the first overall pick and thus the chance to bring in a potential franchise changing player in Wes Berg, but the Coquitlam Adanacs made a strong push to keep Berg’s services in his hometown. In return, Nanaimo brought in a king’s ransom for the right to pick first: they simply dropped down to the second overall slot and got the ninth overall pick in the process; a third in 2016 and a first in 2017; and Brett Hickey, who was fourth in WLA scoring.
Coquitlam sacrificed a lot for Berg, especially in the midst of a rebuilding phase, but Berg is a cornerstone player for their lacrosse club and a marketable player in the community. With their top two scorers traded in Brett Hickey and Daryl Veltman, the A’s will need Berg and second rounder Corey Shires to be point producers. Brandon Bull will be an interesting addition with his size and tenacity, but Coquitlam will need to overachieve to be able to get into the playoffs this season. In the end, that may not be what they want anyway.
For me, I think Victoria and Burnaby will have quality regular seasons and not much should change in the overall landscape. I’ll make one bold prediction, however: if Nanaimo can get mainland guys like McLaughlin and Dobray to commit, the Timbermen will surprise people. I think they get into the last spot of the playoffs. Let’s see if their plan comes to fruition.
The WLA’s youth movement has spread all over, a sign of growth for a league trying to bring back Mann Cup supremacy to the west coast. Suffice to say, the WLA is primed for a competitive, explosive season.
