June 9, 2007

NEWS FROM THE EAST

The Brampton Excelsiors have shot out of the gate with an impressive 5-0 record and sit atop the MSL standings while sending a strong message early in the season that they means serious business this year. Despite losing all-star sniper Colin Doyle to the Adanacs out west, the Excelsiors are stacked with big-time talent in the likes of Josh Sanderson, Aaron Wilson, Blaine Manning, Dan Teat, Cam Woods, Pat McReady, Jeff Shattler and Anthony Cosmo as they seek to dethrone last year’s Mann Cup Champions the Peterborough Lakers. The wildcard for the Excelsiors will be the play of all-star goalie Anthony Cosmo – if he gets on a roll and gets in that groove come playoff time Brampton just might give the heavy favorites from Peterborough more than they can chew. This past week, the Excelsiors went on the road and defeated the Six Nations Chiefs 9-7 followed by a convincing 12-8 win in Kitchener against the Kodiaks. The hero for Brampton against the Chiefs was Calgary Roughneck Jeff Shattler with a 4 goal performance while Cam Woods and John Harasym each chipped in with a double. Against the Kodiaks from Kitchener-Waterloo, former Adanac Josh Sanderson had one of his routine days at the office with an 11 point night – 3 goals and 8 assists while another former Adanac Aaron Wilson chipped with 3 goals and 4 assists. As of June 4th, there is a 3 way tie for 2nd place between St. Regis, Brooklin and Peterborough each of whom have 4 points however, Peterborough have only played 2 games winning them both while St. Regis and Barrie have played 3 and 5 games respectively. The Brooklin Redmen finally had their full roster for their May 30th tilt against Six Nations and handed the Chiefs their dinner with a convincing 15-10 victory. Another former Adanac Shawn Williams led the Redmen with a 7 point night while Colorado Mammoth team captain Gavin Prout and San Jose sharpshooter Jeff Zywicki each made their Brooklin debuts with 4 point games. Look for Brooklin to be a strong contender down the stretch as Prout, Zywicki, Williams, Toll, Driscoll and company are a scarry bunch that nobody wants to play against. The game of the week in the MSL this past week was the clash between the powerful Peterborough Lakers and Whitby Ontario’s Brooklin Redmen and it was the Lakers taking it by a 15-8 thrashing. Despite playing without two key players, Tracey Kelusky and Ryan Cousins, Peterborough had an easy time of things as Dan Carey and Jason Clark each had 5 point nights while Josh Wasson and Scott Evans chipped in with 2 goals apiece. John Grant had a sub par game with only a goal and two assists which served as a reminder of just how deep and ridiculously skilled this Lakers team is – is it possible that the Lakers run the table and go undefeated?
The Barrie Lakeshores played their home opener on June 3rd against the Darris Kilgour coached St.Regis Indians and in a blowout Barrie came out on top 16-9. Barrie was led offensively by Buffalo Bandits transition ace Mark Steenhuis who had a 6 goal and 5 assist night while Chad Thompson and Luke Wiles both contributed 5 points in the victory. Barrie will be a formidable opponent all season long with the likes of NLL stars Mark Steenhuis, Kevin Fines, Luke Wiles, Chad Thompson, Chad Culp and goalie Rob Blaisdell but they are a long-shot to make the big show in September. The two cellar dwellers this season are the Kitchener-Waterloo Kodiaks and the Six Nations Chiefs with Kitchener sitting in 6th with a 1-4 record while the Chiefs are in the basement at 0-4. In other MSL news, four days after getting hammered by Peterborough, the Brooklin Redmen addressed their goaltending troubles by making a blockbuster trade as they acquired veteran standout goalie Bob Watson from St. Regis in exchange for the underrated Pat Madeleena.

TONIGHT'S OPPONENT

The rebuilding Nanaimo Timbermen are off to a great start with a 3-1 record, good for 3rd place in the tight WLA standings. Nanaimo’s big offseason acquisition was picking up goalie Matt King from the Burrards in exchange for Shawn Cable. King leads the WLA with an outstanding 6.50 goals against average and was particularly sharp in an 11-8 road victory over their island rivals the Victoria Shamrocks. Offensively the Timbermen are led by Calgary Roughneck veteran sniper Kaleb Toth as well as Scott Ranger who had a breakout season with Calgary this past winter. This is Nanaimo’s third season in the WLA and the club has already matched their total number of wins from last year at 3. Will this be the year the Timbermen make the playoffs for the first time?

2 MINUTES IN THE BOX WITH DALLAS ELIUK

Most memorable moment in your lacrosse career – 2001 Mann Cup
In my spare time I like to – Work out
Favorite midnight snack – Cotton candy ice cream
Favorite TV show – D’Ali G show
Hardest hitter in the game today – Scott Whitley
Funniest teammate you ever had – Jason Wulder
Favorite vacation spot – Universal Orlando
Best goalie in lacrosse today – Dwight Maetche
Favorite sport besides lacrosse – MXE (most extreme challenge)
CD in your car – Tool
Biggest influence in your lacrosse career – Dave Evans
Favorite rock band – Rush
Most talented offensive player in the game today – John Grant Jr
Eating M&M’s or listening to Eminem – Eating M&M’s
Favorite road arena in the NLL – Pepsi Center

I’M OUT……