July 14, 2007

NEWS OUT OF THE EAST

Well with 3 weeks remaining in the season there is a new 2nd place team – the underrated Barrie Lakeshores have leapfrogged the mighty Brampton Excelsiors into second spot by a single point and are right on the heels of the top dog Peterborough Lakers. The Lakeshores from Barrie are led by the consistent goaltending of Arizona Sting Rob Blaisdel and the scoring of young guns Mark Steenhuis, Luke Wiles, Sean Greenhalgh and Chad Culp. With a 10-4 record Barrie is only 1 point back of 1st place Peterborough albeit the Lakers have a game in hand. Barrie had an important tilt against the surging 4th place John Tavares led St. Regis Indians last Sunday and came out on top 11-7 at home. Transition extraordinaire Mark “whose house” Steenhuis had a 2 goal, 5 assist outing for the winners while Chad Culp and Nathan Sanderson each chipped in with a pair for the blue and white brigade from Barrie. The living legend John Tavares had a 4 point night for Indians while rookie phenom Brett Bucktooth scored a pair. Speaking of St.Regis – the team had a rather rough past 10 days, going 1-3 and unable to gain ground on the league leaders. The week started great for Darris Kilgour’s club as they defeated arguably the best team in Canada, the Peterborough Lakers 11-6 at home although the Lakers were extremely shorthanded, barely able to field a team. Two nights later was the rematch between the two clubs in Peterborough and in front of an entertained 3000 home fans, the Lakers got revenge with a thrilling 12-10 win. Playing without snipers John Grant and Tracey Kelusky, the Lakers received stellar performances from Dan Carey, Scott Self and Ryan Sharp who each gunned 2 goals with Self also chipping in with 4 assists. Former Salmonbellie Nick Trudeau led the Indians with 2 goals but the outstanding quartet of Kevin Dostie, Brett Bucktooth, Pat Maddalena and John Tavares were held to a single goal each. The misery for St. Regis continued later in the week as they traveled to Brampton and in a tight checking, low scoring affair the Indians suffered another loss 7-5. Former Adanacs Patrick Merrill and Josh Sanderson led the winners with 2 points each while Buffalo Bandits outstanding rookie Brett Bucktooth potted a pair of goals in a losing cause. A side note to the match is that the punishing Excelsior defense managed to hold future hall of famer John Tavares pointless – a tremendous accomplishment.

The battle for the last playoff spot will do right down to the wire between the underachieving, disappointing Brooklin Redmen and the last place Kitchener Waterloo Kodiaks. The Redmen have been the biggest enigma out east – loads of talent but their roster is a revolving door week to week as many of their big guns seem to be playing only a handful of games. Brooklin’s big 3 of Gavin Prout, Shawn Williams and Jeff Zywicki is as lethal of a threesome as anywhere in the country and with newly acquired Matt Roik between the pipes, the Redmen could do some serious damage come playoff time. The battle of the cellar dwellers took place last July 7th as the Redmen from Whitby hosted NLL rookie of the year Ryan Benesch and the rest of the Kitchener Waterloo Kodiaks in the first game of a home and home series. In the opener, the deadly trio of Williams, Zywicki and Prout scored 12 of Brooklin’s 14 goals en route to a 14-13 nail biter over the Kodiaks. Rochester Knighthawk sharpshooter Shawn Williams had another day at the office with a 5 goal, 4 assist performance while Kitchener rookie Ryan Benesch had 7 assists in a losing cause. The two teams met again the next night in Kitchener with a different outcome as the Kodiaks picked up just their 2nd win of the season with an 11-8 victory. The East is wide open – first place is up for grabs between Peterborough, Barrie and Brooklin while Kitchener and Brooklin fight it out for the last playoff spot.

TONIGHTS OPPONENT – NEW WESTMINSTER SALMONBELLIES

New Westminster is the class of the WLA this season sitting in first place with an impressive 11-1 record. The Bellies rebuilding plan has worked rather nicely consisting of astute drafting and several blockbuster trades. Offensively the team is led by former Coquitlam Junior Adanacs Athan Iannucci who is 2nd in league scoring as well as the quartet of Craig Conn, Chris Gill, Peter Morgan and Jordan Hall. Veteran goalie Matt Disher has been a rock between the pipes sporting the league’s best goals against average of 8.61. The Salmonbellies have a nice mix of veterans and youth as rookies Iliya Gajic, Cliff Smith and Bobby Snider have made big contributions in their first season in the big show.

2 MINUTES IN THE BOX WITH JESSIE PHILLIPS

Most memorable lacrosse moment – winning NLL title in 2004
In my spare time I like to – hang out at the local arcade
Favorite midnight snack – smoked oysters
Favorite TV show – All in the Family, Loveboat
Hardest hitter in the game today – Rob Kirkby
Funniest teammate you ever had – Brad MacDonald
Favorite vacation spot – Las Vegas
Best goalie in the game today – Cosmo
Favorite sport besides lacrosse – soccer
Biggest influence in your lacrosse career – Gary Billion, Frank Neilson
Best trash talker – Jimmy Quinlan
Most talented offensive player in the game today – Kelusky, Doyle
Favorite movie of all-time – Fast Times at Ridgemont High
Favorite road arena in the NLL – Colorado

I’M OUT………