July 21, 2007

NEWS OUT OF THE EAST

The unthinkable has happened out east – something nobody would have predicted has come to fruition – the defending Mann Cup Champions Peterborough Lakers have slipped to 2nd place – there is a new sheriff in town folks – the upstart Barrie Lakeshores sit atop the standings in a very close race which will go right down to the last week of the season. Barrie has quietly gone about their business very efficiently and have been under the radar sort of speak all season long – nobody talks about them as being a contender for the Mann Cup – but now they have put the entire lacrosse community on alert. Barrie is a very young and talented club built on speed – their run and gun style of play emphasizes solid transition play and outworking and out hustling their opponents. The club has no shortage of NLL superstars with Buffalo Bandits transition wizard Mark Steenhuis leading the way offensively while snipers Luke Wiles, Sean Greenhalgh, Chris Driscoll and Chad Culp can fill the net with the best of them. The Lakeshores are rock solid between the pipes as Arizona Sting stopper Rob Blasdell is having a stellar season. Barrie had 2 huge games this past week against the underachieving Brookin Redmen and 3rd place Brampton and the outcome was victory in both encounters. The blue, red and white machine traveled to Whitby on July 11th and won 13-11 in a hard fought, tight affair. Youngster Nathan Sanderson led the troops with a hat-trick while veteran standouts Steenhuis and Driscoll each had 3 point nights. Shawn Williams ( who leads the MLL in scoring with a whopping 86 points) led the Redmen with a 5 goal night while NLL studs Gavin Prout and Jeff Zywicki each had 6 point outings in a losing cause. On July 15th the two teams challenging Peterborough for the league title – the Brampton Excelsiors and Barrie Lakeshores met with the winner leapfrogging Peterborough into sole possession of 1st place and it was Barrie at home coming out on top in convincing fashion by a score of 10-6. Chad Culp was the game’s first star scoring 4 goals while Mark Steenhuis had a 6 point night and young gun Luke Wiles chipped in with 5 assists. Rob Blasdell was a wall in net keeping Brampton’s array of superstars at bay and also managed to contribute offensively with 3 assists for the victors. John Harasym led Brampton with a 3 goal, 2 assist performance while former Adanac Josh Sanderson banged in 2 goals in defeat. All was not doom and gloom for the Excelsiors as they met the star studded gang from Peterborough 3 nights earlier and in dramatic fashion the Excelsiors pulled off the huge upset beating the Lakers on Peterborough soil by an 8-7 count. The win was even more impressive as both Tracy Kelusky and John Grant were both in the lineup for Peterborough. Top notch defender Brodie Merrill led the Excelsiors offensively with 3 goals while Jeff Shattler contributed 5 assists for the Excelsiors. The stifling Brampton defense led by brothers Brodie and Patrick Merrill, Cam Woods and Steve Penny managed to hold the human highlight film reel John Grant to a measly 1 goal. In addition to losing the game, Peterborough’s Tracy Kelusky suffered a knee injury and its not known how long he will be out for. The turtle derby battle for the final playoff spot between the Brooklin Redmen and Kitchener-Waterloo Kodiaks will go right down to the last game of the season – on paper Brooklin is a much superior club in all facets but they have been snake bit this year and can’t find a way to pull games out. Kitchener-Waterloo hosted Six Nations last week in a game they needed to have if they are to catch the Redmen and it was Kitchener beating the Chiefs 11-8 with Kasey Beirnes and Ryan Benesch leading the way offensively with 5 and 4 point nights respectively. Brooklin has 7 points with 1 game left on the road in Brampton while the Kodiaks have 6 points with 2 games left – at home to Brampton and away to Six Nations. Kitchener controls its own destiny.

TONIGHTS OPPONENT – VICTORIA SHAMROCKS

Who would have thunk it? The WLA Mann Cup representatives for the past 5 years are on the verge of not making the playoffs. The Shamrocks currently sit in last place with 9 points and pretty much have to win all 4 of their remaining games to have a shot at the playoffs –as it sits now it’s a long shot at best. Victoria lost many key players from last season including all-star goalie Anthony Cosmo, key defender Andy Turner as well as gunners Kelly Hall, Sean Pollock, Derek Malawsky, Ryder Bateman, Nolan Heavenor and Tyler Heavenor to name a few – obviously big shoes to fill. The Shamrocks are led offensively by the “Big 3” – Dan Dawson, Lewis Ratcliff and Callum Crawford while the rest of the team consists of mostly first year players who are getting their first taste of WLA ball. The Adanac/Shamrock rivalry is one of the fiercest in Canadian box lacrosse – tonight’s tilt should be a gem.

2 MINUTES IN THE BOX WITH STEVE McKINLAY

Most memorable moment in your career – Drafted to the Adanacs
In my spare time I like to - Read
Favorite midnight snack - Pizza
Favorite TV show - Seinfeld
Hardest hitter in the game today – Gary Bining
Funniest teammate you ever had – Trent Smalley
Favorite vacation spot - Whistler
Best goalie in lacrosse today – Dallas Eliuk
Favorite sport besides lacrosse - Hockey
CD in your car – Best of the Beach Boys
Biggest influence in your lacrosse career – Curt Malawsky
Best trash talker – Rod Jensen
Favorite Rock Band - Metallica
Most talented offensive player in the game today – Colin Doyle
Favorite movie of all-time - Braveheart
Pre-game meal - Pasta
Your most overused saying – You’re Beat

I’M OUT………