There are some new additions in green and some things with a veteran emerald tinge. A bit of everything will greet Victoria Shamrocks fans Friday night at 7:30 at The Q Centre as the club opens the 2018 Western Lacrosse Association season, the 69th in franchise history, against the Burnaby Lakers.
Shamrocks rookies include Dan Smith, a rocket-fast forward out of the Junior Shamrocks and NCAA Div. 1 field-lacrosse at Robert Morris. Tyson Gibson, first-team all-conference with Robert Morris, was twice a first-team all-star in the Ontario Junior ‘A’ League with Brampton, and is another Shamrocks rookie of note.
“Our fans got a glimpse of Dan Smith’s speed, and what he can do, [last year as a call-up]. And Gibson has more dimension[s] to his game than only high-point production and has a bright future,” Shamrocks GM Chris Welch said.
For proven scorers, the Shamrocks will look to veterans Rhys Duch and Jesse King. The former is one of the greats to ever wear the Shamrock, and the latter an outstanding all-rounder who came out of Claremont Secondary to play NCAA field lacrosse in the Big Ten for the Ohio State Buckeyes.
“Rhys Duch is rejuvenated and ready to go and wants to make up for the disappointment of last year [when injuries limited his contribution],” said Shamrocks GM Chris Welch.
He will have to because the Shamrocks need to replace the points lost by scoring machine Corey Small — twice WLA scoring champion and four-time WLA all-star during his time in Victoria — who has returned to play in his native Ontario.
The secondary scoring will come from Chris Wardle and Casey Jackson, both coming off successful seasons in the professional National Lacrosse League with the Colorado Mammoth and Vancouver Stealth, respectively.
The engine room is represented by the likes of Matt Yager, Greg Harnett and Ben McCullough. Look for a quick breakouts from this group.
“Everybody on our back end can absolutely wheel,” Welch said.
“That gives us overall team speed.”
It was good enough to get Victoria to the WLA final in 2017 for the fifth consecutive season, before losing in five games to New Westminster. The Salmon-bellies were subsequently denied their first Mann Cup national championship since 1991 by the Ontario champion Peterborough Lakers.
Welch has an answer for those who see the Shamrocks as now being on the backslope descent from what had been a sturdy five-year ascent. Victoria was WLA champion three years running, losing in the Mann Cup national final in 2013 and 2014, before rising to win the national title in 2015, the ninth Mann Cup championship in team history.
The Shamrocks again reached the WLA final in 2016, only to lose in six games to Maple Ridge, as the Burrards made their first Mann Cup appearance since 1990. Victoria was again in the league final last year, but was stymied by the historic Salmonbellies franchise that appears resurgent after a fallow period.
“We are rebuilding as we go, but a huge chunk of our core remains intact,” said Welch.
Fans will have to wait to see the Shamrocks’ biggest off-season addition. Rob Hellyer, who played last season for Oakville of the Ontario Major Series, is one of the top offensive threats in the game today. The 25-year-old from Lion’s Head, Ont., has 154 goals and 272 assists for 426 points in 89 career pro NLL games with the Toronto Rock. In Senior ‘A’ action with Oakville, he has amassed 145 points in only 44 games.
The former Minto Cup-winning junior star with the Orangeville, Ont., Northmen will not be available to Victoria until the second home game June 3 against the Salmonbellies.
Welch has also indicated another big-name signing is imminent, saying only it is a “familiar name [in the sport].”
The Shamrocks are No. 5 in the pre-season national Senior ‘A’ rankings behind Peterborough, New Westminster, Six Nations and Burnaby.
Tonight’s opener is a rematch of the 2017 WLA playoff semifinal between Burnaby and Victoria, won in seven games by the Shamrocks. The Lakers won their first WLA regular-season title in franchise history last year, as four-time previous regular-season champion Victoria slid to fourth place.
Both Victoria and Burnaby are missing some players, most notably the fine Robert Church of the Lakers, to the 2018 NLL pro final being played between the Saskatchewan Rush and Rochester Nighthawks.
