Interesting evening of games – results were not quite as expected – a sign of change in the LMLHL power structure or just a random data point.
In the first game Team Juniors started strong with a quick goal 10 seconds in but Team Bill came back hard. New addition Brent Yost put in a couple of nice goals to help put Team Bill up by 5 but Team Juniors fought back with a couple of goals near the end of the period – at the end of the 1, Team Bill led 6-3. The 2nd period was mostly Team Juniors – scoring 4 while only allowing 1, the period ending with the teams tied at 7. Team Bill seemed to have the faceoff thing figured out for a few minutes at the start of the 3rd, winning a couple of draws cleanly and scoring on the subsequent quick breaks to pull ahead by 2. After that flurry of goals, both teams settled down, each scoring 1. With Team Bill carefully managing the last few minutes to hold on to a 2 goal lead the game ended with a final score Team Bill 10 – Team Juniors 8. Overall, a quick, fast paced game with both teams looking very strong and competent (not a descriptor usually applied to London Masters lacrosse teams!). The victory wasn’t enough to lift Team Bill out of the basement but the points race is tightening up and interesting roster developents are on the horizon. Rumours are swirling that Jon Low is contemplating coming out of retirement as early as next week – this can only make Team Bill even stronger….BUT….salary cap issues may require releasing one of their high priced free agents to a team with more cap space. We’ll have to see if TSN will set aside some broadcast time to cover LMLHL free agent/trading deadline activity…probably not.
A number of questions were front and center going in to the 2nd game – could Team Blair maintain their unbeaten record for 2015? Could Team Russ remain competitive with their top scorers injured or playing hurt? ProLine had Team Blair at +1.5 going in but things changed quickly once the game started. Moving Russ back to mainly defense and with the late (as usual) arrival of the JKOW, the game was definitely on. With Jason relegated to a setup position Team Russ’s younger speedsters were allowed to show their prowess – a couple of goals from the Reed twins and multiple pretty goals from Dylan English set Team Blair back on its heels. At the end of 1, Team Russ was up 6-2 and in the 2nd, despite a solid wakeup (or bell ringing) shot to the goalies’ head, Team Blair was only able to score 1 leaving Team Russ still up 6-3 heading in to the final frame. Team Blair started the 3rd with a couple of quick goals but stingy (and arguably close to the line..not saying which side of the line) defense kept the game close and Team Blair started showing signs of frustration. With the game close and competitive, tempers flared and some chirping started to surface. The refs finally had enough and a couple of penalties were called but tempers boiled over and Jeff W. was ejected for …expressing his opinion a bit too forcefully…! A late delay of game penalty against Team Russ made the game interesting but solid ball control and an empty net goal ran out the clock for a hard earned victory – final score Team Russ 9 – Team Blair 6.
All the runner’s pinnies are now in and distributed. I have posted the numbers that I have recorded as being issued on the roster page and will also list the numbers/sizes that are still available. Please let me know if my numbering records are incorrect. Initial indications are that there were a few players with a somewhat biased/rose coloured/dated view of their body self image – size MEDIUM…really? Let me know over the next week or so if your pinnie is really too small and we might be able to get it physically modified – add a couple of inches in side panels and maybe a strip along the bottom. Could also switch out a few mediums for larges but we are somewhat limited in the number of additional large pinnies available. Going forward it would be good if you can remember to bring your pinnie to each game – wearing blue or white when everyone else is green or grey should result in some serious mockery for your sense of colour/style or ability to pack your equipment bag/dress yourself without parental/spousal assistance.
Heading in to the AllStar break, next is week #9 – Wednesday June 24, 2015 Kinsmen Arena
Team Blair vs. Team Bill 8:00pm – 9:00pm
Team Juniors vs. Team Russ 9:00pm – 10:00pm
With their first loss of the season, can Team Blair get back on track or will they implode and self destruct as was the case last year? With recent roster additions and possible impending changes, is a rebuilt Team Bill ready to make some noise? Is the Team Juniors’ 2 game losing streak random or can they return to 2014 championship form heading in to the mid season break? Will revised roles for the Team Russ veterans make the team strong enough to continue to be in the running? How will available free agents change overall league dynamics? See you all next week to find the answers.
ABOUT US page edited to provide more and updated info on LML travel/tournament team information
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