 |
| Daryl Veltman is joining the Excelsiors after a trade between Brampton and the Cobourg Kodiaks. (Photo: Kevin Light Photography) |
The Brampton Excelsiors and Cobourg
Kodiaks have completed a trade of lefty forwards with the Excels
getting Daryl Veltman and the Kodiaks receiving Patrick
Saunders.
Veltman, who is currently playing for
the Buffalo Bandits and who recently moved back to Georgetown,
Ontario, has spent his entire eight-year senior career in the Western
Lacrosse Association. The first seven were with the Coquitlam Adanacs
but last year the Orangeville Jr A product joined the Victoria Shamrocks and helped them win
the Mann Cup.
Saunders also played out west last
summer, finishing third in the WLA in scoring while suiting up for
the Langley Thunder. He has also spent time with KW, Peterborough and
Brampton in MSL. Saunders scored 38 goals last year for the New
England Black Wolves in a breakout season and is establishing himself
as a consistently dangerous scoring threat.
“I think what we were looking for
really is to bolster our offence and with Pat Saunders we certainly
get that,” said Al Orth, one of the owners of the newly
minted Cobourg Kodiaks, who moved from Kitchener-Waterloo a week ago.
While Saunders may not be available to
the Kodiaks this year, they are hoping he will return from the west
coast to help the club in their pursuit to become more competitive in
their new home. The Kodiaks finished in last place a year ago.
“Daryl Veltman, we knew, wasn't
interested in playing for us for whatever reasons,” Orth said.
“This is really a swap of out of province players from Brampton's
list to our list. We think there's a tremendous upside for Pat. We
hope we can persuade him to play here, if not this year then in
coming years.”
For Brampton, the return is more
immediate as head coach Paul Stewart says Veltman is on board
for 2016. “While it was difficult to give up a 35-goal scorer in
the National Lacrosse League, in Daryl we are bringing in a talented
veteran who wants to play for us and is coming off a Mann Cup
season,” Stewart said. “He already has great chemistry with Dan
Dawson and has worked great with [2015 MSL rookie of the year]
Tyler Ferreira in Buffalo. I was excited when we made the
trade but after speaking to Daryl I am looking forward to the summer
even more.”
And yes, that was some more information
revealed in Stewart's quote. He does expect Dawson to be playing back
home in 2016. “Dan will be in our lineup this summer and his
leadership in getting our guys ready to show that last year wasn't a
fluke is incredible,” Stewart said. “As fas as players that other
guys in the league look up to and respect, Dan is in that very
exclusive class with guys like [Shawn Williams]. Having him
back is huge.”
