Redmen to Honour All-Time Great Shawn Williams Before Lacrosse Day in Durham Game Saturday

Shawn Williams playing for Brooklin. (Photo: Tim Prothero)

The Brooklin Redmen were already planning for “Lacrosse Day in Durham” and all that comes with a day full of lacrosse at Iroquois Park. As part of the festivities, the Redmen are excited to announce the honouring of long time Redmen player and all-time goals, assists, and points leader, former team captain #51 Shawn Williams.

As part of the celebration of Shawn’s career as a Redmen, he will sign a player’s card prior to the game and dress against the Cobourg Kodiaks. The Redmen, in agreement with their Jr. “A” affiliate, the Whitby Warriors, will also dress Shawn’s son Dyson as part of what shapes up to be a memorable evening.

 Williams was always a scoring threat, finishing in the top 10 in Major Series scoring in 1998, 2000, 2002, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2013, 2014, while capturing the Bucko McDonald Memorial Trophy as the top scorer in MSL in 1999 (90 PTS), 2001 (93 PTS) (co-winner), 2004 (124 PTS), 2007 (99 PTS), 2011 (120 PTS) and 2012 (80 PTS). Williams also captured the Jim Murphy Memorial Trophy as MSL MVP in 2005, 2007 and 2011. On July 26, 1999, Shawn set an MSL record for points in a game with 21 against the Ohsweken Wolves.

Lakers Down Chiefs in Battle of the Unbeatens

Ian Llord and the Lakers defence did what they had to do - including blocking shots like this one - to hold Six Nations in check as Peterborough won a battle of MSL's unbeaten teams 7-6 Thursday. (Photo: Kendall Taylor)

The matchup of Major Series Lacrosse leaders Thursday resembled a doughnut for the Peterborough Lakers: it was delicious on the outside but had a big hole in the middle.

The 3-0 Lakers jumped out to a 4-2 lead over the 5-0 Six Nations Chiefs in the first period, then saw that turn into a 6-4 deficit when they were able to score only once in a stretch of 39 minutes from late in the first to late in the third. They got things going in time to pull out a 7-6 win by scoring three goals in the final 2:20 for their fourth win and to become the only unbeaten team in the league.

Doug Luey Announced as MSL Interim Commissioner

Major Series Lacrosse has elected Doug Luey to serve as its interim commissioner.

Luey has dedicated much of his life to lacrosse and is currently the director of high performance and international relations for the Canadian Lacrosse Association. He was elected to the position by a unanimous vote of the league's governors at a recent meeting.

While he does not want to take on the position permanently, Luey is committed to helping MSL set a plan in place to help the league and all its teams thrive moving forward. He will manage the regular duties of the commissioner, including all player movement, while also heading the search for the right person to fill the role permanently.

"I look forward to working with Major Series Lacrosse governors in 2017 as Canada celebrates its 150th birthday and Canada's national summer sport celebrates the 150th year since the written rules of lacrosse were introduced," Luey says. 

Oakville Rock run away from Cobourg Kodiaks, winning season opener 13-5

These days, everyone in box lacrosse is looking for the next Tom Schreiber. Could the Oakville Rock have found him?

Oakville was missing several of its regular players when they opened the 2017 Major Series Lacrosse season by facing the Kodiaks in Cobourg on Sunday afternoon. They wound up flooring an offensive left side of callup Todd Kozak, usual transition player Brandon Slade and someone named Connor Fields.

If you're just a box lacrosse person, there's a good chance you don't know Fields. He is an American field player who has starred with the Albany Great Danes in the NCAA. He puts up tons of points and has been a finalist for the Tewaaraton Award, presented to the top player in US college lacrosse.

Welcome to the 2017 MSL Season

Major Series Lacrosse kicks off its 2017 season Sunday night when the Oakville Rock visit Cobourg to face the Kodiaks.

MSL director of media relations Stephen Stamp provided an in-depth preview of the season on IL Indoor. Follow this link to check it out and get ready for an exciting summer of senior lacrosse action.

Cobourg Nissan Kodiaks Preparing for 2017 Season

As the Kodiaks get ready for their second season in Cobourg we are very pleased to announce Cobourg Nissan as title sponsor for the 2017 Major Series Lacrosse season. Tyler Campbell, dealer principal at Cobourg Nissan, is excited to continue the partnership between Cobourg Nissan and the Kodiaks and we are proud to have him back on board. The support from Tyler and the team at Cobourg Nissan is invaluable. The Cobourg Nissan Kodiaks are looking forward promoting and building a very successful second season in Cobourg.

Cobourg Nissan Kodiaks home schedule has been released. Eight of the games will take place on Sundays with one Thursday night home game in July. All home games will once again be played at the Cobourg Community Centre. The Cobourg Nissan Kodiaks have partnered with Cogeco TV again this season and all home games will be broadcast for those who are unable to make it out to the games.

MSL Releases 2017 Schedule

The Major Series Lacrosse 2017 season opens with the Oakville Rock visiting the Cobourg Kodiaks on Sunday, May 28 and concludes on Thursday, July 27 when the Mann Cup champion Six Nations Chiefs visit the Brampton Excelsiors and the Cobourg Kodiaks travel to Peterborough to face the 2016 regular season champion Lakers.

Once again, the majority of games are being held from Sunday through Thursday, with three Saturday contests sprinkled in. Each team's regular home night remains the same as it has been, with Cobourg playing Sundays, Oakville Mondays, Six Nations Tuesdays, the Brooklin Redmen Wednesdays, and Brampton and Peterborough Thursdays. Each team has eight home games on its regular night and one on a different day.

2017 Draft results

First round
1. Cobourg  Chris Cloutier, KW Braves
2. Brampton  Connor Brown, Halton Hills Bulldogs
3. Cobourg  Joel Coyle, Orangeville
4. Oakville  Dallas Bridle, Orangeville
5. Brooklin  Austin Divitcos, Orangeville
6. Oakville  James Barclay, Mimico Mountaineers

Second round
7. Cobourg  Dylan Hutchison, Peterborough Lakers
8. Brampton  Dereck Downs, Mimico
9. Brampton  Liam Wright  Sarnia Jr B
10. Oakville  Trevor Smyth, Orangeville
11. Cobourg  Andy Campbell, Orangeville
12. Brampton  Lucas Ducharme, Orangeville

Third round
13. Peterborough  Brett Coons, Peterborough
14. Brampton  Bennett Drake, Whitby Warriors
15. Cobourg  Jamie McMahon, Orangeville
16. Brampton  Nolan Clayton, Orangeville
17. Brooklin  Sean Darroch, Whitby
18. Peterborough  Cody Filson, KW Braves

Fourth round
19. Cobourg  Drake Smith, KW
20. Cobourg  Logan Holmes, Windsor Jr B
21. Oakville  Andrew Mullen, Toronto Beaches
22. Six Nations  Oran Horn, Six Nations Arrows
23. Brooklin  Rylee McKinnon, Clarington Shamrox Jr C
24. Peterborough  Will Petschenig, Green Gaels Jr B

Fifth round
25. Cobourg  Cole McWilliams, Peterborough
26. Cobourg  Josh Miller, Peterborough
27. Oakville  Matthew Lee, Mimico
28. Oakville  Eddie Renaud, Oakville Jr B
29. Brooklin  Nick Karam, Whitby
30. Peterborough  Pat Masterson, KW

A Look at Prospects for Today's MSL Draft

Chris Cloutier is the top prospect for the MSL draft. He was a star at North
Carolina and in junior box lacrosse. 

Draft day is here. The 2017 Major Series Lacrosse draft of graduating juniors will take place shortly after 1 pm today in Whitby. The draft will be live tweeted on the MSL Twitter account, so you can follow along as it happens. In the meantime, we'll take a look at some of the most enticing prospects available.

Bear in mind that 14 of the best players in this draft class were protected by the the MSL teams affiliated with their Jr A clubs. Teams can protect up to four players each. Peterborough and Oakville protected the maximum, Six Nations three players and the other three teams one player each. The full list of protected players is available in an earlier story on the MSL site.

One player stands as the clear the top selection in the draft. Chris Cloutier is a star lefty forward. He comes from the Kitchener-Waterloo Braves program, although he was traded away each of the last two years to teams making Minto Cup runs: the Coquitlam Adanacs in 2015 and the Six Nations Arrows in 2016.

Cloutier has been on the radar for MSL and NLL teams since he broke into the OLA Jr A loop as a 17-year-old. He was called up for the playoffs and was a significant contributor for the KW Kodiaks in the playoffs each of his first three years of junior. Until the Kodiaks moved to Cobourg in 2016, it was always assumed he would be protected by them when he graduated junior. Since Cobourg's affiliation switched to the Toronto Beaches with the move, Braves grads are now open for the draft.

Rock and Lakers protect maximum four graduating juniors, other lists shorter for January 29 draft

The Oakville and Peterborough Lakers protected the maximum four players for Sunday's Major Series Lacrosse draft of graduating juniors. Three teams protected just one player each while the Six Nations Chiefs protected three. In order to protect a graduating junior, another player must be moved off a team's 25-man active roster.

The Lakers class was no big surprise. It includes a pair of elite transition prospects in Matt Gilray and  Thomas Hoggarth, both of whom went to the Minto Cup last year after being traded to the Orangeville Northmen. (a Jr A team's MSL affiliate retains possession of a players rights if he is traded in his final year of junior eligibility). Peterborough also protected a pair of forwards: star righty Cam Milligan and grinder Dan Michel, who was a three-year captain for the Jr A Lakers.

Oakville adds a deep group as well, including a pair of defenders who were taken in last year's National Lacrosse League draft, Justin Martin and Lauchlin Elder.

MSL draft to be held January 29 in Whitby

John St John was taken by the Cobourg Kodiaks with the first overall pick in last year's MSL draft. (Photo: Tim Prothero)

The 2017 Major Series Lacrosse draft of graduating junior players will be held on Sunday, January 29 at 1 pm and will be hosted in Whitby by the Brooklin Redmen.

MSL teams can protect up to four players from their Jr A affiliate (for protection purposes). For each player they protect, they must drop a player from their existing protected list. 

The teams from which MSL teams' protect players are:

Brampton Excelsiors--Brampton Excelsiors

Brooklin Redmen--Whitby Warriors

Cobourg Kodiaks--Toronto Beaches

Oakville Rock--Burlington Chiefs

Peterborough Lakers--Peterborough Lakers

Six Nations Chiefs--Six Nations Arrows

Follow this link to see the result of last year's draft.