Family day at the Mann Cup

The Six Nations Chiefs' Saturday morning practice took on a distinctively family flavour when some of the players' partners and children showed up to watch. Colin Doyle's wife and three young daughters were on hand, as were Kasey Beirnes' wife and son and Rob Marshall's girlfriend. The children got to head out onto the floor to stretch with the players, did some laps around the concourse level of the arena and watched their fathers shoot.

Spirits were clearly higher than they had been 12 hours earlier, after the Chiefs lost the opening game of the 2013 Mann Cup 5-4 to the Victoria Shamrocks. Coaches ran through some adjustments they want to make for tonight's Game 2 and the defensive players enjoyed some shooting practice with backup goalie Brandon Miller and third goalie Brenner Jacobs. The mood was light as the team left practice, looking like a club that is ready to get back to the game that made them the Major Series Lacrosse champions after an undefeated playoff run.

Shamrocks take Game 1 of Mann Cup finals 5-4 behind hat trick from Jesse King

Craig Point had a pair of goals for Six Nations but they

managed two others in a 5-4 opening game loss to Victoria. 

(Photo: Judy Teasdale)

The Victoria Shamrocks showed that they're just as fast in transition as advertised, but it was Junior A call-up Jesse King's 3 third-period goals in the set offence that pushed them to a 5-4 win in the opening game of the 2013 Mann Cup. King, who will only be able to play one more game before he has to return to school at Ohio State, scored the only goals of the third frame in which the Shamrocks had just eight shots, after they had fired 22 at Six Nations goalie Evan Kirk in the first and another 14 in the second. 

The Chiefs led 3-1 after the first period and 4-2 after the second and seemed to be getting a handle on controlling the Victoria transition game that had created numerous scoring opportunities in the first period. King was spectacular in scoring all the goals Victoria would need in the third, particularly on the final goal when he caught the ball in traffic on top of the crease and fought off a double team to whip a behind-the-back shot into the top corner. 

Colin Doyle poised to move up on Mann Cup scoring list

Colin Doyle, Mohawk and all, is tied for 10th in all-time

Mann Cup scoring and should move up several spots this 

year. (Photo: Judy Teasdale)

Over the last few years, Mann Cup series have seen some serious climbing up the all-time scoring charts. Last year's big mover was Shawn Evans, whose 31 points bumped him from 56 and a tie for 50^th in all-time Mann scoring to 87 and a tie for 22^nd. A pair of other Peterborough Lakers moved closer to the very top of the list. Scott Evans' 15 points took him from 9^th to 5^th with a total of 118. John Grant, Jr. was already third among the elite group of scorers in Mann Cup history, but his 30 points leapfrogged him over legendary Geordie Dean into second place with 174 points.

This year, there's only one player who will likely be making a big mark in the scoring history books. Six Nations' Colin Doyle currently sits tied for 10^th spot with 49 goals and 53 assists for 102 points. He has a realistic shot at taking over 4^th from former Shamrocks' great Gary Gait, who finished his career with 120.

Chiefs are letting team unity go to their heads

Kasey Beirnes

If you want to see a mark of the team unity the Six Nations Chiefs have found in what has the potential to be a championship year for the club, look no further than the heads of some of their players. Colin Doyle, Rob Marshall and Kasey Beirnes are all sporting Mohawks and there are more to come. Beirnes says there was a special feeling in the dressing room right off the bat this summer. “Walking into the dressing room at the beginning of this year was totally different than last year,” Beirnes said. “The demeanour seemed to be so enthusiastic. There was no segregation amongst players. Everybody was in, we were all mixed together having a great old time, right from day one. It was evident at the beginning of the year—I knew we were going to have a successful year just because of that.”

The haircuts are part of that collegiality, Beirnes says. “Coming to a Native reserve, we're kind of doing our role to fit in with them. It's always very common among a lot of the Native players on our team and it was just something that we felt was going to show we're here and we're committed to this. It was all part of that. Now we're here and I think there are three or four more guys who are going to get them [Thursday]. It's showing that we're coming together really well as a team.”

Now the players, young and not so young alike, just want to get the series going, to start playing the games. “It's tough to grasp right now. The jitters are here right now. It's hard to believe we have a full day [Thursday] before the first game even happens on Friday,” Beirnes said. “It's hard to get over that part. I'm anxious, I'm excited. We have a good group of guys. It's new to a lot of us, so we're actually enjoying the ride with everyone else.”

Plenty of new blood seeking Mann Cup glory in 2013

Recent Mann Cup winning teams have generally been loaded with experience. That won't be the case this year. Only four players on each team have played in Mann Cups before, so there are plenty of guys experiencing the Canadian championship for the first time. One of the Six Nations Chiefs veterans, 3-time Mann winner Colin Doyle, says it's actually refreshing having a bunch of young and even not so young players who are getting their first taste of the Mann.

“I think there's only one way to gain experience” Doyle said. “At one point 10 years ago those Peterborough and Brampton [teams that have won 8 of the last 9 Mann Cups between them] didn't have much experience either. That's the way it goes. You've got to get into these to get experience. I'm hoping that the guys don't know any better, they just go out and play. There's something that you gain in experience from having been on a Mann Cup on the road, that's for certain. I think we'll help out along the way. But the idea is you just learn as you go and play like you have been all year. The experience will come with the games you play.”

Mann Cup information at your fingertips

The 2013 Mann Cup between the Six Nations Chiefs and Victoria Shamrocks opens Friday September 6 at 7 pm in the Bear Mountain Arena just outside of Victoria. To find information about the tournament, visit the Mann Cup web site that is now up and running.

The web site includes links for schedule, stats, scoreboard, game recaps, team information, Mann Cup history and more.

To watch the live pay per view webcasts of all the Mann Cup games, go to this link for playfullscreen, the webcaster for the WLA.

Mann Cup schedule

Six Nations Chiefs vs Victoria Shamrocks
at Bear Mountain Arena

All games at 7 pm

Game 1  Friday, September 6
Game 2  Saturday, September 7
Game 3  Monday, September 9
Game 4  Tuesday, September 10
Game 5  Wednesday, September 11 (if necessary)
Game 6  Friday, September 13 (if necessary)
Game 7  Saturday, September 14 (if necessary)