Kodiaks moving from KW to Cobourg

The Kodiaks are starting a new chapter in their history and it will be written in Cobourg. The team, which debuted in Kitchener-Waterloo with a highly successful three-year Senior B run before moving up to Major Series Lacrosse in 2006, is heading to the Eastern Ontario city starting this summer after its proposal to move was approved by the MSL board at the draft meeting held on Sunday.

Owner Al Orth said the opportunity to move to Cobourg arose in discussions with the group that staged KW's “home” game in the city last summer, when about 1,800 fans showed up to see the Kodiaks play the Peterborough Lakers. Another game was being arranged for Cobourg this summer and the talks grew into a permanent move with a trio of co-owners coming aboard.

“I am really excited about the future for the Kodiaks in Cobourg,” Orth said. “The three new owners joining me are John Webb, Eric Graham and Chris Galbraith. They are great lacrosse people with diverse business backgrounds and a shared passion for the game. The tremendous fan support we experienced when we hosted a regular season game vs the Lakers last summer tells me the Kodiaks will be well supported in their new Cobourg home.”

Major Series Lacrosse draft results

It's draft day in Major Series Lacrosse. Below is the order of the draft, which will be updated as selections are made starting shortly. Keep refreshing your browser to see who takes who once the draft gets underway.

Draft Order

Round 1
KW  John St. John, LF, Toronto Beaches
Brooklin  Daniel Craig, LF, Barrie Lakeshores
Brampton  Tyson Bell, LD, St. Catharines Athletics
KW  Adam Bomberry, LD, Akwesasne Indians Jr B
KW  Seth Oakes, RF, Akwesasne Indians Jr B
Oakville  Eric Fannell, LF, St. Catharines Athletics

Round 2
Brampton  Anthony Joaquim, LT, Toronto Beaches
Brooklin  Josh Johnson, LF, Six Nations Arrows
Brampton  Brooker Muir, LD, Brampton Excelsiors
Oakville  Doug Buchan, G, Burlington Chiefs
KW  Fred Hartley, LF, Gloucester Griffins Jr B
Oakville  Ryan Wagner, LT, Niagara Thunderhawks, Jr B

Round 3
Brampton  Darryl Robertson, RD, Whitby Warriors
Brooklin  Ryan McSpadyen, LT, Toronto Beaches
Brampton  Ty Carvalho, LF, St. Catharines Athletics
Oakville  Ryan Fournier, G, Orangeville Northmen
Brampton  Billy Saxton, D, St. Catharines Athletics
KW  Keegan Letourneau, LD, Six Mimico Mountaineers

Round 4
KW  Tyler Roche, LD, Peterborough Lakers
Brooklin  Austin Murphy, LF, Barrie Lakeshores
Brampton  Riley Campbell, RD, Peterborough Lakers
Oakville  Nicholas Beaudoin, RT, St. Catharines Athletics
Peterborough  Chad Levick, LF, Toronto Beaches
Six Nations  Greg Longboat, RD, Six Nations Arrows

Round 5
Peterborough  Zach Hopps, LF, Akwesasne Indians Jr B
Brooklin  Tanner Theede, D, Whitby Warriors
Oakville  Joe French, RF, Oakville Buzz Jr B
Brooklin  Ben Pitchforth, RD, Clarington Green Gaels Jr B
Peterborough  Ryan Lee, RF, Toronto Beaches
Six Nations  Andrew Kelly, LD, Barrie Lakeshores

Get ready for today's MSL draft, courtesy of IL Indoor

John St. John is the top graduating scorer available in the 2016 MSL draft.
(Photo: Tim Prothero)

The 2016 MSL draft is just hours away. With four graduating juniors protected by each team and the league's members boasting unprecedented depth, there aren't a lot of players available who are going to be able to make immediate impacts this summer. That doesn't mean there aren't some players who can help, though. 

The staff at IL Indoor have been preparing for the draft. Editor Stephen Stamp provides a run down of the top players available."Some of the most appealing players in the draft include: Akwesasne Jr B Indians defender Adam Bomberry and forward Seth Oakes; St. Catharines Athletics defender Tyson Bell; Six Nations Arrows forward Josh Johnson and defender Sawi Longboat; Toronto Beaches forwards Ryan Lee and John St. John; and Barrie Lakeshores forward Daniel Craig."

For Stamp's full report, click here. 

IL Indoor staffer Mike Mackley followed up with a look at the needs of each team and how they may address them at the draft. "With the Major Series Lacrosse draft on the schedule for Sunday afternoon, it's time to take a look at each team's needs heading into the 2016 season. In a draft that has some quality depth to it and some fairly high profile names, teams are sure to boost their depth, which will only raise the skill level across the league."

Read Mackley's full story here. 

MSL draft to take place Sunday January 24

Major Series Lacrosse's six teams will gather this Sunday, January 24 for their annual draft of graduating junior players. Each team is able to protect four players graduating from its affiliated team. The protected players from each club are listed below.

Six Nations Chiefs (junior affiliate: Six Nations Arrows)

Jordan Durston

Joseph Maracle

Leo Stouros

Shane Simpson

Peterborough Lakers (Peterborough Lakers)

Zach Currier

Holden Cattoni

Jake Withers

Bryce Sweeting

Brooklin Redmen (Whitby Warriors)

Austin Shanks

Ryan Keenan

Matt Hossack

Jordie Jones-Smith

Oakville Rock (Orangeville Northmen)

Ian MacKay

Brandon Clelland

Brandon Slade

Brampton Excelsiors (Brampton Excelsiors)

Philip Caputo

Zach Herreweyers

Quintan Martin

Kitchener-Waterloo Kodiaks (KW Braves)

Jake Pleon

Brooklin Redmen announce Matthews, Jackson, Knight, Hossack, Matisz to play in 2016

Mark Matthews is diving in MSL action this coming summer. (Photo: Larry Palumbo, Coyote Magic)

The Brooklin Redmen held their annual awards banquet Sunday night. It is an evening to look back on the past year and honour the top performers in the organization. The big news from the event, though, was a look ahead to the coming 2016 season and the announcement that five key players on the team's list of players plan to be in uniform.

The biggest name is Mark Matthews. The Whitby Warriors grad was the second leading scorer in the National Lacrosse League last winter and helped Canada win a gold medal at the World Indoor Lacrosse Championships in September. Matthews has never actually played for the Redmen other than a pair of playoff games as a junior callup back in 2009. He won a pair of Minto Cups, one with Coquitlam and the other with the Warriors.

Matthews has not played much senior lacrosse; his only action was a partial season with Langley of the WLA in 2013. None the less, the lefty forward has established himself as one of the best players in the world over the past few years and should provide an immediate and massive impact to the Redmen's offence.

Derek Keenan joins Brooklin Redmen as assistant coach

The Brooklin Redmen have added a big name to their bench. Derek Keenan has come aboard as an assistant coach, joining head coach/GM Wayne Colley and fellow assistants Gil Nieuwendyk and Brad MacArthur on the coaching team.

Keenan has three times won the National Lacrosse League's Coach of the Year and General Manager of the Year awards (2006, 2010, 2014) and in 2015 led the Edmonton Rush to their first Champions Cup. He has also had success at the junior level, coaching the Whitby Warriors to Minto Cup wins in 2011 and 2013. Keenan will remain head coach of the Warriors while a suitable replacement is sought.

Keenan and Colley are both Oshawa residents who won three Mann Cups together on the Redmen in the mid 80s.

2016 marks the 50th anniversary of the Brooklin Redmen franchise.

Major Series Lacrosse well represented in 2015 NLL Entry Draft

The first round of the 2015 National Lacrosse League Entry Draft was dominated by players coming from Major Series Lacrosse. Seven of the nine first-round picks played in MSL this past summer and 11 of the first 17 picks were MSL players. In total, 15 MSL players from this season were selected in the draft.

Graeme Hossack was the first MSL player chosen, second overall to the Rochester Knighthawks after Lyle Thompson had gone first to the Georgia Swarm. After Georgia took Jesse King third, a run of seven straight MSL players followed.

Georgia and Calgary each chose a pair of MSL players in the first round of the draft. Georgia nabbed Chad Tutton fifth and Randy Staats sixth. Calgary gook Wes Berg with the fourth pick then selected Reilly O'Connor seventh.

Another drafted player, Jacob Ruest, spent 2014 in MSL and 18 more are Ontario junior players who will look to crack MSL rosters in 2016 or beyond.

Below are the full results of the NLL draft. MSL players are indicated by an asterisk before their selection number.