Lakers and Rock exchange star forwards MacIntosh, Jones

The biggest trade of the year thus far sees the Peterborough Lakers send Jordan MacIntosh as well as first round draft picks in 2016 and 2017 to the Oakville Rock for Adam Jones. Jones, currently sitting out in the National Lacrosse League with a separated shoulder for another few weeks, still leads the NLL goals with 25 for the Colorado Mammoth. If John Grant Jr. returns to play with the Lakers again this summer, the trade will reunite the dynamic Mammoth duo in the home of the 2012 Mann Cup champs, who are looking to return to the national title series after falling in the MSL semis last year.

Oakville receives MacIntosh, who is second on the Minnesota Swarm in goals, assists and points. He was named the NLL's transition player of the year in 2013, although he switched from a transition role to primarily playing offence through the second half of last year and has continued to mostly go out the front door this season. Oakville also gets the pair of first round draft choices, which should help to continue the team's efforts to build a team that will be competitive for playoff positioning and eventually a Mann Cup berth.

Brooklin and Oakville consummate trade involving defenders

Mike Lum-Walker (left) is part of a trade for his former

Whitby Warriors teammate Graeme Hossack. 

(Photo: Tim Prothero)

The Brooklin Redmen and Oakville Rock have completed a trade involving four defenders and a draft pick.

Graeme Hossack, whom Oakville took with the third overall pick in the MSL draft last Sunday, heads to Brooklin along with Andrew Smistad. Heading the other way are a pair of players who play for the Toronto Rock in the winter, Mike Lum-Walker and Damon Edwards, as well as a second-round selection in the 2015 MSL draft. 

For more details about the trade, see the story at IL Indoor. 

Major Series Lacrosse draft full results

Round 1

Oakville Rock: Rob Hellyer, Orangeville Northmen

Brampton Excelsiors: Chad Tutton, Whitby Warriors

Oakville (from KW): Graeme Hossack, Whitby Warriors

Brooklin Redmen: Jake Weidner, Brampton Excelsiors

Kitchener-Waterloo Kodiaks (from Peterborough via Ajax via Six Nations): Cody McMahon, Orangeville Northmen

Brampton (from Six Nations): Brandon Benn, Orangeville Northmen

Brampton (from St. Regis): Alexis Buque, Whitby Warriors

Round 2

Oakville: Patrick Miles, Brampton Excelsiors

Brampton: Luc Magnan, Toronto Beaches/Six Nations Arrows

Oakville (from KW via Brampton): Patrick Root, Burlington Chiefs

Brooklin: Lyle Thompson, Caughnawaga Sr B

Oakville (from Peterborough via KW): Bradley Kri, Orangeville Northmen

KW (from Six Nations): Blair Goss, Orangeville Northmen

Belanger and O'Connor switch clubs in MSL trade

The Oakville Rock and Brampton Excelsiors have completed a major trade that sends a pair of young stars to new teams in exchange for each other. Oakville receives 2013 MSL Rookie of the Year Ethan O'Connor while Brampton gets goaltender Tye Belanger.

O'Connor scored 16 points in 18 games for the Excelsiors last year while showing continually improving defence. He was the Toronto Rock's first-round pick in the 2013 National Lacrosse League Entry Draft and has played in both of their games so far in the 2014 season.

Belanger is in his third year with the Colorado Mammoth in the NLL. He originally came to the Rock from Peterborough before last season in a trade that sent Andrew Suitor to the Lakers.

First trade of 2014 involves a first-round draft pick

The Oakville Rock and Kitchener-Waterloo Kodiaks have consummated a trade just over a week before the Major Series Lacrosse draft is to be held. Oakville gets transition player Scott Johnston, Brad Gillies and KW's first round pick, third overall, in this year's draft, which will be held on Sunday January 19 in Whitby. In return, the Kodiaks get a handful of players that includes Darryl Veltman, Jay Card, Dean Hill, and Jake and John Quarrie as well as a third round pick in the draft.

Chiefs bringing back coaching staff for another run at Mann Cup in 2014

The Six Nations Chiefs coaching staff has returned for another season.
The Chiefs are pleased to announce that its coaching staff that led the team to the 2013 Mann Cup and Major Series Lacrosse titles, will return for the 2014 season.
Led by head coach Rich Kilgour, he will again be joined by Duane Jacobs, Mike Lines and Mouse Henry. 
Jacobs will also return as the teams general manager.
Kilgour will enter his fifth season at the Chiefs' helm. He also played for the Chiefs and helped them win Mann Cups in 1994, 1995, and 1996.
Professionally, Kilgour has also been with the National Lacrosse League's Buffalo Bandits for almost the team's entire existence. He joined the team as a player in its first year in 1992, and stayed through 2009.
Kilgour is in the National Lacrosse League Hall of Fame, and his number 16 was retired by the Bandits.

Duane Jacobs

He has been an assistant coach with the Bandits for the past three seasons.
Jacobs also captured Mann Cups with the Chiefs as a player during the three-year run in the 1990s. His NLL career spanned 10 years, starting in 1993 in Detroit, before playing most of his career with the Rochester Knighthawks, before finishing up in 2003 with the Bandits. 
His coaching career began in 2004, as an assistant with the Bandits. He was named head coach of the Minnesota Swarm in 2007 to 2009.
In 2010, he was an assistant coach with the Bandits.
Jacobs has also played and is a coach for the Iroquois Nationals. As head coach in 2007, he won a silver medal at the World Indoor Lacrosse Championships

Jamie Batley leaves Lakers as one of the most successful senior lacrosse coaches ever

Jamie Batley's tenure as the Head Coach and General Manager of the Peterborough Lakers was one of the most successful in the history of Canadian senior men's lacrosse. The Lakers opted this year not to renew Batley's contract, but they recognized the exceptional success to which he had led the team in his 12 years with the club. Batley came on board with the Lakers in 2002 and immediately helped to turn around a team that had struggled for much of the previous two decades, not having won a Mann Cup or even an Ontario championship since 1984.

In 2004, the Lakers won the Ontario title and went on to capture the Mann Cup with a finals victory over the Victoria Shamrocks. That started a decade of almost unprecedented winning. Peterborough claimed six Ontario championships and five Mann Cups in the nine years from 2004-2012. Their winning percentage during Batley's reign was a remarkable .718 during the regular season and .599 in the playoffs. Only twice in his 12 years did Batley's team fail to reach the Major Series Lacrosse finals: the first year and the last, both times falling to Brooklin in a semifinal.