Key player defections may bring Chiefs back to the pack

Page 12

The Six Nations Chiefs will be hard-pressed this season to secure the one more title they need to equal the record for the longest-ever reign as national Senior lacrosse champions.

The three-time defending Mann Cup champions can become only the second franchise ever to win four consecutive Canadian Major League titles, equalling the Peterborough Timbermen's four straight national crowns from 1951-54.

Continuing its recent domination will be a tough task for the Six Nations squad which lost several key players during the off-season, most notably the three Kilgour brothers from the Tuscarora reservation near Buffalo, N.Y. Rich, Darris and Travis Kilgour, as well as veterans Randy Mearns and Steve Fannell have opted to join the Niagara Falls Gamblers, an expansion entry in the OLA.

Despite the addition of Niagara Falls, the OLA will continue to be a five-team circuit because the Fergus Thistles have taken what is officially listed as a one-year leave of absence. The Ontario loop also includes the Brampton Excelsiors, Brooklin Redmen and Peterborough Lakers.

Six Nations will also be without the services of Neil Doddridge and Joe Rosa. The pair have headed to British Columbia to play in the WLA. Doddridge will toil for the Victoria Shamrocks, Rosa joins North Shore.

Though talk of winning a fourth straight Mann Cup surfaced immediately after the Chiefs won their third title last fall, coach Les Wakeling said his charges aren't discussing the possibilities of a four-peat.

"We haven't talked one bit about it," claimed Wakeling, who believes the Excelsiors, the 1996 OLA finalists and the team he coached to two straight Mann Cups before he imported his winning ways to the Chiefs four seasons ago, should be considered the early favorites for the Ontario title.

"We've brought in a lot of new faces and we're in a bit of a transition year. By the end of June we'll know where we stand."

The Chiefs have 14 returnees in their line up and still have plenty of firepower. The club is once again expected to be led offensively by John Tavares, arguably the top box lacrosse player in the world.

Tavares averaged almost six points per outing last season. He won the OLA scoring title by collecting 141 points (69 goals, 72 assists) in 24 regular season contests and added a league-high 49 points - including 28 goals - in 10 playoff matches.

Tavares' favorite offensive sidekick Troy Cordingley, however, isn't expected to play until July. The club's second leading scorer last season is recovering from an ankle operation. He was injured during the winter while playing for the Buffalo Bandits of the Major Indoor Lacrosse League.|

Other veterans the Chiefs will be relying on are Six Nations Minor Lacrosse products Duane Jacobs and Cam Bomberry as well as Jaime Batley, Brian Shanahan (Brendan's brother) and the Mann Cup hero from 1996, goaltender Bill Gerrie.

Six Nations also has a new (yet somewhat familiar) home this season. In recent years, the club played most of its regular season matches in Ohsweken, at an arena which has a seating capacity of about 800. Then for some of their OLA playoff games and all of their Mann Cup matches, the Chiefs would move to a 4,000-seat arena in Brantford.

The Chiefs will play all their home games in Brantford this season. The move was made primarily because the franchise can operate a beer garden at the rink. This wasn't possible in Ohsweken, a dry reserve.

o Despite being a first-year franchise, the Niagara Falls Gamblers are not expected to suffer too many growing pains.Some league officials are even pointing to Niagara Falls as the team to beat this season. The club has 12 individuals with Major experience.

Besides the five ex-Chiefs who give the Gamblers some instant respectability, Steve Toll and Bob Watson are also on board.

Toll was Peterborough's second leading scorer last season with 45 goals and 47 assists in 24 games. And though he was considered the backup netminder with Brampton, atson appeared in 21 regular and playoff contests in 1996.

Niagara Falls has a proven winner in Terry Saunderson behind the bench. He only coached the Orangeville Northmen to three Minto Cup (Canadian Junior A) titles in the past four years.

o The Brampton Excelsiors have plenty of incentive to be the franchise which prevents Six Nations from enjoying its record-tieing championship. After all, it was the Chiefs who thwarted the Excelsiors' attempt at a Mann Cup three-peat in 1994. Much was written and said about coach Les Wakeling that year after he signed with the Chiefs even though he had just guided Brampton to two national titles.

Six Nations also ended the Excelsiors' campaign last year. The Chiefs defeated Brampton 4-1 in the best-of-seven OLA final. The league final was a lot closer than the series score indicates.

With 18 returnees, Brampton appears to have the necessary tools to go all the way in '97.

"We have a very good team," said Excelsiors' coach Bob McMahon. "We're very well rounded and deep."

The club will rely heavily on goaltender Steve Dietrich, who is undoubtedly on a high after backstopping Rochester to the MILL title in April. Dietrich was selected his team's most valuable player in the MILL final.

Offensively, the Excelsiors can depend on Chris Driscoll, Jaime Grimoldby and Ted Dowling, the club's top three pointgetters a year ago.

o The Brooklin Redmen are dedicating their 1997 campaign to former team tough guy Scot McMichael who died in March. Although he was battling leukemia, McMichael was still anxious to suit up for the Redmen last year. Including regular season and playoff matches, he dressed for 16 games and pick up one goal, five assists and 87 penalty minutes.

Newcomer Bob Davis, a minor pro hockey player, is expected to replace some of the toughness the Redmen have lost.

Brooklin has been on a youth movement kick since advancing to the OLA final in 1995 but their roster will feature eight returnees, most notably John Fusco, ric Perroni and goaltender Paul Mootz.

Mootz was the club's top netminder last season. It remains to be seen whether he hangs onto this spot since the Redmen have also picked up Rob Blasdell, who was the Fergus Thistles' top backstopper last season. Like all the other Fergus players, Blasdell became a free agent when the thistles took their league sabbatical. Brooklin also landed speedy Jim Roberts from the Thistles.

"We think we'll have a strong well-balanced team with youth," said Redmen general manager Bob Duignan.

o The Peterborough Lakers, coming off an 11-13 season, could very well be the OLA squad on the outside looking in when post-season action begins this year. Not that the Lakers are expected to be that bad this year. It's just that the others are perceived to be that good.

"It may take us a while to get going," said Dan Dunn, who is sharing the Peterborough coaching duties with Brian Evans. "Our goal though is just to make the playoffs. We hope to win most of our home games and we hope we can sneak a couple of wins on the road."

With just 10 returning veterans the Lakers will have plenty of new faces on the roster. Breaking in that many newcomers takes time, but time might not be on Peterborough's side if all the other OLA squads live up to their expectations in the early going. Among the more notable Laker newcomers are Casey Zaft and Matt Giles, who starred at the Junior A level last year with the Toronto Beaches and Mississauga , respectively.