Just when you think lacrosse has turned a corner — a flashy pro box league that plays in NHL rinks and the inclusion of field-sixes in the 2028 Olympics — the old lacrosse of amateur disorganization again rears its head.
The Mann Cup, the annual showcase for Senior A supremacy in Canada between the champions of the Western Lacrosse Association and Ontario-based Major Series Lacrosse, should be a highlight of the year. But it has become roiled in controversy before the start of Game 1 tonight between the WLA champion Victoria Shamrocks and MSL champion Six Nations Chiefs at the Iroquois Lacrosse Arena on the Six Nations of the Grand River Reserve in Hagersville, Ont., where all games in the best-of-seven series will be played.
The contentious issue is eligibility. The Shamrocks announced before the Mann Cup they had picked up New Westminster Salmonbellies stars Will Malcolm and Mike Messenger for the best-of-seven series. It harkened back to a lacrosse and junior hockey practice from the 1960s and 1970s, when championship teams were allowed to pick up three players from other teams in their leagues for national championship series or tournaments.
The Shamrocks were under the impression the practice was being re-allowed this year but Lacrosse Canada, on the eve of the national championship, said otherwise and ruled that Malcolm and Messenger are ineligible to play in the Mann Cup.
Because Ontario has dominated the Mann Cup, winning 15 of 16 national championships since 2006 (2020 and 2021 were cancelled due to the pandemic), the B.C. Lacrosse Association put forward a motion to downgrade to a Type 2 organization. Type 2 organizations are allowed to add up to three players from other league teams, a common practice for the Senior B national championship Founders Cup. It was thought it would now also apply to the WLA for the Senior A Mann Cup. But not so quick, ruled Lacrosse Canada.
“This motion was carried at the sector level,” Lacrosse Canada said in a statement.
“However, the [national] board of directors still had not voted on this policy change and an immediate vote was held September 4th, 2024 by all board members. The requested policy change did not pass, therefore BCLA will remain as a Type 1 rating and the Victoria Shamrocks will not be able to pick up players to their roster for the 2024 Mann Cup.”
(Because the MSL is a Type 1 league, the Chiefs are also unable to pick up any players from other teams).
To make the Shamrocks’ task even more daunting is that no WLA team has won the Mann Cup on the road since the Salmonbellies in 1986 at Whitby, Ont. The Shamrocks must now try to accomplish that task, against the defending Mann Cup champion Chiefs, without Malcolm’s lethal offensive skills or Messenger’s shutdown defence.
“It’s been nearly four decades. It’s a monumental task. It is so difficult to win in Ontario, as that stat will tell you,” said Shamrocks head coach Mike Simpson.
Victoria general manager Chris Welch concurred: “Ontario has dominated this series. It has a far greater population and its talent pool of lacrosse players is not exactly shallow.”
The key for the Shamrocks, said Simpson, is Victoria’s greater speed in the transition game. And, as always in the playoffs, specials teams.
“The Chiefs are a big, experienced team. They play a heavier game but take penalties. Our power play has to punish them for that,” said the Shamrocks bench boss.
“And five-on-five, we have to get goals in transition.”
If the Shamrocks don’t, it will be a very short stay for them in Ontario.
“No one expected us to go 18-0 in the regular season. We will give it our best and leave it all on the floor. We are excited for the opportunity,” said Victoria GM Welch.
With or without the aid of the ’Bellies.
The second game of the series is Saturday at 4 p.m. PT and the third and fourth games Monday and Tuesday at 5 p.m. PT. If required, the fifth game would be Wednesday, sixth game next Friday and seventh game Sept. 14.
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