Over the years, Orangeville, Ont., has provided a plethora of lacrosse players for the Victoria region.
The Victoria Grizzlies now have an Easterner of their own as 20-year-old defenceman Alex Adams settles into his new digs, joining the B.C. Hockey League club for the 2013-14 campaign.
And, yes, he is a former lacrosse player.
“I gave it up in midget. It was too much with hockey,” said the six-foot-one 205-pounder. “We won our midget championship and I figured it was a good time to give it up.”
Adams’ focus has remained on hockey, and in his last year of eligibility his attention is on earning an NCAA scholarship, which brought him westward.
“I’ve had a lot of buddies play out here and they’ve all said it’s the best place to earn a scholarship. That’s what I’m hoping for,” admitted Adams. “There is a ton of exposure out here and this organization, in particular, treats you like professionals. They take it very seriously and I just thought it was the best situation to get a scholarship.”
A member of the Georgetown Raiders of the Ontario Junior Hockey League, Adams was traded to Victoria when goaltender Mike Stiliadis asked to be traded back east following last season.
“He wanted to go back home and I was looking to go out west, so it worked out really well,” said Adams, who arrived in Victoria on Friday and is settling in. He took his first twirls on the ice as the Grizzlies officially opened camp Monday afternoon at Juan de Fuca Arena. They will skate all week before playing host to the Alberni Valley Bulldogs on Saturday night in BCHL pre-season play.
With a revamped blue-line, Grizzlies general manager and head coach Bill Bestwick will be expecting leadership from the veteran defenceman.
“We’re excited to have Alex. He comes from a very good team and a well-coached team in Georgetown,” said Bestwick. “We knew we were losing a lot of defencemen this year and to be able to have veteran presence is critical.
“We’ve got four or five guys younger than him with less experience, so we need him and Chris Albertini to really step their game up and be leaders for us.”
At Georgetown last season, Adams had two goals and 16 assists along with 118 penalty minutes in 43 regular-season games. In 10 playoff appearances, he had three helpers. The year prior he collected 19 assists and 73 PIMs in 47 games with the Orangeville Flyers of the OJHL.
“Obviously, it’s Day 1 and this is the first time we’ve seen him live — we’ve seen him on tape — but his mobility is good, his pivoting is good and he seems to be able to handle the puck well,” Bestwick added of Adams, who describes himself as an all-around player, who can log some minutes.
“I wouldn’t say I’m a go-to offensive guy, but I can play both ends of the ice with a bit of an edge,” Adams said. “I can play the power play or penalty kill and I’m also a guy who sticks up for teammates. I’m kind of a Kevin Bieksa all-around kind of guy.”
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