May 21, 2008

by Tom Borrelli, Special to Lacrosse Magazine Online

In just one year, the Portland LumberJax went from worst to near first in the National Lacrosse League thanks to a huge infusion of talent.

And that goes beyond spectacular forward Dan Dawson, who was acquired from Arizona in the dispersal draft. Dawson may have been the biggest reason the Jax improved from 4-12 in 2007 to 8-11 this season, missing out on the Champion's Cup by a whisker with a thrilling 14-13 road loss to the Buffalo Bandits last Saturday night.

Dawson finished 10th among NLL scorers with 38 goals, 43 assists and 81 points, then put together a remarkable postseason with 15 goals and 16 assists in three games, including three scores and six helpers in the title game.

But whether Dawson stays with the Jax, returns to Arizona if the Sting resumes operations next season or is placed in another dispersal draft, things are still looking good in Portland for 2009, thanks to rookies like Tyler Codron and Peter Jacobs.

"I had a pretty good idea what Codron could do for us when we drafted him," said Portland coach and general manager Derek Keenan, who grabbed the All-Rookie team selection with the sixth overall pick. "In Pete Jacobs, we knew we were getting a good player, but we also drafted him as a 17-year-old. But as soon as I saw him at camp the first day, I knew he was going to be special."

Codron and Jacobs are as different as night and day, but together they made for some rosy days at the Rose Garden.

At 6 feet and a solid 200 pounds, and with a football background, the 21-year-old Codron came into the league with a body ready for war.

"Because of football, he's very physical, he's got great feet and is very strong," teammate Brodie Merrill said of Codron. "He's also fast enough to trigger our transition. He's had a lot of open-floor hits that are probably pretty reminiscent of his football season. His overall footwork from football has really translated over to lacrosse."

Codron, who was named to the Canada West All-Star football team as a defensive back at the University of British Columbia, was routinely assigned an opponent's marquee scorer this season.

"I love challenges, and having [to guard] the top man on the other team is an honor," said Codron, who may someday get the chance to double up as an NLL and Canadian Football League player. "They're all different with different strengths, but it's an honor just to be on the same field with all these great guys, let alone covering them."

Codron played in every game and totaled three goals, eight assists and 68 loose balls. Last summer with the Port Coquitlam (B.C.) Saints in Junior A, he led his team with 35 assists and 48 points and even doubled up last Sept. 8, playing in both a college football game and a Saints tilt.

"I think a lot of the skills he learned in football coverage translate well to lacrosse," said Jax defenseman Pat Jones. "I didn't know of him before the season, but I quickly found out that he's such an amazing athlete."

Codron began playing football when he was very young, but one of his early coaches made the mistake of telling him he was too slow for that sport. That was when he was in seventh grade, so he took a five-year break before returning to the gridiron as a 12th-grader.

"I got invited to an All-Star game and a university coach came and talked with me," said Codron. "I started my rookie season in college and will be going into my fourth year in the fall. Playing in the CFL would be nice. I'm not thinking about the NFL at all. After next season, it's my draft year in the CFL, so I'll see what happens with me this season."

Is it something he would seriously consider?

"I don't know how my body would feel," he said. "But if they would allow me to do both, I'd do it. No doubt."

Jacobs finished sixth on the Jax in scoring with 11 goals, 12 assists and 23 points in just 11 games, then added three goals and four assists in the postseason, when at 18 years old he became the youngest player ever to appear in the championship game.

Jacobs scored twice in the first quarter against the Bandits, helping keep his Jax in the game. Buffalo led, 6-3, after the first period.

"For a kid that age to play with that kind of poise, it's pretty incredible," said Keenan. "He camp into camp with 35 guys and played like a guy who had been here for years. He's been very consistent.

"He had a little slump when maybe he was getting a little too comfortable, and we sat him down for a couple of games. But ever since then, he's been great. He's great at loose balls in his own end, and great at slowing down the other team's transition game, because he's so athletic. To think he's got three years of Junior A left, that makes him pretty special. He hasn't even grown yet physically either. He's already a good one, and he's going to be a great one."

Though he's 25 years younger than teammate Dallas Eliuk, Jacobs has proven already that he is not intimidated by the NLL game.

"He got a goal and two assists in his first game, and I'm sure he felt like an NLL player from then on," said Jax assistant coach Jeremy Tallevi. "He helped us out right off the bat. He works hard and is a very unselfish player who gets other people open and gets open himself. He has an excellent shot from outside and certainly gets to the net and can score from inside, too. He's a very complete player for somebody at that age."

"There's more fans and a lot more hitting, but I love the pressure, because I feel that's when I play my best," said the 6-foot, 183-pound Jacobs, who was selected in the second round with the 24th overall pick. "I have surprised myself playing with older guys. I felt comfortable a couple games into the season once we started getting to know each other."

Jacobs, who finished second on the Akwesasne Indians of the Ontario Lacrosse Association's Junior A squad last summer with 27 goals and 19 assists, moved to Portland during the season.

"The move has been great," said Jacobs. "I love the sights, and the good weather. It was my first winter without snow."

That Jacobs was able to rain shots past guys old enough to be his father wasn't lost on even NLL fans in the highest places.

"I am surprised by him, especially in this league where we have so many veterans in their 30s and 40s still playing," said NLL commissioner Jim Jennings. "It's really a credit to him and to how mature he is coming in. That's the future of this sport.

"When Gary Gait retired, everybody asked me `What's going to happen now?' And now there are guys like [Jacobs] coming in who are going to fill those shoes. When you get guys who are still in juniors coming in and competing in the NLL, it's pretty amazing."

There was no shortage of young talent around the NLL this season. In addition to Codron, the All-Rookie team consisted of:

* NLL Rookie of the Year Craig Point of the Minnesota Swarm, a 21-year-old who led all first-year players with 27 goals and added 34 assists and 74 loose balls to lead his team to a franchise-best 10-6 finish.

* Jordan Hall of the New York Titans, a 23-year-old from the University of Delaware who was the first pick in last September's entry draft. He led rookies in points (69) and loose balls (109), collecting 24 goals and 45 assists to help the second-year Titans go 10-6 after last year's 4-12 finish. Success is nothing new to Hall, who helped the Blue Hens reach their first final four last spring.

* Merrick Thomson of the Philadelphia Wings, who had 26 goals, 29 assists and 59 loose balls. Like Hall, the 23-year-old second overall draft pick translated success in college to team improvement in the pros. Thomson helped Albany reach the NCAA quarterfinals last May, and was a big reason the Wings went 10-6 and earned their first playoff berth since 2002.

* Jamie Rooney of the Wings, who proved persistence pays. A 23-year-old who spent three seasons as a practice squad player after being drafted in the third round by Buffalo in 2004, Rooney had 20 goals, 23 assists and 59 loose balls.

* Bobby McBride, a 25-year-old transition man for the Chicago Shamrox, who was signed last September as a free agent. He had eight goals, 13 assists and 73 loose balls.

Top of the mountain again

Bandits captain Rich Kilgour may have worked the hardest to get his 39-year-old body ready for this season, his 17th as an NLL player.

And when it was all over and he was able to hoist the Champion's Cup for the first time since 1996, Kilgour was in no hurry to leave the turf or celebrate with the fans in his hometown.

He was carried around by his teammates, posed for photos with the Cup and remained on the field for a good half hour after the game had ended.

"The boys dug down again," he said with a wide smile. "When you end up being champion at the end of the year, you've really rung some bells. We did it tonight and we did it all year."

The older brother of Bandits coach and general manager Darris Kilgour battled aches and pains, plus the frustration of a 3-4 start.

"At the end of February, it didn't look like it would happen," said Kilgour, who enjoyed a legendary scholastic career at Niagara-Wheatfield High School and played for Nazareth College. "But we kept our noses to the grindstone and the boys dug in and trusted each other, and here we are as champions."

As for the future, after a few weeks savoring the long-sought title, he'll let the body decide.

"I'm going to have to take a month off and see how I feel," he said. "I've had some nagging injuries, and someday you've got to admit you're old. But I don't know if I'm ready yet."

Jax made good impression

NLL career scoring leader John Tavares of the Bandits couldn't have been more impressed with the grit of the LumberJax, who kept battling from behind all night long.

"You have to give them a lot of credit," he said. "We had a two- or three-goal lead all game long and they just hung in there and hung in there, closed it to within one and kept coming back. Towards the end there, I was getting a bit nervous, because they had a lot of glorious opportunities. Give Portland a lot of credit for not giving up and playing hard."

Tavares had two goals and two assists and has compiled some gaudy postseason numbers in his 17 seasons. In 28 playoff games, he's put up an NLL-best 70 goals, 93 assists and 163 points, including 25 goals, 19 assists and 44 points in eight championship games.

The 38-year-old also rekindled memories of his younger days with a gorgeous goal late in the second quarter that gave his team an 8-6 lead.

Tavares beat four defenders as he tiptoed past Portland's Mike Kilby, then Jones, then Kilby again, then Merrill before putting a quick shot past former Bandits goalie Matt Disher.

Where did that come from? "I have no idea," said a grinning Tavares, who like most of his teammates revealed a Mohawk haircut during the celebration.

Iannucci receives honor

Prior to the championship game, Philadelphia's second-year forward Athan Iannucci received his NLL Most Valuable Player award.

Ianucci's season had ended in the same building two weeks earlier with a 14-12 loss to the Bandits in the East Division semifinals, but not before he established an NLL record for goals in one season with 71, to go along with 29 assists, 100 points and 138 loose balls. He scored 17 power-play goals, five with the Wings playing short-handed and netted the winning goal in half of his team's 10 victories.

Roughnecks fire Silcott

Calgary Tuesday night fired general manager Kurt Silcott, who had led the Roughnecks into the playoffs in all three of his seasons with the organization.

Owner Brad Banister will take over the GM duties on an interim basis.

"It has been great working with Kurt over the past three years, but we were both heading in different directions," said Banister. "We all want to thank him for his time spent with the team and wish him well in the future."

Silcott's Calgary teams went 25-23 in the regular season and 1-3 in the playoffs under his direction, reaching the West Division final before losing at home to Portland this season.

The 1994 Nazareth College graduate came to Calgary from the Bandits. He spent eight years as GM in Buffalo and the Bandits went 57-39 in the regular season and 3-4 in the postseason during his tenure. He was named the NLL's GM of the Year in 2003, when the Bandits finished 12-4.

Silcott, who was an assistant football coach at St. John Fisher before coming to Buffalo, has pulled the trigger on some of the biggest deals in the history of the league. He's twice acquired goaltender Steve Dietrich, as well as other big names like Casey Powell, Josh Sanderson, Jeff Shattler and Pat McCready.

After Silcott acquired Sanderson from Toronto for Lewis Ratcliff on March 25, the Roughnecks won their last three games to finish 7-9 and third in the West.

The younger brother of LumberJax Vice President Brian Silcott was responsible for hiring Darris Kilgour as head coach of the Bandits in 2003 and Troy Cordingley in Calgary last year. He brokered a deal that got the Bandits the first overall pick in the 2004 draft, with which Buffalo grabbed Delby Powless.

Champion's Cup chatter

* The Bandits won their first title at HSBC Arena, which opened its doors in 1997. They are now 4-4 in title games, 3-3 at home and 1-2 at HSBC Arena, where they lost to the Rochester Knighthawks in 1997 and Colorado Mammoth in 2006.

* Buffalo became the first team ever to win three home playoff games in a single postseason and tied the NLL record with 10 home wins on the season. Rochester went 10-0 en route to the title last year.

* Bandits forward Roger Vyse, a three-year veteran who set an NCAA single-season record with 71 goals as a senior at Limestone College in Gaffney, S.C., has totally transformed his game as a pro. In three playoff games, he passed out 11 assists.

* Darris Kilgour became just the third coach in NLL history to reach double digits in postseason victories. His 10-7 record puts him in an exclusive club with fellow Hall of Famers Les Bartley (18-4) and Tony Resch (10-4).

* Traded to the Bandits on March 25, forward Mike Accursi had the unique experience of facing the physical LumberJax five times this season, three times as a member of the Edmonton Rush and twice with Buffalo. He tallied six goals and 11 assists in those games, including one score and four helpers in the title game to win his second championship ring in as many seasons. He played for the Knighthawks last year.