A fashionable old song mused ‘You gotta have heart,’ but in boxla circles you can add goaltending to the must-have list.
Both heart and netminding will go a long way towards the Burnaby junior Lakers’ goal of moving out of the B.C. Junior A Lacrosse League basement in 2016.
A swap one month into the 2015 season brought Seattle native goalie Graham Husick and solidified the position for this year. While the 6-foot-1 netminder, who is a U.S. national team player, will miss the start of the season due to college commitments, the team has intermediate grad Thomas Hankins able to handle the workload for the first month.
Planning ahead, Burnaby also dealt for first-year intermediate Matt Hills last week to bolster the organizational depth in the crease.
“We were in need of an (intermediate) goalie and Hills fits the bill,” said Lakers general manager Brad Hara. “He’s a big (6-foot-4) kid, just like Hankins, and he has a good stick.”
It’s just one position where the club is looking much improved, and must be stronger if it is to put a 4-17 season behind them.
Hara notes recent practices have been well attended and the players are hungry, gearing up for the May 1 season opener.
“I’d say our ball movement has been very good. Our lineup is kind of split one-third for third-year veterans, one-third for sophomores and one-third for first-year players.”
The club has made a handful of off-season deals and been running through some grueling practices with the intermediate Lakers, with the focus on building endurance, stamina and team chemistry.
A strong bond among players is going to play a key role in this year’s story, said Hara.
“A big area is going to be team chemistry,” he noted. “This group will work together as a unit, and that’s how it should be.”
A playoff spot won’t be won by chemistry alone – otherwise training camp would take place in a laboratory. But getting players to toil, sweat and dedicate themselves for each other, and face some tremendous challenges with a unified work ethic, can make a season.
Third-year head coach Brad Parker, former Port Moody police chief, will provide the guidance and accountability. But it will be the players who deliver, said Hara.
The Lakers main losses through graduation were Trevor Kirkby, Justin Appels, Ryan Vogrig and Jordan Hara. For the first six weeks they’ll be without Aidan Milburn, who led the club with 41 goals and 39 assists last season and is in his freshman year at RIT.
By reacquiring Danny Spagnuolo in a swap with Delta that also brought in Cody Tracey and Jasper Nahanee, the Lakers have a quality go-to offensive shooter who can set the tempo.
Spagnuolo counted 24 goals and 21 assists over 17 games for Burnaby, and tallied 10 points for Delta in six playoff games.
Of the club’s anticipated rookies, first-year juniors Jordan Gabriele and Mason Pomeroy will fit in at opposite ends of the floor, while aged-up Patrick Shoemay will bolster the lineup as he makes the jump.
Hara knows the issues that face the program, which just three years ago posted a single win. This season, the puzzle is starting to come together, he said.
“We were in a big hole and we are digging our way out of it. We feel we’re heading in the right direction and our goal this year is to make the playoffs. That is what every team’s goal should be at this time of the season.”
