The Lacrosse Blog

Hi-Oh Silver!

noreply@blogger.com (Barbara K. Adamski) — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 00:12:00 +0000

Today's trivia: Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Famer Harry Smith is Jay Silverheels, aka Tonto of the Lone Ranger series and movies. How cool is that?

Game 7 Redux

noreply@blogger.com (Barbara K. Adamski) — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 17:32:00 +0000

Well, I thought I was over it, but watching the final moments of regulation play in Game 7 of the Mann Cup still makes me feel so sad.

But, that little mishap didn't need to be the end of the game--or the series. We still had 10 minutes of overtime. We just didn't use that time to our advantage.

In the end, though, it was an amazing series and the Bellies rocked. And every single year the team takes what they've learned and applies it to the next season, always with positive results. Perhaps next year will be the Bellies' turn to win the Mann Cup on the road.

Bob Salt nails it

noreply@blogger.com (Barbara K. Adamski) — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 21:17:00 +0000

Interesting comments about referee Mark Gardonio (from the Newsleader):

"It wasn’t that play that drew the ire of the Salmonbellies, it was the officiating of Ontario referee Mark Gardonio. After the game, irate defender Ian Hawksbee walked down the hallway to yell at the officials. Salmonbellies head coach Bob Salt said Gardonio has cost them all three games they’ve lost in the series claiming Gardonio’s turn-of-possession calls kept the ball in Brampton’s sticks. Salt also said the constant calling for mops to wipe up sweat off the Queen’s Park hardwood floor gives the Excelsiors a chance to catch their breath. That takes the advantage away from what Salt believes is his team’s superior conditioning in the transition game. 'It kills us,' said Salt of the mopping."

Yup, Gardonio makes a lot of weird change-of-possession calls and often even stops the Bellies mid-run only to give them possession (which they already had). And there's his obsession with mopping. Too bad we can't give Gardonio a delay-of-game penalty. All three Brampton wins have been in OT, all three with Gardonio reffing, and in at least two of those games, Gardonio's calls drastically changed the outcome. Hmmm.

Mann Cup 2009--game 7 tonight

noreply@blogger.com (Barbara K. Adamski) — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 19:19:00 +0000

It's been quite a rush watching this series between two such evenly matched teams.

In game four, the Bellies outshot the Excels 56 to 37, winnng 8 to 7 in regulation play and tying the series at two game each. In game five, Gill's hat trick led the Bellies to a 10-8 victory, and one game away from the Mann Cup. But Brampton put up a tremendous fight in game six and dashed the Bellies' hope for a Mann Cup championship in six games. And while a Brampton win was somewhat disappointing for fans, the game itself wasn't. The Bellies played well and Roik was outstanding in net, intuitively stopping shots, it seemed. In some cases, he had no way of seeing the actual play, with so many men in front of the net.

For a while there it looked as though the Bellies would take game six. Kyle Ross's tie-breaking goal seven minutes into the period brought tears to my daughter's eyes (I'm not exaggerating). But then, for reasons unbeknownst to me, the ref gave Brampton possession. Whether this call caught the Bellies off-guard or not, I don't know, but Bramptom's Mike Hominuck made a behind-the-back shot into the net, tying it up again. (This irked me somewhat because we've been commenting all series how Brampton's behind-the-back passes and shots have a really low success rate--bummer that this one went as planned). Then, with 15 seconds left in OT, Brampton called a time-out. I hate when that happens. I've seen too many game-altering shots in the last second or two of play. And of course, I was right to be concerned. Dan Dawson scored the game-ending goal with 1.5 seconds on the clock.

Tonight's game could go either way. But one thing's for sure: it's going to be one heck of a battle for the Mann Cup.

Go Bellies!

About last night

noreply@blogger.com (Barbara K. Adamski) — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 16:54:00 +0000

Last night’s Mann Cup game was the most intense game I’ve ever seen—way too close for comfort, from a tie of one all at the end of the first, 4-3 for the Bellies after the second, 5 all after the third, 7 all after the first 10-minute overtime, to ending with a contentious goal about three minutes into the sudden-death OT. Talk about stressful!

My daughter’s convinced that Colin Doyle stepped into the crease BEFORE becoming airborne to score the winning goal, and I’m sure a lot of Bellies fans agree with her (can’t comment on the Brampton fans because they’re too few and far between at the Barn). Teddy Jenner of NLL Insider thinks the goal was clean based on Doyle’s being airborne before crossing the line, but perhaps Jenner didn’t look at Doyle’s pre-airborne stance. In any case, I’d be less bugged by that goal if it hadn’t been Doyle’s. I hate giving that guy another reason to be smug.

And speaking of Doyle, when I watch him play, I’m reminded of a certain local city's girls’ lacrosse team of a few years back. They could change the entire tone of the game by convincing refs that minor, clean hits were somehow worthy of penalty. How’d they do it? By embellishing every little hit, every minor infraction. Colin Doyle, a 30-something-year-old man, uses the tactics of a 12-year-old girl—and is known for it. In fact, even his supporters admit that he embellishes injuries (although they try to avoid the using the word "fake"). To each his own, I suppose, but I certainly wouldn’t want faked injuries and melodrama to be my legacy to a sport that’s known for its speed and roughness.

So, let’s look at the effect of Doyle’s antics on last night’s game. In the second period, Kyle Ross and Bubba Westwood got two minutes each (for elbowing and high sticking, respectively), which they likely wouldn’t have got if Doyle hadn’t exaggerated. The result? Brampton scored twice on the powerplay, tying the game at 3 all. At the bottom of the third, Doyle’s melodrama resulted in a 4-minute checking-from-behind penalty to Rory Smith. Harsh as that one was, the Bellies not only managed to kill the penalty but Cliff Smith was able to score. Still, the game might have ended completely differently had the Bellies been playing with the full complement. Why the refs allow Doyle to get away with his cheap and not-so-subtle antics is beyond me. The fans don’t buy it, though. And frankly, if I wanted to watch grown men writhe in pain over fake injuries, I’d watch soccer.

But like I said, it was a thrilling game, and I get a lot of comfort knowing that the Bellies haven’t played their best game yet. Maybe tonight they can tie the series.

The plot thickens

noreply@blogger.com (Barbara K. Adamski) — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 04:38:00 +0000

Here's an interesting piece by Teddy Jenner of NLL Insider.

A few key points regarding the incident that kicked off the Game 1 brawl:

"After the game he [Don Scott] reviewed the game tape and the referees’ game sheet and as a result New Westminster’s Bobby Snider was assessed a three game suspension. Now it has been made known that while both teams and Scott agree that Ian Hawskbee was the actual player who hit Colin Doyle, the game sheet says it was Snider. New West could have appealed the decision but then they would have put Hawksbee on the hot seat and could have lost him for three games."

and more importantly:

"Scott also commented that in his mind, the check on Doyle was a legal shoulder to chest hit and that it was the resulting head on head collision that did the damage."

So a lousy call not only gets the wrong player suspended for three games for what was apparently a clean hit, but it also sets off the largest bench-clearing brawl in recent lacrosse history. Grrr.

On another note, Jenner also reports that Chris Gill will be retiring after the Mann Cup. This makes me sad. C'mon Bellies, win it for Chris!

Mann Cup 2009 Game 2

noreply@blogger.com (Barbara K. Adamski) — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 06:55:00 +0000

Here are a few clips from game 2 in the Mann Cup series. The footage isn't as dramatic as the game 1 brawl, but there's some good stuff in there. (Video for both games by Kaede.)

As for the game, well, it was okay, I suppose. The first period was a good one for the Bellies, and they ended it with a 3-1 lead. Both teams went through a bit of sluggishness midway through the second period, but Brampton managed to emerge from it, while the Bellies seemed to have lost too much momentum. By the end of the second, the teams were tied at 7 apiece, then tied at 9 apiece by the end of the third. In OT, Brampton scored four more times, while the Bellies managed just one more goal. Final score 13-10 for Brampton.

Game 3 is Monday. Same time, same place. But different winner, I hope.

Mann Cup 2009 Game 1

noreply@blogger.com (Barbara K. Adamski) — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 06:39:00 +0000

Well, I knew it was going to be a rough one, but I didn't expect a bench-clearing brawl. Here are a few clips of the fights that took place just after Colin Doyle went down. I didn't see what happened to Doyle, but the Bellies took a high-sticking penalty for whatever it was. But to be honest, Doyle seemed fine at first, then went down in an exaggerated manner (with what looked to be a lower body injury), got up again, then went down again. The high-sticking call and a leg injury don't match up, so I have no idea what really happened. But I'm thinking Doyle will be just fine tomorrow.

As for other observations:
-Every time the Salmonbellies scored, the Excelsiors (Cosmo and another player) would jump on the scorer.
-The heavy-set, neckless ref was lousy--to the point of giving Brampton two goals they shouldn't have gotten. The first one, the ref closest to the nets called it a non-goal, but the heavy one overode his decision from across the floor. And the other goal that Brampton was given didn't go in, plain and simple. Hope that guy doesn't come back to ref again this series. He's the worst yet.
-The Excelsiors weren't nearly as good as I expected them to be. The Bellies didn't even play their best game, yet they totally dominated. Maybe Brampton's suffering from jet lag.
-In all, there was about three hours' worth of penalties.

One more sleep

noreply@blogger.com (Barbara K. Adamski) — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 03:43:00 +0000

This is it. Tomorrow night is Game 1 in the 2009 Mann Cup Championship. In honour of the fact that New West is hosting its first Mann Cup series since 1995, I’ve come up with a list of 10 great things about WLA lacrosse in New West:

1 The wooden floor—What can I say? It’s sleek. It’s green. It has the Salmonbellies logo on it. And it’s the only wooden lacrosse floor in Canada and likely in all of North America.

2 Shaggy—Shaggy’s the floor wiper-upper and a heck of a cool character. He’s especially popular with the kids, even us big ones. Sometimes he gets louder cheers than the players—and he’s certainly more popular than the refs!

3 George—George sells the 50-50 tickets, and dang it, one of these days he’s going to sell me a winner.

4 The organ—Okay, I’m not a huge fan of Camptown Races and Little Brown Jug being played during a lacrosse game—and I definitely don’t like to hear the theme from Jaws when the Bellies are shorthanded in their own zone, but heck, the organ is retro, Queen’s Park Arena is retro, and the Salmonbellies are one of the oldest sports franchises around, so I’m willing to compromise for the sake of atmosphere.

5 The city itself. New Westminster is a lacrosse town. Not a day goes by in the summer when you don’t see at least one kid walking around in Salmonbellies shorts, and you often see several walking around with lacrosse sticks in their hands. The city’s also home to the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame and Museum, located just a few minutes (on foot) from QPA. If you’re in the neighbourhood, check it out.

6 The team. The guys are great. They’re active in the community, they volunteer their time to coach kids in the summer, they show up from Minor lacrosse registration and meet the kids, and they even sent lacrosse gear to the troops in Kandahar.

7 The staff. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard the Coquitlam staff swear at Bellies fans, and how often I’ve seen one of their staff flip the bird. I can’t imagine the Bellies’ crew doing that.

8 The fans. Okay, sometimes we’re a bit rowdy and we really hate shoddy reffing, but we’re a good bunch—really we are (but please forgive us for booing the 50-50 winner of that one play-off game. That was totally uncalled for. Booing 50-50 winners definitely crosses the line. Booing Ref Radar, on the other hand, is totally acceptable and even expected in some sections of the stands).

9 Queen’s Park Arena aka The Barn. The building goes back to the 1930s. Originally intended to be a civic building, it soon became the venue for hockey and box lacrosse, which was invented in the 1930s. Pieces of the original tongue-and-groove wooden floor (which was installed in 1938) grace the back wall of the arena. (For more history on lacrosse in New West, check out my May 2007 article from The Walrus, An Upstream Battle.)

10 The calibre of play. The games are action-packed and even the teams that are lower in the standings put up a darned good fight and keep the fans entertained. But tomorrow night, we’ll be some amazing lacrosse between the Salmonbellies and the eastern division champs, the Brampton Excelsiors. Go Bellies!

Game 3 in the WLA finals

noreply@blogger.com (Barbara K. Adamski) — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 23:20:00 +0000

Here's a great write-up about last night's game between the New Westminster Salmonbellies and the Coquitlam Adanacs. It was by far the best game I've seen in a long time.

Woo hoo, Bellies!

noreply@blogger.com (Barbara K. Adamski) — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 05:45:00 +0000

What a game! The Bellies played great against the Adanacs tonight, taking game number 1 in the WLA finals 14 to 5. The entire team played well, and while Cliff Smith, Chris Gill, and Ilija Gajic took the first, second, and third stars of the game, the rest of the team was right up there with them. My personal star of the game goes to Bellies’ Peter McFetridge. He was all heart and soul out there. He got an assist on a great play he set up and even reached into the net to make a save when Richards wasn’t there to do it himself.

The Adanacs on the other hand, didn’t have a single player who stood out in terms of skill. Yeah, they’re a good team and the game was a lot closer than it looked on paper, but overall they were underwhelming except in the area in which they excel—mouthing off. I think they need to change their MO up a bit if they hope to take the series (or even a game). They need to get more of their shots onto the net (not missing by a foot or two). If they’d put half the effort they put into taunting into getting the ball into the net, there’d have been a different outcome.

What was interesting tonight was the difference in the two Adanacs’ goalies. Atherton, who started the game, managed to get himself worked up into a lather by the end of the second period. He was bickering with the ref, harassing other players, and just being an overall goof. In the third period, he looked like a toddler gearing up for a tantrum. Levis on the other hand, looked completely dejected after each shot he let in. It was rather sad and pathetic, yet comedic at the same time. Still, I don’t think tonight’s game came down to goaltending. Atherton made an amazing 43 saves. The Bellies just played a much better game, both offensively and defensively, and deserved to take this one. Way to go, guys!

Same old, same old

noreply@blogger.com (Barbara K. Adamski) — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 06:07:00 +0000

I just got back from Game 3 of the semi-finals between New West and Langley, and am struck by how similar the three games have been. For the most part it goes like this: the Bellies start to completely dominate; the Thunder get upset and resort to petty altercations, jersey pulling, and all-out fights; and the Bellies win the game hands-down. You would think that the Thunder would start to realize that the fighting isn't getting them anywhere. They'd be better off trying to take a few more shots on net. Today was particularly pathetic, with the Thunder making only 32 shots to the Bellies' 58. You sure don't win games that way.

I feel sorry for the goalies. They're not doing a bad job at all. Joe Bell made 24 saves and Ray Hodgkinson made 20. It's the rest of the team that's letting the goalies down. In three games, not a single Thunder player made the three stars of the game. Tonight's stars were Dewolf (3rd), McFetridge (2nd), and Dave Morgan (1st).

I'm debating whether or not to go to game 4. It's very likely going to be much of the same. If it's not and Langley happens to take a win, then I'll be able to see the fifth game at Queen's Park.

Here's part of the fight between New West's Ilija Gajic and Langley's Rob Van Beek.

Salmonbellies take game 1 of the WLA semi-finals

noreply@blogger.com (Barbara K. Adamski) — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 05:19:00 +0000

The Salmonbellies handily beat Langley Thunder tonight at Queen's Park Arena, with a final score of 12-5.

The game was close for about the first four minutes of play. Then Langley had a bit of a scoring drought, not getting one in the net until the sixth minute of the third period. Matt Roik (second star of the game) played really well for the first two periods, but started to look a little off in the third. In fact, goal number three actually went into the net off his back. He was also slow to get up a few times, so we thought that maybe he was injured or unwell. He picked it up again later in the period, though, so that was good.

Langley lost a bit of blood tonight--literally. Both Kyle McEwan and Steve Hay ending up bleeding after fights (with Rory Smith and Ilija Gajic, respectively). McEwan was especially deserving of his injuries sustained at the start of the third period. At the end of the second period, he downed Kyle Ross with a retaliatory check to the back of the head (So I was told. I didn't see it myself because I was watching the play taking place about 15 feet away. I heard the thud, though, and Ross was face down for several minutes).

The two other stars of the game were Gajic (first) and Cliff Smith (third). And the doofus-of-the-night award goes to Thunder's Matt Wilson for his post-game harassment of one of the refs. I imagine he'll face some disciplinary action for his abusive conduct.

Next game is Friday in Langley.

Lacrosse game rained out

noreply@blogger.com (Barbara K. Adamski) — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 23:29:00 +0000

Leaks in the roof of the Coquitlam Sports Centre led to the cancellation of a crucial game between the Adanacs and Langley Thunder as they vie for third place in the WLA standings. According to this article, the game will likely go ahead tomorrow in Coquitlam--unless it rains.

The past week in lacrosse

noreply@blogger.com (Barbara K. Adamski) — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 19:30:00 +0000

The first annual Seats for Soldiers was a resounding success. About 1500 people came out to Queen's Park Arena to watch the Senior Salmonbellies defeat (for the first time this season!) the Victoria Shamrocks. Soldiers, sailors, and military brass were out in great numbers, and we even had a marching band playing the national anthem. I got all teary-eyed, especially since July has seen a record number of soldiers killed in Afghanistan.

This past weekend, New Westminster and Burnaby co-hosted the provincial championship for girls' minor lacrosse. New Westminster did very well overall: gold in PeeWee; gold, silver, and bronze in Bantam; and silver and bronze in Midget. My daughter's team played their best game of the season in the bronze-medal match against Coquitlam. It was great to see them finally mesh as a team and apply all of the skills they'd learned throughout the season. It makes me wish the season were just a week or two longer...

Seats for Soldiers

noreply@blogger.com (Barbara K. Adamski) — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 22:21:00 +0000

Don't forget to attend Seats for Soldiers tomorrow night at Queen's Park Arena. Wear red to support both the Bellies and our troops!

Interesting evening in the WLA

noreply@blogger.com (Barbara K. Adamski) — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 19:34:00 +0000

Three games took place last night, all of them with unexpected outcomes.

Game one: New Westminster Salmonbellies vs. Nanaimo Timbermen.
I monitored the first period of the game before I had to go out. New Westminster scored 5 goals while Nanaimo scored none. I expected a Bellies' win. Turns out the Timbermen scored 8 goals in the second period (including a hat trick by Cayle Ratcliff), with the Bellies scoring only 3. The score was now 8 all. At the end of the third period, the teams were still tied at 10 all, so the game went into overtime. Bellies' Sean Robinson and Nanaimo's Cayle Ratcliff each chipped in another goal, so the score remained tied.

Game two: Victoria Shamrocks vs. Langley Thunder
I don't know how they do it, but Langley is the only team that's managed to beat Victoria--and they've managed to do it twice! Final score: 12-10.

Game three: Burnaby Lakers vs. Coquitlam Adanacs
Burnaby's situation is the opposite of Victoria's. They can't seem to win enough games. Last night, however, they beat the only team they've been able to beat this season--for the second time! Both wins were in front of Coquitlam fans, too. Final score: 12-7.

Missed photo op

noreply@blogger.com (Barbara K. Adamski) — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 06:15:00 +0000

Dang. Six Bellies in the penalty box and I forget my camera!

What a crazy game last night at the Barn, where the Bellies played host to the Nanaimo Timberman ("host" being a rather overly generous term, considering all the violence involved).

In all, the game saw 142 minutes in penalties handed out--from goofy "delay of game" calls for minor roughing to match penalties for spearing (Mike Morrison) and attempt to injure (Rory Smith). In the third period especially, it was like a little bit of lacrosse interspersed between penalties.

Tomorrow night the two teams meet again, this time in Nanaimo. I hope the players make it through relatively unscathed.

Salmonbellies move into second place

noreply@blogger.com (Barbara K. Adamski) — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 05:23:00 +0000

The Bellies moved into second place tonight with a solid (6 to 3) win against the Coquitlam Adanacs. Goalies for both teams (Tyler Richards for the Bellies and Chris Levis for the As) played extremely well, making 78 saves between them.

After a mediocre first period that saw the As gain a 2-nothing lead, the Bellies turned it on, scoring five goals in the second period (to Coquitlam's one) and yet another in the third period.

The second period was filled with violations, including a huge brawl for which four players (Campeau and Forget from Coquitlam, and Westwood and Ross from New West) got game misconducts.

New Westminster doesn't play again until next Thursday, when they take on Nanaimo at Queen's Park.

Lacrosse round-up

noreply@blogger.com (Barbara K. Adamski) — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 02:01:00 +0000

It was an interesting game in Burnaby on June 26. I was going to call it exciting, but it wasn't until the last period that the game really got going. In fact, during the first period, I became quite bored watching the Bellies give up so many points to the Lakers. We've seen this happen before with the Bellies, though. It's like they don't even try until they get themselves behind in the game, then they work towards a comeback. This is all very stressful for the fans, though, who wonder if they'll do it, or if they'll end up giving too little, too late.

But after being down 4 to 1 at the end of the first period and 7 to 4 at the end of the second, the Bellies did indeed manage to turn the game around. The last few minutes of the game were particularly thrilling.

Here's what the Newsleader had to say:

"Trailing 7-5 in the final four minutes, Cliff Smith and Scott Stewart scored 24 seconds apart to tie the game. Kyle Ross got the winner less than a minute later with 1:46 left and then assisted on an insurance goal by [Chris Seller], his second of the game, with 35 seconds remaining." [The Newsleader account erroneously credited Kyle Ross for the final goal.]

Kudos to Lakers' goalie, Andrew Leyshon, for stopping 42 shots. I'm surprised he didn't get named one of the stars of the game for his stellar performance.

In other WLA action, Coquitlam hosted Victoria on Saturday in what turned out to be an incredibly high-scoring game. The Shamrocks strengthened their lead in the standings with an 18 to 11 win over the Adanacs. I wasn't able to make it to the game, but the WLA website has posted coverage of all but the first few minutes of the game. I might have to snuggle in bed with my laptop tonight to watch.

The following night Langley and Maple Ridge played a rough and tumble game that saw over 60 minutes in penalties handed out. Langley won 11 to 6 and is now very comfortably in fourth place. Langley also has the distinction of being the only team who has been able to beat Victoria this season, which could make for an interesting semi-final if the top four remain the same.

Bellies lacrosse camp for kids

noreply@blogger.com (Barbara K. Adamski) — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 23:21:00 +0000

I enrolled my daughter in the Salmonbellies lacrosse camp. Today was the second day of camp, and she came home pretty excited that Jordon Hall had given her a few pointers on improving her shot and that Bellies' trainer, Keith Johnson, had taught her a few new stretches.

The camp is a great summer activity for kids: it keeps them out of trouble, gives them a good workout, and helps them improve their lacrosse skills just in time for Provincials.

Cool lacrosse blog

noreply@blogger.com (Barbara K. Adamski) — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 05:57:00 +0000

Here's a great new blog on local lacrosse history. Enjoy!

Much better

noreply@blogger.com (Barbara K. Adamski) — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 05:36:00 +0000

The Bellies played the Adanacs in Coquitlam today. They lost, but they played much better than they've played in the last few home games I've seen. Honestly, I think that dang organ music in Queen's Park is sapping them of their energy. Heck, it's affecting the fans. Everyone in my section groans when the organist plays ditties from the past like Camptown Races and Three Blind Mice. Imagine playing lacrosse to Three Blind Mice.

Tonight's highlights were:

1) Seeing the Bellies score three goals in a minute at the bottom of the second period and two more at the top of the third, bringing the score to 10-8 for Coquitlam. Unfortunately, they couldn't get another one past Levis, and Coquitlam scored again, so the final result was 11-8.

2) Watching Cliff Smith fight. I know, I shouldn't be advocating violence, but Smith is just great to watch: so fast, so smooth, so accurate in his punches.

3) Seeing some life in the Bellies. Honestly, the last couple of games have been rather boring to watch. Even though they lost tonight, they played hard and looked good.

Lowlights:

1) Having the Bellies get a penalty for delay of game for throwing the ball over the back netting. Who knew the netting didn't go all the way to the ceiling? And really, why would a player deliberately delay a game in the first period, when the score is two all?

2) As always, the Veltman brothers and Dane Dobbie. Sorry, but I just don't like 'em. They're rude and obnoxious and completely unsportsmanlike.

3) Having to watch a goalie let in shot after shot, knowing that the coach won't pull him until it's too late to catch up. It's happening a bit too much with the Bellies this season (with each goalie).

Next week, the Bellies play host to Maple Ridge. If they don't play well, I'm going to blame it on the organ music.

How depressing

noreply@blogger.com (Barbara K. Adamski) — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 01:40:00 +0000

Well, the New Westminster Salmonbellies are now down three games to none in the 2008 Mann Cup series against the Brampton Excelsiors. I was really hoping the Bellies would win tonight. In fact, at one point I thought they would.

But it all went downhill when a faulty 30-second call led to a resetting of the clock after an Excelsior's shot hit a NW player's helmet. And of course, at that point, the Excelsiors scored their second goal of the game. After that, a similarly faulty call was made and Brampton scored again (but this time the Bellies had a guy in the box as well).

Final score: 7-3.

I think the Bellies are getting a bit too frustrated. They've had to contend with bad calls before, and usually come out ahead and win the game, which is always the best revenge.

They're just not doing what they know they can do.

Here's to a win tomorrow, guys!

Salmonbellies trailing two games to none

noreply@blogger.com (Barbara K. Adamski) — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 01:47:00 +0000

Another loss for the Bellies, this time 6-5. Next game Monday at 4:30. Catch the live video at Lacrosse--Inside the Game.

For post-game commentary, check out NLL Insider and Shuster's Sports Commentary.