Mann Cup dates set

The Western Lacrosse Association has set the dates the for the 2013 Mann Cup, to be played at the home of the WLA champions. The best of seven series to decide the Canadian senior lacrosse champions will open on Friday September 6 and, if it goes the distance, will conclude with Game 7 on Saturday, September 14. The full schedule:

Game 1  Fri. Sept 6
Game 2  Sat Sept 7
Game 3  Mon Sept 9
Game 4  Tues Sept 10
Game 5  Wed Sept 11 (if necessary)
Game 6  Fri Sept 13 (if necessary)
Game 7  Sat Sept 14 (if necessary)

Prout returning to his roots with the Brooklin Redmen, eager to get back on the floor

Gavin Prout was looking forward to returning to Major Series Lacrosse with the Peterborough Lakers this summer after a National Lacrosse League season that didn't end the way he would have liked. Now, as it turns out, his return will be with the Brooklin Redmen, the team with which he won a Mann Cup when he was the MSL rookie of the year back in 2000. Prout was dealt, along with defender Mike Hobbins, to Brooklin in exchange for defender Stephen Hoar.

“I was pretty surprised myself,” the righty forward said of hearing that he'd been traded. “I was actually talking to [Peterborough GM Jamie] Batley about what my role was going to be on the team. I understand where he's coming from. He has a couple of holes back on the defensive end with some of the guys who aren't coming back with injuries and things and obviously that's not my forte. He wanted me to potentially come and play a bit of a transition game but with Steve Hoar he's made a good trade for what's best for Peterborough and I thank him for my time in the Boro and we'll go from there.”

Hobbins and Prout head to Redmen, Hoar joins Lakers in Major Series Lacrosse trade

Gavin Prout is headed back to the Brooklin Redmen

The Brooklin Redmen and Peterborough Lakers have exchanged a pair of Toronto Rock defenders as the 2013 season approaches. Brooklin has sent Stephen Hoar to the Lakers and in return will receive Mike Hobbins and Gavin Prout. The soon-to-be 31-year-old Hoar hasn't played Major Series Lacrosse since the 2009 season, his sixth with the Redmen after graduating from the Whitby Warriors Jr A program. Hobbins missed last summer after having shoulder surgery following the completion of the Rock's NLL season. He's a 29-year-old who was part of three Mann Cup champions with the Lakers.

The 35-year-old Prout played five seasons with Brooklin, the last in 2007, then joined the Lakers in a trade for Jeff Gilbert in 2011. He scored 11 goals and 14 assists for 25 points in 11 games that summer then didn't play last summer because of work commitments.

The switch of defenders makes geographical sense for both players. Hoar is now living in the Peterborough area and Hobbins lives near Whitby and works in Toronto.

Chiefs and Kodiaks pull off huge goalie trade: Poulin and Kirk switching teams

Mike Poulin will be back in the black of the
KW Kodiaks after being traded for Evan Kirk.

Mike Poulin is headed back to Kitchener-Waterloo. The former league MVP for the Kodiaks has been traded from the Six Nations Chiefs, who acquired him from KW in 2011, back to his former team. The Kodiaks also receive the Chiefs' second round draft pick in 2016 and considerations. Going the other way is Evan Kirk, who emerged as a star in Major Series Lacrosse after Poulin was dealt away.

At the time of the trade, KW said that part of the reason was to give Kirk a chance to showcase himself for the National Lacrosse League draft, in which he wound up going sixth overall to the Minnesota Swarm, with whom he has played the past two seasons. Poulin was the 2012 NLL Goalie of the Year with the Calgary Roughnecks.

In a separate deal, the teams traded yet another goalie. Angus Goodleaf goes from KW, for whom he didn't play after being acquired from the Peterborough Lakers last year, to Six Nations in exchange for a third round pick in the same 2016 draft.

D'Orazio rounds out Excelsiors coaching staff, adds Burton and McLean as assistants

The Brampton Excelsiors have filled out their coaching staff. Head Coach Clem D'Orazio reports that he has added Al Burton and Bill McLean to his staff. "Al Burton brings over 30 years of coaching experience at all levels," D'Orazaio says. "Al will be the offensive coach. He previously coached the Sr. B Oakville Titans to a league-best record last season I'm excited to work with Al. He has a great outlook on the game and we share several of the same philosophies."

McLean played 10 years of senior lacrosse between Major Series and Sr. B and played for the Oshawa Machine in the inaugural CLax season of 2012. "I recently coached with Bill during the CLax season (prospects) where we took home the championship," D'Orazio says. "Bill brings a lot of character to the staff and will be responsible for the defensive side of things, along with the one on one corrections needed for success."

The season is fast approaching. The Excelsiors kick off their schedule with a home game against the Oakville Rock at the Brampton Memorial Arena on Tuesday May 28 at 8 pm.

Brampton Excelsiors tab Clem D'Orazio as new head coach

Clem D'Orazio wasn't out of Major Series Lacrosse for long. The young coach, who was replaced by the Rock when the team moved from Ajax to Oakville, has been hired as the new head coach of the Brampton Excelsiors after a search conducted by team governors Zenny Lipinski and Ziggy Musial, Assistant GM Steve McCullough and departing coach Mike Hasen.

D'Orazio inherits a lineup that retains the core of the defensive unit that has helped to keep the Excelsiors competitive over the last couple of years while the offence has undergone some transition. “I'm not going to try to reinvent the wheel,” D'Orazio says. “Mike Hasen is a great coach and I've got guys like Sandy Chapman who could pretty much run the defence on their own. I'm going to go in and keep things moving and hopefully correct issues as necessary as we go.”

D'Orazio says that he made sure the majority of the team was returning before he accepted the position, so he's looking forward to working with players like back-to-back NLL Defensive Player of the Year Kyle Rubisch, with whom he had the chance to play in junior. He's also confident that the offence will be a force even without the likes of Josh Sanderson and Blaine Manning, who have decided not to continue in summer lacrosse for now.