Attending a Victoria Shamrocks game this season at The Q Centre has been like sitting in a Broadway theatre when the dreaded announcement came that 鈥減laying the part of Willy Loman tonight will be the understudy instead of Dustin Hoffman. The now-healthy Shamrocks, for the first time this season, will feature a full cast when they take on the Coquitlam Adanacs.
Tyler Burton, useful on the faceoffs and as a versatile two-way player, and NLL Rochester Knighthawks pro Joe Resetarits, one of the best offensive talents in the game, draw into the lineup for the first time this season. Burton has been injured and Resetarits, from upstate New York, has arrived in town after being inked at the signing deadline late last month.
Star sniper Rhys Duch, who has seen only spot duty this season, will also rejoin the team from injury. That follows the debut last week of 2017 Shamrocks first-round draft pick Evan Messenger out of the Delta Islanders junior team, who had missed the season to that point due to injury.
鈥淭he pieces of the puzzle are starting to come together,鈥� said Victoria head coach Bob Heyes.
NLL goaltender Aaron Bold, who flies in to play when he can, will be between the pipes.
鈥淭his is the first opportunity of having our full group together,鈥� said Shamrocks GM Chris Welch.
鈥淚 hope all the ups and downs of the season are basically behind us. I am looking forward to seeing this group finally be able to play together and see what they can do.鈥�
Although an American, out of NCAA field lacrosse at the University of Albany, the 27-year-old Resetarits is well-acquainted with Canadian box lacrosse. He won the Mann Cup with the Brampton Excelsiors in 2011 and was the Ontario Major Series MVP with Brampton in 2015. The dynamic five-foot-11 attacker has 113 goals and 251 points in 95 games for Brampton and 237 points in 91 NLL games over six seasons for Rochester and Buffalo.
鈥淸Resetarits] gives us a different look from the right side,鈥� said Heyes.
The veteran Burton gives Victoria a familiar look in the faceoff circle.
鈥淧ossession is a big part of the game,鈥� said Heyes.
But there have been new faceoff rules instituted this year.
鈥淭hey want straight draws and you can use less of your body. It will take a bit of adjustment [by Burton] to the new rules,鈥� said Heyes.
The home-grown Duch, meanwhile, is one of the most lethal snipers ever to pull on the green and white and will be a welcome addition on offence.
鈥淚t might take a bit of getting used to the combinations, but these are good players, who can adjust,鈥� added Heyes.
Victoria is in the midst of a four-game stretch in which they play teams who are not in playoff positions. The Shamrocks split last week against the last-place Langley Thunder. Coquitlam enters tonight鈥檚 game in sixth place at 4-7. Victoria completes the stretch with the Island derby Saturday night in Nanaimo against the fifth-place Timbermen (4-8-1), who heading into Thursday night were four points adrift of the fourth-place New Westminster Salmonbellies in their quest to avoid missing the playoffs for the 10th consecutive season.
鈥淓ach point counts and these are teams with nothing to lose . . . we learned that lesson last week [in a 6-5 upset loss in Langley],鈥� said Heyes.
The Shamrocks have yet to mathematically clinch a playoff berth but will do it if they sweep Coquitlam tonight at The Q Centre and the Timbermen on Saturday in Nanaimo.
鈥淲e鈥檝e got to make the most of these next two games this weekend to make sure we put some distance between us and them,鈥� said Heyes.
The top three are the Maple Ridge Burrards (9-4) with 18 points and Victoria (8-4-1) and Burnaby Lakers (8-3-1) with 17 points each heading into Thursday. The Lakers held a game in hand on both the Shamrocks and Burrards and were playing it late Thursday night in New Westminster.
