If the smile on his face doesn鈥檛 give it away, the desire he鈥檚 already shown on the floor is an even bigger indication that Nolan Heavenor is back where he belongs 鈥� in a green and white Victoria Shamrocks uniform.
鈥淚t鈥檚 been a long time. I definitely missed it,鈥� the 31-year-old said of his return to the Western Lacrosse Association and, in particular, his native Victoria where he was a part of the 2005 Mann Cup win with the Shamrocks. 鈥淚鈥檝e had a lot on my plate the last few years.
鈥淚鈥檓 married, have a family started with two beautiful little girls,鈥� he added. 鈥淢y wife gave me her blessing to give it a crack again this summer, which is nice.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a busy lifestyle,鈥� said Heavenor, who is playing in Calgary with the Roughnecks of the NLL and is also employed here as a utilities arborist with Capital Tree Service, working around power lines as a contractor for sa国际传媒 Hydro. 鈥淚 thank my wife, she鈥檚 my rock and she keeps my lacrosse passion going, for sure.
鈥淪he was the one urging me on, saying our older daughter wants to see her daddy play lacrosse, other than on TV or the computer. It鈥檒l be nice [that] we can bring the kids and they can watch me play. Mom and Dad are stoked, too. They haven鈥檛 been to too many games since my brother [Tyler] and I stopped playing a few years ago.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a great opportunity and once you鈥檝e played for the Shamrocks, there is no other team you want to play for,鈥� added Heavenor, who is married to Bailee with Vayda about to turn three in July. Shayne is 14 months old.
Heavenor last played for the Shamrocks in 2008, choosing to take summers off to focus on personal time. He and his family reside in Sooke and the veteran gives the Shamrocks a tremendous boost in all facets of the game, including faceoffs.
鈥淣olan is a guy we鈥檝e missed for the last four seasons,鈥� said Shamrocks general manager Chris Welch. 鈥淗e鈥檚 a local guy with a great history with us. A short history, but he won a Mann Cup back in 2005. He brings veteran leadership, which has been a little bit lacking in our young team.
鈥淗e brings a wealth of experience at the highest levels. He鈥檚 hard-working, very versatile, good on defence, offence and transition. He can do it all and he鈥檚 one of the key additions we鈥檝e made this off-season.
鈥淗e鈥檚 always been a versatile player. Maybe, over the years, his role has gone from a heavier offensive lean to the defensive side, but his game has evolved. He鈥檚 kept himself in great shape, stayed real committed to the sport and we鈥檙e glad he鈥檚 back.鈥�
As are the fans as the Shamrocks have launched their training camp and have the town talking lacrosse again, in a big way. They鈥檒l open the season May 17 against Coquitlam.
鈥淭he fans, the atmosphere here, the guys 鈥� it鈥檚 obviously a much different team now and I鈥檓 a lot older now than I was in 2005 when we won the Mann Cup. But Victoria has a great fan base,鈥� said Heavenor, who was out leading drills at camp at Bear Mountain Arena.
鈥淢y heart is in Victoria, this is my home,鈥� Heavenor stressed. 鈥淚鈥檝e played a lot of years. It鈥檚 nice to play a couple more here, maybe, we鈥檒l see.鈥�
