As signings continue to pile up with lacrosse players anxiously wanting to play to in Victoria, Shamrocks head coach Bob Heyes admits there isn鈥檛 a lot of room on his roster.
With training camp set to start Monday at 6 p.m. at Bear Mountain Arena, Heyes will have to wait for his full stable of recruits to show up as the club is heavily laden with National Lacrosse League players, currently still competing.
Heyes will have less than half his expected roster here to start training for the 2013 Western Lacrosse Association season.
鈥淭he first couple of weeks of camp will be to get a good feel for the guys who are here and what they offer us and how they fit in,鈥� said Heyes, who also plans to change the Shamrocks鈥� style of play on both ends of the floor. 鈥淲e鈥檒l be introducing a few new things and getting guys up to speed.鈥�
There are more than a dozen Shamrocks players still playing in the NLL, which means a delay in getting the team together as a unit.
鈥淗opefully we can get some of the newer signings in sooner rather than later, but my feeling is we probably won鈥檛 see them until a week and a half before the first game,鈥� said Heyes, whose team opens at home on May 17 versus the Coquitlam Adanacs.
鈥淲e鈥檒l be taking inventory of what we have as draft picks and seeing if there is an opportunity for them. It鈥檚 too bad we don鈥檛 have a Senior B team in town, that would offer another option where guys could play,鈥� said Heyes.
With the additions of Scott Ranger, Cory Conway, Nolan Heavenor, Matt Vinc and others yet to come, Heyes will require some time for this new, power-punched roster to gel. The additions mean some jobs will be lost.
鈥淯nfortunately, there are going to be guys from last year鈥檚 team who won鈥檛 be making this club, which is always tough. But these kids we鈥檙e bringing in from other clubs have to prove that they fit in, too,鈥� said Heyes, who doesn鈥檛 want a New York Yankees scenario brewing, in which big-name players don鈥檛 meld together.
鈥淭he thing we have to realize is we want to put a team together to win a Mann Cup, but we also have to realize that every other team we play is going to want to beat us, so they will be pumped.鈥�
Not returning this season are Matt Lyons, Austin Powell, Brock Armour and Ryan Benesch.
Several others 鈥� including Karsen Leung, Rhys Jones and Mitch Jones 鈥� are at school and also will be delayed.
鈥淚t鈥檚 been a long off-season,鈥� admitted Heyes. 鈥淚 asked Welchie [general manager Chris Welch] for a goalie, a right-hander and another defender. I鈥檝e got two right-handers in Ranger and Conway now, new defenders and I got my goalie.鈥�
Vinc will be his starting netminder, but he will not be in the lineup the first week due to his teaching job in Ontario. Matt Flindell and Josh Phillips will be back as backups for the Shamrocks.
鈥淔or opening night, we will have our full expected lineup, barring any injuries. The only player who won鈥檛 be here is Vinc,鈥� Heyes said.
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