His experience and ability is matched by his calmness, leadership skills and classy demeanour, which is why Dan Dawson was such a great fan favourite his first time around with the Victoria Shamrocks of the Western Lacrosse Association.
The 33-year-old is set to begin his second stint with the local club tonight at 7:45 at The Q Centre as the Maple Ridge Burrards come calling.
Dawson, who joined the team for practice on Wednesday, admitted the fans鈥� infatuation with the six-foot-six, 217-pounder is reciprocated in his feelings for them.
鈥淚鈥檓 excited to be here, that鈥檚 for sure,鈥� he said. 鈥淎 piece of me never left this place. There is no doubt. I owe a lot to this great city and organization. I always wanted to come back, but life got in the way.
鈥淚 needed to take care of some things back home. We had a child and it gave us an opportunity to come out here for the summer and repay this city for what it鈥檚 done for me for so many great years.鈥�
What he is thankful for the most is the city provided his wife Alyse, a Victoria native, who just gave birth to their first child, Theo, who is three weeks old.
鈥淭alk about how in debt I am to this city. It gave me my wife and she鈥檚 been an amazing support staff for me and that gives us a chance to come back home and be with her family a little bit longer than usual,鈥� he said of the summer plans.
On the floor, the man dubbed 鈥淒angerous Dan鈥� is well known for his abilities. He has five Mann Cups to his name, one in Victoria in 2005 and the remaining four back home in Brampton.
Dawson is also a two-time Champion鈥檚 Cup winner in the National Lacrosse League with back-to-back titles in 2013 and 2014 with the Rochester Knighthawks. In the latter, he was named the most valuable player.
His statistics speak for themselves as Dawson stands sixth on the NLL鈥檚 all-time assists list with 649 and seventh in points with 1,037. He notched his 1,000th career point with the Knighthawks on March 15 and he鈥檚 a six-time NLL all-star and seven-time NLL all-pro selection.
Dawson also eclipsed the 100-point mark in a season for the third time in 2012 when he was with the Philadelphia Wings.
The offensive powerhouse also recorded 284 points in 68 regular-season and playoff games with the Shamrocks from 2005-07.
鈥淭here are great memories from 2005,鈥� he admitted. 鈥淭hey are some of the fondest memories I鈥檒l ever have playing this sport. By no means are we trying to recreate what we did in 2005 鈥� this is a brand new team. It鈥檚 been a long time since the Mann Cup was hoisted in this city, we know that. But we need to do a lot of things before we even think of that.鈥�
And he looks forward to attempting it with some new teammates.
鈥淭here are so many young talented players from the back end and guys in transition, and in the finish up front. I鈥檓 excited to play with some of these guys I鈥檝e never had the opportunity to play with, especially Jesse King and Scott Ranger,鈥� said Dawson. 鈥淭hese are guys who I think are lethal scorers.鈥�
Dawson 鈥� who will play six to eight regular-season games and the playoffs with the Shamrocks while travelling back and forth from Brampton, where he is a firefighter 鈥� has had the opportunity to play with Rhys Duch and Cory Conway.
鈥淗e鈥檚 a great leader who brings so much here. There鈥檚 already a jump in everyone鈥檚 step here in practice because they know he鈥檚 here,鈥� head coach Bob Heyes said of Dawson. 鈥淭he respect that he brings transforms in the dressing room.
鈥淲e鈥檙e not looking at him to carry the load by any stretch of the imagination or put the team on his shoulders, but he鈥檚 going to give our other offensive guys more opportunity to do what they do. Guys like Rhys Duch and Scott Ranger and our left-side guys.
鈥淗e鈥檚 going to be a great playmaker and another threat out there, so who do you concentrate on? It鈥檚 that depth. That鈥檚 what I have repeated, that depth. That鈥檚 where we need to be.鈥�
