Not every championship season is the same. Some carry more emotive load that others. When goaltender Aaron Bold and head coach Derek Keenan hugged following the Edmonton Rush鈥檚 National Lacrosse League pro title win this spring, it was an embrace that touched on a lot more than a sports championship.
鈥淭here was a lot of emotional stuff, and a lot adversity, on and off the floor,鈥� said Bold, about the season.
Keenan lost his wife, Wendy, the sister of hockey and lacrosse great Joe Nieuwendyk, to cancer in January at the age of 51. The breast cancer of Bold鈥檚 girlfriend, 31-year-old Michelle Fines, has metastasized into bone cancer.
鈥淚t鈥檚 one day a time. We鈥檙e hoping for the best. We bought a home in Chapel Gardens, just south of Edmonton,鈥� said Bold.
The Victoria native and former Junior Shamrock has gone on to become one of the most outstanding lacrosse goalies in the game. He returns to his hometown as a key piece among what the Victoria Shamrocks hope will carry them to the 2015 Mann Cup national Senior A championship. That would give Bold the rare NLL-Mann Cup double in the same year. That could turn into an even rarer triple if he also backstops sa国际传媒 to gold in September at the 2015 world box lacrosse championship in Syracuse and Buffalo in New York state.
Bold, who was taking care of personal and business matters in Edmonton following the Rush鈥檚 NLL championship, makes his Shamrocks debut tonight at The Q Centre when Victoria (6-2) faces the New Westminster Salmonbellies (6-2) in a first-place showdown in the Western Lacrosse Association.
Bold will take to the crease tonight touched with a sense of perspective few people are forced to confront by age 29.
鈥淸Fines] is my reset. She is always on my mind,鈥� he said.
Sport has helped him through the process of Fines鈥� cancer.
鈥淓very game is an emotional release,鈥� he said.
The tightly knight lacrosse community was a crucial part of a recent online campaign that raised $50,000 for Fines as she and Bold explore all available treatment options, including in the U.S.
鈥淭he support has been very touching,鈥� said Bold.
On the floor, as the last line of defence, he knows he depends on support of another kind.
鈥淭here is pressure. That鈥檚 why I鈥檓 in this position [goaltender] and why I love it,鈥� said Bold, returning to the Shamrocks for the first time since 2008.
鈥淵ou are battling not only the opposition, but yourself.鈥�
In peak physical form, Bold is a personal trainer in Edmonton and also has a business teaching and building up lacrosse on the prairies.
鈥淚 want to raise the parity of lacrosse there to that of sa国际传媒 and Ontario,鈥� he said. 鈥淲hen Prairie players reach a certain level, you can tell the kids there are lacking some of the skill sets and lacrosse thinking that players in sa国际传媒 and Ontario possess. It鈥檚 about continuing education.鈥�
Forget about the Prairies, however. The Rush already have their championship. There are fans in Bold鈥檚 hometown who are hoping he can lift the Shamrocks to their first Mann Cup title since 2005.
鈥淟ike my dad taught me about goaltending, worry only about the ball coming at you at that moment. Then no matter what happens, focus on the next one coming your way,鈥� said Bold.
The same with seasons. You don鈥檛 win them in one night.鈥�
鈥淚t鈥檚 one thing at a time,鈥� said Bold.
Right now, that鈥檚 the Salmonbellies tonight. Saturday it will be the Adanacs in Coquitlam.
That is the process that leads to a Mann Cup. And to a lot of other things in life.
