Shove over NBA and NHL. They weren鈥檛 the only leagues making player-movement news on the long weekend. Monday was the Western Lacrosse Association trade deadline and the Victoria Shamrocks jumped into the fray sneakers first with a blockbuster deal involving the Langley Thunder.
The Shamrocks (6-4) dealt away part of their future 鈥� emerging star and 2019 first-round draft pick Keegan Bell and Victoria鈥檚 first-round 2020 draft selection 鈥� to be all in for this season鈥檚 2019 Mann Cup national championship pursuit.
Also going to Langley is Danny Smith on loan for this season only (as opposed to Bell鈥檚 complete and future rights being traded).
Coming to Victoria, on loan for this season, are impact Thunder stars Connor Robinson and Tyler Pace and the playing rights to Matt Dinsdale. The Thunder are 2-7 with little chance of making the playoffs this season, so are looking to the future.
Former sa国际传媒 Junior A League MVP Robinson has every offensive tool in the book and led Langley in scoring with 17 goals and is third in WLA points with 41.
Robinson and Dinsdale are teammates in the professional National Lacrosse League with the Saskatchewan Rush.
鈥淩obinson is a force,鈥� said Shamrocks general manager Chris Welch.
鈥淗e was a junior call-up two years for New Westminster against Peterborough in the 2017 Mann Cup. He is Langley鈥檚 leading scorer for a reason. He can hurt you from anywhere, inside and outside. He has a lot of weapons in his arsenal. And Dinsdale is a veteran guy with big numbers.鈥�
Pace was a member of the 2019 NLL champion Calgary Roughnecks this season along with four Shamrocks. He had 17 goals and 25 assists in 17 games for Calgary and led the WLA Thunder in scoring in 2018 with 30 goals and 35 assists for 65 points in 18 games. He is injured and has yet to play this WLA season but is expected back this month.
鈥淧ace is a couple of weeks away from returning,鈥� said Welch.
鈥淲hen he does, we expect him to be back to top-10 scoring form. He is another gifted offensive guy we have acquired with a pedigree that goes back to winning the Minto Cup national Junior A championship with Coquitlam.鈥�
Robinson was the first overall pick in the 2018 WLA draft out of the Junior Salmonbellies and Pace the top overall selection in the 2017 WLA draft out of the Junior Adanacs.
鈥淲e now have the No. 1 overall selections in two of the last three drafts,鈥� said Welch.
Welch said he felt Victoria鈥檚 forward corps needed shoring up.
鈥淲e鈥檝e had lots of key injuries up front,鈥� said the Victoria GM.
鈥淲e Lost Rhys Duch for the season and have been without Casey Jackson most of the way and Tyson Gibson. So a critical area to address was our offensive depth. We were asking a lot of a bunch of rookies 鈥� Chris Boushy, Marshal King, Larson Sundown and Cole Pickup, who sat out last year and is essentially a rookie. And when Gibson gets back, he is just a sophomore. We felt we had to do something to reinforce our offensive depth. If we are to beat Maple Ridge, we have to figure out how to score.鈥�
Among those rookies carrying the Shamrocks offence so far was Bell with nine goals and 11 assists in 10 games.
鈥淲e would have loved to keep Keegan Bell going forward,鈥� said Welch. 鈥淲e鈥檙e sorry to see Keegan and Daniel [Smith] go. But the opportunity to add three exceptionally talented players to our offence was something we just couldn鈥檛 say no to. You have to give up something to get something. Langley wanted in return a good young player going forward.鈥�
In summing up the moves, Welch said: 鈥淲e had needs and those needs were addressed.鈥�
In another big WLA deadline deal, Maple Ridge acquired all-time NLL Calgary franchise scoring leader Dane Dobbie on loan for this season from Langley.
