Major Series Lacrosse Winds Down

Future stars like Jonathan Donville, Alex Simmons, Ryan Lanchbury, Cam Milligan, John St. John, and Kedoh Hill just to name a few, mixing with bonafide stars like Austin Staats, Jordan Durston, Brandon Slade, and many others gave us heart stopping finishes, with last second winners, and overtime battles.

Experiments:

Commissioner Doug Luey and his staff at Major Series Lacrosse should be commended at the job that was done.  The games were pretty much flawless, with new rules (closer to the National Lacrosse League model) in place, referees being much more firm about extra curricular activities on the floor, and on the benches, making for more streamlined games being played in under two hours.

Broadcasts:

Once again JVI Video Production should be given props for the exceptional job they did with broadcasting every minute of the tournament.  Excellent video, with top notch play by play made for an enjoyable experience if you weren't able to attend.

Crowds:

For the first time in Ontario since the Covid-19 lockdown, fans were allowed to attend games.  Although 300 fans was the limit (400 if the second floor was in use), we were finally allowed to see live lacrosse again.  The league did a great job following Covid-19 protocols, to ensure both players, and fans were kept safe at all times, and a safe environment was provided.

What's next for Lacrosse fans:

The upcoming weekend has the NLL holding their 2021 entry draft.  Although this was supposed to be a grand soiree, which would also have had NLL Hall of Fame inductions (with of course a crowd of people), the league decided that there were too many moving parts to this plan for the time being, and made major changes for the safety of all involved. 

This is now a virtual entry draft, which will be broadcast to the fans, but gone are the Hall of Fame inductions.  Commissioner Nick Sakeiwicz said that these men deserve a ceremony with all the bells and whistles, and to induct virtually just wouldn't cut it.  It has been postponed to a future date when there can be friends, family, and fans to help celebrate their big night.

In the not so distant future is NLL training camps, followed by the 35th NLL season, which begins the first weekend of December.  Fans have many dates to circle on their calenders, and lots to look forward to very soon once again.