CLax Lacrosse Update.

I went to Oshawa to check out the New Canadian Lacrosse League (CLax) games that were played at the beautiful General Motors Centre this past Saturday. It was a triple header, with all six teams playing.
They were all exhibition games as the teams are juggling their lineups and tuning up for the regular season beginning in January.

The first game saw the Peel Avengers defeat the Iroquois Ironmen 11 - 8. I was not there for that game.

In the second game...I arrived with the score Durham Turfdogs 7 and the Oshwekon Demons 2, but the fast paced (fight filled) game, took a turn, and the Oshweken team came back to win 17-16 in a thriller.

The final game was dominated by the home team Oshawa Machine, who went ahead 4 - 0 quickly on the Brampton Inferno and it was really never close, with Oshawa winning 18 -10.

The interesting part of the game for me was of course the transition. I absolutely loved it. Lacrosse for me, has always been a transition game...and over the years it has all but been eliminated from the game. You have heard about me going on and on about how defense off and offense on and vice versa seems to be the norm now in lacrosse at most levels. Defensive specialists on when needed, and goal scorers out the other door...and as a coach, I get it....it works. As a fan I do not. It is boring to watch (for me) - you of course are entitled to your own opinion.

I would like to make an important point here. I am not an NLL hater, quite the contrary, I go to NLL game regularly, and will go again this year - always a great night...but being a fan, allows me to shoot my mouth off, and I have seen too many times, a player steal a ball on defense, that could have led to a 3 on 2 or 2 on 1, but instead, he throws it back to his goalie or something, there is a line change made, so the "better" skill players can come out to score. Boring.

At the Clax on Saturday night this is all but eliminated by a simple rule change. When the offense loses the ball, they have to change at their goalie side door. In other words...they can not run to the the closest door and send somebody out the other door, they must run to the farthest door to make a change....and if they do this, more often then not, they are beat, because the offense are already (or should be) up the floor.

This created numerous fast breaks, long passes 4 on 3's, 3 on 2's and 2 on 1's. We really enjoyed this part of the game. When the lacrosse ball is moving, that is when this game is at its best....running and passing is the game of lacrosse....you have heard the ads over the years...."Lacrosse...the fastest game on two feet".
It was old time, fast paced lacrosse. You really need to check it out.

As for the skill level, well, it is very early. I noticed a lot of the players were definitely squeezing their stick a little tight...which of course leads to poor passes, which of course is a problem.

I am going to offer a little advice for the CLax boys...and any other lacrosse players than want to listen. Lacrosse is all about ball movement...a good ball movement team is just pretty to watch. The problem is, in this era of Pro Lacrosse, with lacrosse tricks available on You Tube, it is kind of fun to be a bit of a "hot dog"....but the thing of it is...there are probably 5% of all players than can do an over the shoulder pass or shot with any skill or accuracy, the rest of the players....GIVE IT A REST. Seriously.....make a simple over hand pass into the players stick....it is all about completing the pass...and completing the play. I saw a couple of over the shoulder passes that went into the stands....no good....so stop it. (that means you too DJ.)    :-)

One of the most frustrating things for a coach is to work on a play that works perfect, except a bad pass or a bad catch, stops it. I watched the CLax guys in warm up, clearly have the skill...so when the game begins..remember to play within your own skillset, not something you saw on TV or You Tube.
(coaching lesson complete).

Want to see a video of a perfect goal scorer...I got video of this little guy between periods at The CLax game...perfect finish.

On the whole, I was impressed on Saturday night, and I encourage you to check out a CLax game yourself.

Now of course, I am still frustrated why it is so difficult to get people to the games. remember my Blog called Be a Lacrosse Fan?  I made a point about Canadians talk the talk of loving lacrosse, but do not walk the walk.

There was a triple header this day. Three great lacrosse games. $2 to get in, so money was not an issue. What is it? What is the problem. We say we love the game. We say it is the greatest and fastest game on two feet....but the only way to make believers of us all, is to pack the venue. I really would love to figure this out.

Come on people support Lacrosse.

For tickets and schedule, go to www.clax.ca