Scott Anderson didn't really have to say it, the look in his bruised and battered left eye said it all.
Walking on an injured ankle, his broken ribs encased in special protective gear, and his neck still feeling the effects of tangling with an opponent earlier in the week, Anderson knew what his body was telling him. His days are done as a senior lacrosse player.
Minutes after his Shooters Pub Devils were swept from the Prince George Senior Lacrosse Association, the 43-year-old veteran announced his retirement from the game.
"It's taking too much of a toll on me, so this is the last game I'll suit up for," said Anderson. "I don't have any [injury] that's so severe I won't get over it, but I just have to get away from it for awhile."
Anderson played just four of 12 regular season games but still contributed 16 points, five of which were goals. But he knew he wasn't the same player who once came close to making it in pro lacrosse for the Calgary Roughnecks. It got to the point Anderson would come home feeling depressed that his body no longer allows him to do the things he once could on the lacrosse floor.
"I just had a cluster of injuries and it went from one thing to the other, I had broken ribs, my hip's sore, and [referring to his battered eye] I softened a guy's fists up with my face last game," he smiled.
"It was one of those years where you could not afford to sit on the bench and rest a bit, with just seven or eight guys a game."
When the Devils barely had enough players for the opening game of the playoffs against the BX Pub Bandits, Anderson set aside his pain and ran the floor with his teammates in Game 2. He did what he could to extend the Devils' season, even scrapping with Bandits tough guy Darcy Kenyon, but it ended Saturday at Kin 1, where the Devils were humbled in a 15-3 loss to the Bandits.
"The league is really going to miss Scott," said Bandits captain Brett Doig.
"When he showed up with his brother-in-law, Mike Kettles, the experience and tenaciousness and skill they brought was unbelievable, and it was a privilege to play against guys like that for all those years. He's one of the toughest customers I've ever played against in this league. He's a warrior."
Anderson, a former senior B player with Ladner, Burnaby and North Shore who won three President's Cup Canadian senior B championships, moved to Prince George in 2002. He joined the Cap-Abilities Old Stylers, playing on a team with Mike Kettles, his minor lacrosse buddy from Ladner, and eventually ended up with the Devils, where he was helped shape the team into title contenders. The Devils had a long string of success in the PGSLA, winning won three straight PGSLA championships from 2007-09, and were finalists again last year, losing out to the Bandits.
College Heights Pub Assault veteran Chad Martin played with Anderson on the old Styers teams and watched him fill opposition nets while collecting league scoring crowns.
"I got to play with him when he first came to Prince George and he does a lot for this sport in Prince George," said Martin. "He's obviously a very special player who has played at every level and won almost everything you can in lacrosse. To get to play with someone like that and watch him play in Prince George is an honour. He's done a lot for minor lacrosse and I'm sure he still will. He always gives back. He's still one of the best guys in the league and he'll be missed, for sure."
The 2011 season won't be one to remember for a Devils team decimated by injuries, life and work commitments that kept most of their core players out of the lineup. Captain Dave Bennett, Brent McIsaac, and John Hopson all had ailments that forced them to miss the entire season, while Jerome Lamarre, Phil Michel, Tony Degans all missed significant time with injuries. Blake McIntosh played just three games to focus more on his family and coaching his sons in minor lacrosse, and starting goalie Steven Brizan, Jordan Zacharuk, Brock Paiciejewski and Phil Michel were all away working.
To compensate, the Devils had to lean on midget players from Prince George, Quesnel and Williams Lake and it was a steep learning curve.
"We didn't really predict this bad of a fallout with all the player numbers but it just happened and we just had to make do with what we had," said Anderson "The kids from Quesnel and the midget kids [from Prince George] helped us all year.
"As much as it's disappointing to end like this, there's a positive in here seeing these young guys come up and get into these games and seeing the excitement in their faces."
