Blake McIntosh is looking forward to the end of lacrosse season.
He obviously loves the game as coach of one pee wee house team and two Prince George rep teams and also finds time to play it as a key cog in the lineup of the Westwood Pub Devils senior C team.
For the past two-and-a-half months, McIntosh has spent just about all his free time either coaching, planning, practicing or playing lacrosse and that's left him drained.
"I am feeling it, it is tiring me out," McIntosh said. "It's relentless every night. I don't have much time after work to do much else, I'm usually coaching a game or practicing every night. I tend to get Fridays off or the days I'm traveling to a tournament off. After this weekend it will take a little pressure off me, for sure."
Today at 9 a.m. at Kin 2, McIntosh will be behind the bench for the first-place Prince George No. 1 pee wee house league team when the square off against the fourth-place team from Prince George in one of two semifinals. The winner will move on to the championship game at 3 p.m. against the P.G. No. 2-third-place Vanderhoof semifinal which starts at 10:30 a.m. McIntosh coaches his son Konnor on the peewee house league squad and Konnor is also a member of the rep team.
On Sunday, they will be in the stands at Kin 1 watching Blake's oldest son Jake and his third-place P.G. No. 1 midget house league teammates take on second-place Quesnel in the 9 a.m. semifinal. The winner of that plays the first-place P.G. No. 2- fourth-place Vanderhoof semifinal winner in the Great White North championship game at 3 p.m.
McIntosh and his assistant coaches Dom Sia and Mike Meehan can then focus on getting the peewee Posse rep team ready for the provincial B championship tournament, July 18-20 in Richmond.
There were sufficient numbers registered in the Prince George peewee ranks to enter the A2 provincials but based on their tournament results, the B.C. Lacrosse Association allowed an exception so they could declare themselves a B team.
The pee wee Posse went 2-2 at a tournament in Salmon Arm and last weekend in Vernon went all the way to the tournament final and lost 7-6 to Saanich, allowing the winning goal with 20 seconds left in regulation time.
"They played really well, we had three or four goals called back," said McIntosh. "That game was a real track meet, they know it's not easy for them when they play some high-calibre teams. It was a great team-building experience for them."
The midget Posse, co-coached by Don Wittmeier, has had to deal with injury problems. The team went to Richmond in mid-May with 13 runners and finished fifth. In Kelowna at an A2 tournament last weekend they finished 1-3. They're booked into the provincial B championship, set for July 25-27 at Campbell River. The same midget squad will fly to Vancouver Island to compete in the B.C. Summer Games, July 17-20 in Nanaimo.
The bantam rep Posse will not compete at the provincial level this year. That team will travel to Calgary along with the novice Posse for the annual Canada Day tournament next weekend.
The Devils lead the Prince George Senior Lacrosse Association with an 11-0 record and McIntosh has played in nine of those games. The former league MVP says he's enjoying his return to the senior game after several years as a part-time player.
"Because of the quality of guys I'm playing with, on any given night everyone can score and you kind of don't have to carry the team," he said. "Ten years ago I felt I had to do that. Now I just go out and do my thing and I get to hang out with my teammates. It's is a nice little break but it's still another lacrosse thing I have to schedule into my day."
If the Devils win the league playoffs they will qualify for the senior C provincial championship, to be played Aug. 15-17 at the Kin Centre.
The Great White North bantam playoffs will be played today at Kin 1. In the semifinals, second-place Vanderhoof takes on third-place P.G. No. 1 at 8:30 a.m. and first-place Quesnel plays sixth-place P.G. No. 2 at 10 a.m. The final is at 3.
Sunday's novice division semifinals at Kin 2 pit first-place P.G. No. 2 against third-place Mackenzie at 9 a.m., and second-place P.G. No. 1 against third-place Vanderhoof at 10:30. The final is at 3 p.m.
Prince George Minor Lacrosse Association president Tracey Green said the association will bid for the 2015 midget playoffs next summer.
