How competitive is the West Coast Senior C Lacrosse League?
Nobody knows the answer better than the Port Moody Express. They finished the 14-game regular season with a sparkling 10-1-3 record and had to settle for third place, then lost a three-game second-round playoff series to the eventual champion Coquitlam Cobras.
Coming off two week's rest, the Express are a little bit short-staffed as they bid for their fourth straight provincial senior C championship this weekend at the Kin Centre, but they're on top of their game and pose a significant challenge to the four Prince George teams also vying for the title at the Treasure Cove Casino provincial senior invitational tournament.
"It's been a rocky road with injuries in the regular season and a lot of obstacles to overcome but hopefully we'll have a strong finish this weekend," said Express player/manager Nick Thomas.
"Winning the provincial C title is extremely important to us this year. We have a lot of experienced players who know how to win. We'll definitely be ready for anything Prince George has to throw at us."
The Express will have 14 players to put out on the floor, starting with their opening game at Kin 1 tonight at 8 p.m. against the Westwood Pub Devils, who capped an undefeated season in the Prince George Senior Lacrosse Association.
The Express are an offensive powerhouse, starting with three-time WCSLL scoring champion Cam Comeau, who led the league this season with 43 assists and 57 points in 13 games. Comeau is the team captain and setup man for Express snipers Shaun O'Leary, Justin Thomas and Ryan Scharbach, who ranked fifth, sixth and 12th respectively in league scoring this season.
The Express are big and like to play a punishing physical game and a key to their success this weekend will be whether they can stay out of the penalty box. The addition of the lanky Magnusson brothers (Jordan and Devon), Eric Irvine and Todd Summers added spice and young legs to a veteran defence led by Scharbach and Ryan Jacobsen. They like to play an aggressive style and that makes the Express tough to play against.
Andrew Copeland will get the nod in goal for Port Moody. As backup to starter Craig McFeeters, he played four regular season games and saw action in the playoffs.
The Devils completed a four-game playoff final sweep of the Northland Nissan Assault on July 28 to finish the season a perfect 19-0 and Express forward and Comeau is looking forward to tonight's marquee matchup.
"We know our first game against the Devils is probably going to be our stiffest test in the tournament," said Comeau. "When you run the table like they did all season long it's a testament to where their talent level is at."
The Express are the only out-of-town team involved. The Vancouver Burrards backed out when they couldn't get enough players willing to make the trip to Prince George.
"We are the defending champs and obviously having the opportunity to come up to Prince George and play in the refurbished Kin Centre arena is really exciting to us," said Comeau. "Unfortunately none of the other teams down here felt it was too important to come up and compete, but when we have a title to defend we'll be anywhere, no matter what.
"Having an out-of-town team is exciting for the fans up there and it's a good gauge for the teams there to find out where they're at."
The Devils will have to play twice today. They open the tournament at 4 p.m. at Kin 1 against the BX Pub Bandits. The Devils will be missing a few key players like face-off specialist Kyle Adams and Tyrone Yee but should be close to full strength.
"It's going to be a busy day, it's a good thing we're at home and we have depth, with 25 guys carded," said Devils goalie Jamie Bellamy, who played for the Bandits last year.
Last year the Bandits lost 7-6 to the Express in the Treasure Cove tournament semifinal in Port Moody. The Bandits have put the call out to Surrey to round up some recruits for this weekend.
In today's other game at 6 p.m., the Assault takes on the Cowboy Ranch/Regional Security Stylers, who are counting on some fresh blood from the intermediate ranks in Quesnel and North Shore.
The Assault struggled all season to get players but should get some help with a few pickup s from Fort St. John and Ladner. Dave Jenkins Jr. is out with a knee injury, Dom Sia is unavailable all weekend and sniper Craig Dunfield and goalie Rusty Mills won't play tonight due to work commitments.
"It's going to be a struggle for the tournament because we're short of players but I think we have the biggest heart of any team in the league and probably of any team in the tournament," said Kevin Cunin, the Assault player/manager. "We're going to be missing some key guys this weekend so the guys from the coast will help. We're sitting at about 10 players but we've played so short for so long, it is what it is."
Each team will play four games. The bronze medal game is set for 1 p.m. at Kin 1, followed by the championship game at 3:30 p.m.
