MSL: Brampton & Owen Sound in, Oakville still out
Adam Jay, Oakville Rock
The updated status of last summer’s inactive Major Series Lacrosse clubs has been confirmed by the Ontario-based Senior A league in recent days.
Both Brampton & Owen Sound, who had previously been locked in a heated battle over the Excelsiors brand & MSL playing status, will be back in the league this summer. The two teams did not participate in the 2022 season while they continued to work through their differences, which largely centred around the division of players that were previous property of the Bug Juice-owned Brampton Excelsiors.
In April of 2022, the Ontario Lacrosse Association (the MSL’s governing body) demanded the league return the Excelsiors Lacrosse Club back to Brampton from Owen Sound after the association deemed a 2018 transfer of the club to Joe Norton, owner of that previously mentioned Bug Juice brand, was not approved due to many concerns over the legitimacy of the agreement. Just two seasons after the sale, Norton and MSL attempted to move the club to Owen Sound.
The league’s recent announcement, a quote from MSL Commissioner Lynn Withers, regarding the resolution between Brampton & Owen Sound, stated, “Major Series Lacrosse is pleased to announce that the Owen Sound North Stars and Brampton Major lacrosse clubs have come to an agreement with respect to the player pool. We are very excited to see both clubs participating in the 2023 MSL season.”
The Oakville Rock, however, will be sitting out their second straight Senior A summer, the league confirmed today. Last year, Rock owner Jamie Dawick pulled the club from the 2022 MSL season after his displeasure over the handling of the Brampton/Owen Sound situation by the OLA, specifically the expansion status of either Brampton or Owen Sound.
As part of the Brampton/Owen Sound resolution and the OLA’s previous conditions, neither club will be required to pay an expansion fee, even though MSL has grown from a six to seven-team league, if you count the still-on-sabbatical Rock of course.
In today’s announcement, Withers confirms, “The Oakville Rock have requested a second one-year hiatus. As a result, they forfeit participation in the 2023 draft, however, are able to protect their four eligible Junior A graduates.
“The Major Series Lacrosse Governors have approved both requests and look forward to seeing the Rock participate in 2024. Competing in the 2023 season are the Brampton Excelsiors, Brooklin Lacrosse Club, Cobourg Kodiaks, Owen Sound North Stars, Six Nations Chiefs and Peterborough Lakers.”
The Lax Mag has confirmed that both the Brampton/Owen Sound resolution & Rock status have been approved by the OLA.
Last week, The Owen Sound Sun Times confirmed the city’s protected 25-man roster, which included 22 players, as well as additional names Owen Sound has protected on various other roster lists.
Protected 25-man roster
Jordan Ackie, Oliver Bolsterli, Dallas Bridle, Will Cecile, Adam Charalambides, Nolan Clayton, Jake Crans, Chad Cummings, Kevin Dance, Kyle Dawson, Pent Eistrat, Nathan Grenon, Rylan Hartley, Robert Hudson, Anthony Joaquim, Pat Kaschalk, Mack Mitchell, Daire Newbrough, Rob Stovel, Connor Watson, Chris Willman and Carter Zavitz
Senior B protected list
Noah Lebar, Jake McNabb, Brendan Welsh, Tanner Buck and Tyler Halls
Premier Lacrosse League protected list
Blaze Riorden and Jackson Reid
Out-of-province protected list
Mitch Jones and Eric Penney
It’s also worth noting that in today’s announcement, MSL refers to the clubs as the “Brampton Excelsiors” & “Owen Sound North Stars”, names that had not been officially used by the league during the teams’ lengthy & draining dispute. Norton had previously threatened legal action against any party referring to an MSL team by the name of the “Brampton Excelsiors”. In fact, it was those warnings that forced the league to postpone the start of last year’s Senior A season.
Returning the Excelsiors name back to Brampton was also a previous condition communicated by the OLA to both sides.
The league has also promised, “…several announcements over the next week or so,” including details on their draft.