National Junior Rankings: July 20, 2023
Christopher Origlieri, Orangeville Northmen (Photo: Charlie Ragusa)
During the 2023 Canadian junior seasons, The Lax Mag will publish our National Junior Rankings, a weekly rundown of all 23 A-level teams across the country. The opening edition will begin on June 7 with future rankings published in the middle of every week (date dependent on league schedule for that week) until the start of the Minto Cup.
The rankings will include the Ontario Junior Lacrosse League (OJLL), British Columbia Junior A Lacrosse League (BCJALL) and Rocky Mountain Lacrosse League (RMLL).
The Lax Mag’s rankings will position teams based not only by overall record, but also the strength of their opposition and the quality of their results - win, lose or draw.
We started the season ranking 23 still-in-the-running clubs, but have obviously been losing Minto Cup contenders in a hurry the last few weeks.
Of those 23, 16 teams in Ontario, British Columbia, Alberta and even though they’ve owned the 23 spot all season long, Saskatchewan, made this year’s provincial playoffs.
Although the RMLL is still figuring out their opening-round series (Miners & Raiders both leading), Ontario & BC are onto round two. Winning teams in those two provinces went a combined 18-1 in the first round. Although their playoff format was structured a bit differently in 2022, as one-sided as this year seems, it wasn’t far off from what happened in July last year: 16-4. Heck, even the RMLL’s opening round a year ago saw the series winners go nearly perfect at 8-1.
The only lower seed to win a series this year was when the fifth place Toronto Beaches got by the fourth ranked Oakville Buzz, 3-1.
As we pointed out last summer, finishing first or somewhere close to first is extremely important if you hope to capture a Minto Cup. Unlike the National Lacrosse League, underdogs rarely find a significant level of success in the Junior A postseason.
There have been 61 Minto events played since 1960. In 60 of those seasons, a team that finished first, second or third in their provincial regular-season standings won the Cup. No four seed has ever won. A five seed won once as the second provincial entry during a host year (2006 Peterborough Lakers). Few below that seed have even come close to legitimately contending.
After this year’s first round, all those lower seeds - as is obviously often the case - have already been gassed from 2023’s Junior A playoffs. Although it’s a bit deceiving since the RMLL has four teams total, the Beaches at a five-seed finish are the lowest remaining provincial seed anywhere in the country. They were rewarded with a second-round series against the still undefeated Orangeville Northmen. That intriguing series starts this Saturday at Tony Rose.
We’ve got ten in-contention teams left. Below, see where they all sit in this week’s National Junior Rankings, which we keep publishing right up until the start of this year’s Minto Cup in Edmonton on August 20.
National Junior Rankings: July 20, 2023
TW. (LW) Club (League) Regular Season (Playoffs)
1. (1) Orangeville Northmen (OJLL) 20-0 (3-0)
2. (2) Coquitlam Adanacs (BCJALL) 18-3 (3-0)
3. (3) Burlington Blaze (OJLL) 14-6 (3-0)
4. (5) Victoria Shamrocks (BCJALL) 15-6 (3-0)
5. (4) Edmonton Miners (RMLL) 12-3 (2-0)
6. (7) Toronto Beaches (OJLL) 12-8 (3-1)
7. (8) Mimico Mountaineers (OJLL) 13-7 (3-0)
8. (10) Raiders Lacrosse Club (RMLL) 10-5 (2-1)
9. (6) Nanaimo Timbermen (BJALL) 14-7 (0-3)*
10. (10) Calgary Mountaineers (RMLL) 7-7-1 (1-2)
11. (9) Oakville Buzz (OJLL) 13-7 (1-3)*
12. (12) Whitby Warriors (OJLL) 9-11 (0-3)*
13. (15) St. Catharines Athletics (OJLL) 8-13 (0-3)*
14. (13) Port Coquitlam Saints (BCJALL) 10-10-1 (0-3)*
15. (14) Six Nations Arrows (OJLL) 7-13 (0-3)*
16. (13) Brampton Excelsiors (OJLL) 7-13*
17. (17) Burnaby Lakers (BCJALL) 9-12*
18. (18) New Westminster Salmonbellies (BCJALL) 6-15*
19. (19) Delta Islanders (BCJALL) 6-15*
20. (21) Kitchener-Waterloo Lacrosse Club (OJLL) 3-17*
21. (20) Peterborough Lakers (OJLL) 4-16*
22. (22) Langley Thunder (BCJALL) 5-15-1*
23. (23) Saskatchewan SWAT (RMLL) 0-14-1 (0-0)
*Eliminated