National Junior Rankings: Week 1
During the 2022 Canadian junior seasons, The Lax Mag will publish our National Junior Rankings, a weekly rundown of all 23 A-level teams across the country. Week 1 will begin on June 1, future editions published every Wednesday until all leagues have started their playoffs.
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 or lose.
Declan Fitzpatrick, Langley Thunder (Photo: @ThunderBCJALL)
The Langley Thunder have had a storming start to their regular season, fighting off the opposition to a perfect 5-0 record, sitting first in the BCJALL standings and our initial #1 for 2022. Langley has largely been led by soon to be 18-year-old Cody Malawsky (Drexel), a former first overall BCJALL draft pick out of a thriving Ridge Meadows Burrards program and son of Calgary Roughnecks head coach and NLL great, Curt Malawsky. He currently sits second in assists (16) and is tied for third in points (25) in the league. The Thunder’s starting stopper, Brayden Wandler, has also had a strong start to his season, second in both save percentage (.847) and GAA (6.18).
The #1 ranked Thunder host today’s #3 seeded side, the Coquitlam Adanacs, this Thursday evening at the Langley Events Centre (10:30pm ET).
Cody Malawsky, Langley Thunder (Photo: @ThunderBCJALL)
Slightly ahead of Malawsky in both stat columns is Victoria Shamrocks forward and NLL rookie standout, Patrick Dodds (Panther City Lacrosse Club), who currently leads the province in points (28) during what will be his final year of junior lacrosse. Dodds, arguably the country’s top junior-aged player this summer, is expected to be named to the NLL’s All-Rookie Team later this month. The still 20-year-old scorer, whose 84 points with Panther City this year was the sixth highest rookie total in NLL history, has either scored or set up 61% of the Shamrocks’ goals this season. PCLC also recently named Dodds their 2022 Player of the Year.
After graduating a number of noteworthy names and unloading others after winning Ontario’s Iroquois Lacrosse Trophy in 2021, the St. Catharines Athletics have had a decent start (4-2) for a club many assumed would own rebuild-mode results. St. Catharines’s rookie Tye Steenhuis, son of former Athletic and retied Buffalo Bandits superstar, Mark Steenhuis, has been one of Ontario’s top scorers so far this season (12G, 8A) “He was really good and he is just a pure athlete,” Athletics Head Coach Steve Toll told BP Sports Niagara recently. “The genes are there and he is going to score a lot of goals in this league for a lot of years.”
St. Catharines Athletics, 2021 Iroquois Trophy winners (Photo: OLA)
Past Langley, Johnathan Peshko (Johns Hopkins) and the Mimico Mountaineers remain the only other undefeated team in the country, and tonight see their toughest test of the season against the first-place Oakville Buzz at the Toronto Rock Athletic Centre. The high-profile contest will be streamed live for free starting at 8pm ET.
The Buzz, who bulked up over the offseason, have been getting an MVP-worthy performance from Will Sheehan (Yale), who leads or co-leads the league in goals (18), points (30), power-play production (12) and hat-tricks (3). Leading up to the OJLL season, Sheehan spent time playing in both the Arena Lacrosse League and 21U Rock Elite League, where he was voted the Jim Veltman Award winner.
National Junior Rankings: Week 1
1. Langley Thunder (BCJALL) 5-0
2. Mimico Mountaineers (OJLL) 4-0
3. Coquitlam Adanacs (BCJALL) 3-1
4. Oakville Buzz (OJLL) 5-1
5. Orangeville Northmen (OJLL) 3-1
6. Whitby Warriors (OJLL) 4-2
7. Victoria Shamrocks (BCJALL) 3-2
8. Toronto Beaches (OJLL) 3-3
9. Calgary Mountaineers (RMLL) 3-1
10. St. Catharines Athletics (OJLL) 4-2
11. St. Albert Miners (RMLL) 3-1
12. Burlington Chiefs (OJLL) 2-3
13. New Westminster Salmonbellies (BCJALL) 2-3
14. Peterborough Lakers (OJLL) 2-3
15. Nanaimo Timerbmen (BCJALL) 2-2
16. Delta Islanders (BCJALL) 2-3
17. Kitchener-Waterloo Lacrosse Club (OJLL) 0-4
18. Burnaby Lakers (BCJALL) 2-3
19. Brampton Excelsiors (OJLL) 0-3
20. Six Nations Arrows (OJLL) 0-5
21. Saskatchewan SWAT (RMLL) 1-3
22. Okotoks Raiders (RMLL) 1-3
23. Port Coquitlam Saints (BCJALL) 0-5