National Junior Rankings: Week 10
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 with future editions published in the middle of every 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 or lose.
Last night, the Whitby Warriors topped the Toronto Beaches 11-9, that victory sealing a sweep for this week’s #1 ranked Junior A club. Although the Warriors took this year’s Iroquois Trophy, the Beaches will also compete at the 2022 Minto Cup, taking the second of Ontario’s two tickets in the national final.
The BCJALL confirmed the remainder of their provincial finals between the Victoria Shamrocks & Langley Thunder, currently locked at one win apiece in their best-of-seven series. If that series goes the distance, Game 7 is only scheduled for August 14th.
The Shamrocks will likely want to wrap things up before then (ditto for the Thunder, but…) with high-impact players Noah Manning (Denver), Casey Wilson (Denver) and Trent DiCicco (Ohio State) all scheduled to suit up for Team Canada at the World Lacrosse Men's U21 World Championships in Limerick, Ireland. Canada’s first game is against Team USA on August 10th (the same day as Game 5 of the BCJALL Finals), gold & bronze medal games happening ten days later.
The Warriors also have a trio representing the red & white in Ireland: Brock Haley (Vermont), Graydon Hogg (Albany) and Adam Poitras (Loyola) all on Canada’s final roster confirmed yesterday.
There are no Albertans playing for Team Canada, but when it comes to capturing a Minto, that might be a big positive in the RMLL’s pursuit of their first national A title. The Calgary Mountaineers & Miners Lacrosse Club are currently vying for the right to rep the league in Brampton, most expecting their series to be a back-and-forth affair.
Can an RMLL team win the Minto Cup in 2022? The record books aren’t on their side, but recent Minto results show the league might be on the upswing.
Okotoks Raiders vs. Victoria Shamrocks, 2019 Minto Cup (Photo: BCJALL)
Since the RMLL was let into the Minto tournament in 2003 (all Alberta reps so far, although Saskatchewan fields a team in the league as well), when not playing against one of their own clubs during host years, RMLL teams are a combined 4-58 at the Minto Cup (and short-lived Western Final). Those three wins, however, have come in more recent seasons, including the last played national tourney when the Okotoks Raiders stunned the Victoria Shamrocks during round-robin play in 2019.
Before this week’s updated Top 23, here is every RMLL Minto Cup representative since that summer of 2003, their slight surge of success starting in 2014 with that first non-RMLL win.
2003 Edmonton Miners (0-3)
Wins: None
Losses: St. Catharines, Orangeville and Burnaby
Goal Differential: -27
Top Scorers: Drew Howell, Jeremy Richardson and Jamie Shewchuk
2004 Edmonton Miners (0-3)
W: None
L: Victoria, Burnaby and Six Nations
GD: -25
TS: Not available
2005 Edmonton Miners (1-3)
W: Calgary
L: Six Nations and Burnaby x2
GD: -22
TS: Neil Tichkowsky, Ryan Spring and Chris Schmidt
2005 Calgary Raiders (0-3)
W: None
L: Burnaby, Edmonton and Six Nations
GD: -13
TS: Keegan Davidson, Justin Der, Brett Christensen and Nick Johnson
2006 Edmonton Miners (0-3)
W: None
L: Peterborough, Burnaby and Six Nations
GD: -40
TS: Chris Schmidt and Andrew Kent
2007 Edmonton Miners (0-3)
W: None
L: Burnaby, Six Nations and New Westminster
GD: -28
TS: Nate Schmidt, Matt Wiebe and Kevin Wallin
2008 Calgary Mountaineers (1-3)
W: Edmonton
L: Orangeville and Victoria x2
GD: -27
TS: Kiel Donahue, Tyler Farmer and Shawn Pesowski
2008 Edmonton Miners (0-3)
W: None
L: Orangeville, Calgary and Victoria
GD: -23
TS: Kevin Wallin, Nate Schmidt, Matt Wiebe and John Lehman
2009 Edmonton Eclipse (0-3)
W: None
L: Brampton, Coquitlam and Orangeville
GD: -17
TS: Shane Lopatynski, Kirby Zdrill and Simon Giourmetakis
2010 Okotoks Raiders (0-3)
W: None
L: Coquitlam, Orangeville and New Westminster
GD: -17
TS: Brett Baron, Carlton Schuss and Jake Hayes
2011 Okotoks Raiders (1-3)
W: Edmonton
L: Coquitlam and Whitby x2
GD: -22
TS: Travis Comeau, Holden Cattoni, Jimmy Delaney and Aaron Tackaberry
2011 Edmonton Eclipse (0-3)
W: None
L: Coquitlam, Okotoks and Whitby
GD: -23
TS: Carson Barton, Greg Bourret and Cole Sheen
2012 Calgary Mountaineers (0-3)
W: None
L: Whitby, Coquitlam and Orangeville
GD: -32
TS: Tyler Melnyk
2013 Okotoks Raiders (0-3)
W: None
L: Coquitlam, Whitby and New Westminster
GD: -26
TS: Matthew Kristinsen, Kevin Pym and Holden Cattoni
In 2014 & 2015, a Western Final best-of-five series was held between the BCJALL & RMLL champions to determine who would play the OJLL in the Minto Cup
2014 Calgary Mountaineers (1-3)
W: Coquitlam
L: Coquitlam x3
GD: -14
TS: Dan Taylor and Connor Goodwin
2015 Okotoks Raiders (0-3)
W: None
L: Coquitlam x3
GD: -13
TS: Brett McIntyre, Jordan Getz and Drake Smith
2016 Calgary Mountaineers (2-2)
W: Delta Islanders and Orangeville
L: Coquitlam and Orangeville
GD: -2
TS: Sean Tyrell, Austin Jerhoff and Lyndon Bunio
2017 Okotoks Raiders (0-3)
W: None
L: Six Nations, Coquitlam and Mimico
GD: -5
TS: Brett McIntyre, Travis Getz and Dylan Kinnear
2018 Okotoks Raiders (1-3)
W: Calgary
L: Brampton and Coquitlam x2
GD: -24
TS: Brett McIntyre, Carter Brand, Levi Anderson and Tyler Sonnichsen
2018 Calgary Mountaineers (0-3)
W: None
L: Coquitlam, Brampton and Okotoks
GD: -31
TS: Jake Foster, Laszlo Henning and Liem Diebel
2019 Okotoks Raiders (1-3)
W: Victoria
L: Coquitlam, Orangeville and Victoria
GD: -10
TS: Zach Mantei, Ethan Landymore and Levi Anderson
National Junior Rankings: Week 10
TW. (LW) Team (League) Regular Season (Playoffs)
*Eliminated from Minto Cup entry
1. (4) Whitby Warriors (OJLL) 10-10 (8-2)
2. (1) Victoria Shamrocks (BCJALL) 15-5 (4-3)
3. (2) Toronto Beaches (OJLL) 15-5 (6-5)
4. (6) Langley Thunder (BCJALL) 10-4 (6-2)
5. (3) Orangeville Northmen 13-7 (5-5)*
6. (5) Burlington Chiefs 10-10 (5-3)*
7. (7) Mimico Mountaineers 16-4 (0-3)*
8. (12) Calgary Mountaineers 12-3 (5-1)
9. (8) Miners Lacrosse Club 12-3 (4-1)
10. (9) Coquitlam Adanacs 9-5 (4-4)*
11. (10) Nanaimo Timbermen 10-4 (1-3)*
12. (11) Oakville Buzz 13-7 (2-3)*
13. (12) Peterborough Lakers (OJLL) 10-10 (1-3)*
14. (14) St. Catharines Athletics (OJLL) 10-10 (0-3)*
15. (15) Burnaby Lakers (BCJALL) 7-7 (1-2)*
16. (17) Okotoks Raiders (RMLL) 5-10 (1-2)
17. (16) Six Nations Arrows (OJLL) 5-15*
18. (18) Delta Islanders (BCJALL) 4-10*
19. (19) Brampton Excelsiors (OJLL) 3-17*
20. (20) KW Lacrosse Club (BCJALL) 1-19*
21. (21) Port Coquitlam Saints (BCJALL) 1-13*
22. (22) Saskatchewan SWAT (RMLL) 1-14 (0-2)
23. (23) New Westminster Salmonbellies (BCJALL) 4-10 (0-2)*