Lax Beat

Arthur Johnson and his cohort have a vision: a professional lacrosse league that provides opportunities to black, indigenous, hispanic and latino players. They are preparing for that vision to become a reality on July 16, when the National Lacrosse Association makes its debut in Philadelphia. LaxBeat host Stephen Stamp speaks with Arthur about the impetus for the NLA, how everything is coming together with the first game in league history fast approaching and what the future holds.

First up, news from the world of lacrosse including a look back at the National Lacrosse League division finals, ahead to the NLL Cup championship series, and across the nation/continent in the Cross Canada Checkup on summer box lacrosse, this week on LaxBeat. 

Ian MacKay said before his Buffalo Bandits played the Albany FireWolves in the National Lacrosse League East Division semifinal that the transition game would need to step up. MacKay put his money where his mouth was with a big transition goal as Buffalo won to advance to the East final against the Toronto Rock. MacKay joins host Stephen Stamp on LaxBeat to talk about the Bandits' great season, the playoff opening win and what they will need to do to advance to the league championship series in their best of three series against Toronto.

Also, we look back at the first round games and what to expect in the division finals, both the East series and the West final between the San Diego Seals and Colorado Mammoth, a snapshot of the Premier Lacrosse League college draft, and Canadian summer lacrosse finally starting what we hope will be a regular season after two years of no or adapted play because of the pandemic. All on LaxBeat.

Five teams competed at the first women's edition of the annual European Box Lacrosse Invitational. The event is commonly called EBox, so the women's version has taken the nickname SheBox. The tournament was the first opportunity for women in Europe to play box lacrosse, which will have a women's world championship for the first time in 2024. This week on LaxBeat, host Stephen Stamp has conversations with five participants in the inaugural SheBox, which was universally acclaimed as a huge success. 

Lizzie Bottrill is from England, where she has been part of the national development field lacrosse team, and was one of three English women to play for Prague Sports at SheBox. 

Becky Moloney has been a goalie for Ireland's field team and is a driver of the sport in the nation. She played between the pipes for Team Eire, which was coached by Bellingham, Washington native and now Prague resident Garrett Goshorn at the tournament.

Mac MacDonough and Delaney Benson both grew up in California and have both been living in Israel, where they put enormous time and energy into coaching lacrosse. They'll both be representing Israel at international lacrosse championships this summer.

The five guests have diverse backgrounds, but they all agree that SheBox was a huge first step for lacrosse in Europe and was a seminal moment in the growth of the women's box game.

After a strong rookie season in the National Lacrosse League, Kellen LeClair had to stop playing professional lacrosse because of a heart issue that he thought would keep him out of the game forever. But after a surprising improvement in his condition, LeClair is back and grateful to have rejoined the Calgary Roughnecks and returned to the game he's played since he was three. Hear his story of why he had to stop playing, the passion he found to replace lacrosse, and how excited he is to be back in the NLL and--what a bonus--playing with his little brother. 

We passed the midway point of the 2021 National Lacrosse League season with the 63rd of 126 games being played, so it's a perfect time to welcome Brian Shanahan to LaxBeat to talk surprises, developments and our midseason award winners. 

Tyler Garrison was a high pick, 11th overall, in the 2012 National Lacrosse League entry draft and still managed to outperform his draft slot in his first two seasons in the league, establishing himself as one of the top defence/transition players in the game. Then a series of injuries led him to focus on furthering his education instead of playing. Now he's healthy again and, at almost 30, he's back in the league and looking like he's ready to be an impact player again, this time with the San Diego Seals.   

Catch up with Garrison as he joins host Stephen Stamp for an in-depth conversation about his journey in the game, plus hear the news of the week in the world of lacrosse.  

The North American Box Lacrosse League is a new operation that is arising to fill the void left by the apparent demise of the IBLA, which is reconstituting into a new form. This week, LaxBeat host Stephen Stamp is joined by David Mather and Tim Semisch, two members of the committee elected to shepherd in the formation of the NABLL. They talk about their vision for the league and for the game, the challenges of making the new league work and the excitement that players and teams have to get the NABLL started this summer.

Also, news from the world of lacrosse including the TLL/OLA law suit, college lacrosse getting started, the PLL announcing locales for this summer, the ALL East getting under way, and some of the players making waves as the NLL nears the one-third mark of its season.

Check out the NABLL on Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/p/CX3x4vghPpR/

Ryan Benesch has now been with nine National Lacrosse League teams. Benesch joins host Stephen Stamp to talk about his latest career move, what he can bring to the FireWolves, who strings his sticks and more. Also, FireWolves GM and Head Coach Glenn Clark comes on to talk about why he wanted to bring Benesch to Albany and how the team is preparing to return to its former winning ways, after finishing on top of the NLL in the last season to be played but dropping their first two games of the 2021/22 season.

In the news section: Covid impacting the NLL but games getting back underway, Every Child Matters at NLL games, Tucker Out Lymphoma Night in Buffalo, Kevin J Johnston is a fugitive, the launch of the All World Box Lacrosse Academy and the Toronto Beaches appeal of their OJLL suspension.

Lacrosse Link family members Stephen Stamp (also the host of LaxBeat), Randy Trobak and Chris Lesanko conduct Lacrosse Link's first annual NLL Fantasy Draft. 

The Tewaaraton Lacrosse League and the Ontario Junior Lacrosse League butted heads this summer when the TLL announced they planned to launch their new league. The TLL didn't wind up taking place this year and even their planned combine for NLL prospects fell through, the latter in large part because the Ontario Lacrosse Association (of which the OJLL is part) threatened to suspend any players who took part in the TLL in any way for this year and next year. Jason Shuttleworth is the operating owner of the OJLL's Toronto Beaches and now the owner of the expansion Toronto Lacrosse Club in the TLL. How will it work to be involved in both leagues, what made Shuttleworth come around from being an opponent of the TLL's proposed league to an owner, and what does the future of lacrosse in Toronto look like? 

We tackle all of that and more with Shuttleworth as well as Beaches coach and Beast Athletics owner Reid Acton, this week on LaxBeat. It's a start towards conversations that need to happen in the lacrosse world. 

Speaking of the lacrosse world, LaxBeat opens with a news section looking at NLL preseason, Baggataway Cup, IIJL World U15 and U17 championships and more. 

The Sixes discipline is new to lacrosse, but it's gaining traction in the bid to be included in the Olympic Games. This week, LaxBeat host Stephen Stamp is joined by World Lacrosse CEO Jim Scherr and by Colombian coach and player, respectively, Javier Silva and Oscar Cifuentes. They talk about the adoption and development of Sixes, the recent Pan American Lacrosse Association sixes tournament, and what's coming down the road in the discipline. LaxBeat is part of the Lacrosse Link family, your link to all things lacrosse. 

Andrew Suitor was one of the toughest players in the National Lacrosse League, one of the best teammates, and one of the best people. Now he has retired. Suitor joins host Stephen Stamp to talk about memorable moments in his career, his approach to being a teammate and friend, and the time he shaved half his beard off--vertically--after winning the Mann Cup. 

John Lintz is a National Lacrosse League defender and coach of the St. Albert Miners in the Rocky Mountain Jr A Lacrosse League. He wants players in the league to get more visibility so that NLL teams will know them better and hopefully they can be selected higher in the NLL draft. There are lots of things that would go into making that happen, and Lintz is hoping that he and other folks in the RMLL can do what's necessary to help promote their players. Lintz speaks with LaxBeat host Stephen Stamp, who also touches on some of the news of the week in the world of lacrosse. 

Evan Kirk has won an NLL Cup and been the league's goalie of the year. Now he has signed as a free agent with the Rochester Knighthawks, who have played only one partial season so far. Kirk joins LaxBeat host Stephen Stamp to talk about the journey that led him to sign with Rochester, the challenges that face all teams and players heading towards the 2021/22 season as we come out of the pandemic, mentoring younger goalies to give back after he was mentored, his and his father's commitment to raising funds for the Terry Fox Run and how it will probably be far more comfortable practicing in the Brampton Memorial Arena in the winter than it was when he played in it during the summer. 

Adam Charalambides has been touted as a potential high pick in his NLL Draft for years. Jake Harrington is from a D3 field lacrosse program and hasn't been able to head north of the border to play Canadian summer box lacrosse as he'd hoped for the last two years because of the pandemic. That means he isn't well known. Both are tremendous athletes. Both are looking to see their dreams come true on Saturday August 28 when the National Lacrosse League holds its annual entry draft. And both are on LaxBeat for interesting conversations with host Stephen Stamp as the prepare for one of the biggest nights of their young lives.

Check out more NLL Draft coverage on LacrosseLink.com (where you can find Stamper's mock draft with guest and expert prospect analyst Brad MacArthur) and ILIndoor.com, where Stamper's Top 50 introduces you to the hottest prospects for the draft. 

Brian Shanahan got into the lacrosse media business almost by accident, but since his serendipitous entry he has become one of the leading figures in the field. This week on LaxBeat he shares with host Stephen Stamp stories about the World Junior Lacrosse Championship they just called in Winnipeg, the sports talk show trivia quiz call that wound up being instrumental to his announcing career, the photo of Shanny with his brother Brendan while they held the Mann Cup and Stanley Cup, respectively, that they had both won that year and more from a career in lacrosse broadcasting. 

Dempsey Arsenault is one of the leading stars in women's lacrosse. From her days at Boston College to playing with the US national team to now being a captain twice in the first three weeks of Athletes Unlimited Lacrosse, Arsenault is a leader, a great talent, and also one of the nicest people you'd care to meet. She joins host Stephen Stamp on LaxBeat to talk about the new AU league and its rather unusual stats system, draft strategies in the league where new teams are formed each week, the bumps and bruises the women are getting as they play an intense style of lacrosse, the US national team Sixes camp and how players are adjusting to that format, plus her roots in New Hampshire and how beautiful the region is in the fall. It's a wide-ranging and interesting conversation this week on LaxBeat. 

Adrian Balasch is putting the "al" in Austria. The alternate captain for Austria's national team was selected the all-star team transition player at the 2019 World Indoor Lacrosse Championship in Langley. Now he's gone down under, spending the last year and a half in Adelaide Australia. This week on Lax Beat, host Stephen Stamp talks to Balasch about the growth of the game in Austria and across Europe, adventures in Adelaide, how the flow for which he's known came to be and much more. It's a great conversation with one of the good guys in the world of lacrosse. 

Also, news about the OJLL and MSL starting to play, the NLL announcing a prospect showcase for potential draft picks and more. Plus we tease next week's show, which will feature a prominent Athletes Unlimited lacrosse star who got the LaxBeat bump this week before she's even appeared on the show. 

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Boxla Beat has a new name! To reflect the broader perspective the show is taking to include all forms of lacrosse, the show will now be called Lax Beat. It still features the same great conversations with host and leading lacrosse analyst Stephen Stamp joined by a who's who of movers and shakers in the game of lacrosse. 

Major Series Lacrosse announced in the morning that five of their teams will be playing an 8-game season, and in the afternoon MSL Commissioner Doug Luey joined Stamp to talk about how the league put what they're calling the MSL Classic together, the rules adaptations they're going to try out, what managing to have a season means to the league's players and much more. 

Callum Crawford has just gotten better and more productive in his 30s, defying the traditional trajectory of most professional lacrosse careers. Now he's ready to get back to it after leading the National Lacrosse League in scoring when teams were last able to play back in 2020. Crawford joins host Stephen Stamp to talk aging like a fine wine, helping a new team try to climb to championship heights and his pride in the success of players from the Ottawa region he grew up in. 

Panther City Lacrosse Club held its National Lacrosse League expansion draft in Forth Worth on Tuesday, June 29. About 16 hours after they wrapped up, I was on the line with General Manager Bob Hamley and Head Coach Tracey Kelusky, talking about what went into the process of building a new team from scratch.

We talk about how the staff came to consensus on the players they picked, the trades PCLC made, what they want the team to look like and what's next. Enjoy the conversation on Boxla Beat, part of the Lacrosse Link family. 

Host Stephen Stamp welcomes Inside Lacrosse CEO Terry Foy for a discussion of the Las Vegas NLL expansion team and the impact the star-studded ownership group including Wayne Gretzky, Dustin Johnson and Steve Nash will have on not only the team but the league as a whole. They also talk about how Inside Lacrosse has addressed the challenges presented by the pandemic, how it's coming back strong and what it can take from the adaptations that had to be made as we progress towards a post-pandemic world.  

Host Stephen Stamp and his guest Randy Staats have a broad-ranging conversation that touches on NLL's celebration of Indigenous History Month, residential schools in Canada, the Iroquois Nationals' inclusion in the World Games and the process that went into that as well as the ongoing challenge to get lacrosse and the Nationals' into the Olympics, Turtle Island Lacrosse, the Six Nations Jr A team, overcoming knee injuries and more. 

Boxla Beat is back. After a pandemic-driven hiatus, we're back for season nine of the best of lacrosse podcasting. First up, host Stephen Stamp discusses the National Lacrosse League Hall of Fame class of 2021. Then, a conversation with Rochester Knighthawks General Manager Dan Carey about the Upstate Collegiate Box Lacrosse League, which the Knighthawks and Buffalo Bandits have worked together to create and which is launching to give college age players, particularly collegiate field players, a chance to work on their box game. Carey and the other folks involved in the creation of the UCBLL are excited for what the league will do for field players trying to break into the box game, for National Lacrosse League teams who are looking to tap into the vast potential of American field players for the pro box game, and also for how it will help collegiate players bring something more to their outdoor game.