Brad Self named to national team
Fifth Peterborough Laker on Team Canada to replace injured Brodie Merrill
Brad Self has been inserted into Canada’s lineup for the world indoor lacrosse championship following the withdrawal of Brodie Merrill due to injury, becoming the fifth member of the MSL’s 2015 Peterborough Lakers to join the national team.
“Although we are disappointed we will not have Brodie with us at the WILC, we are pleased that we can add Brad Self to our roster,” says head coach Ed Comeau. “Brad’s game has really developed over the last few years playing for the NLL’s Rochester Knighthawks and the MSL’s Peterborough Lakers. We are not asking Brad to fill the shoes of Brodie Merrill but rather to bring his unique skills in transition and defence to the team.”
Players leave for Syracuse, N.Y., on Thursday and play their first game in the 13-country tournament at 5 p.m. ET Sunday against the host Iroquois Nationals. The Federation of International Lacrosse event is held every four years. Canada won the first three tournaments and goes into this one with an all-time record of 17-0.
“We are so thrilled to see one of the hardest working, dedicated and loyal Lakers be chosen for Team Canada and know adding his talent and speed will help the team bring home gold,” Lakers president Ted Higgins stated in a release. “It is amazing to have five of the players on Canada’s national team.”
Self, 34, of Peterborough, helped the Knighthawks win the NLL championship in 2012, 2013 and 2014. He gathered in a career-best 133 loose balls last season. He also was on the Lakers summer teams that won the Canadian championship for the Mann Cup in 2004 and 2012 and was MSL transition player of the year in 2012. He played Jr. A hockey with the Peterborough Petes and then pro hockey in Germany from 2006 to 2011. He has never previously represented Canada in lacrosse.
“It’s an unbelievable opportunity,” he says. “Growing up a hockey and lacrosse player it’s something I’ve always wanted to do. Since finishing hockey, it’s been a goal of mine. It will be an honour to play for Team Canada. I am looking forward to putting on that jersey.”
He says he hopes to contribute “a lot of energy on D first then add as much as I can in transition to push the ball up the floor and get it into all of those great offensive sticks we’ll have.”
Merrill, 34, of Orangeville, has been a mainstay of Canada’s box and field teams since 2006 when he helped Canada win world field gold. The Toronto Rock NLL star also played this summer for the MLL’s Boston Cannons and the MSL’s Six Nations Chiefs. He suffered a broken thumb in Game 6 in the MSL final against the Lakers on Aug. 28.
“It’s disappointing, especially at this stage of my career,” he said of not being able to help Canada defend its title. “I was really looking forward to playing. I tried to hold out hope as long as I could. But I had to make a decision. I didn’t want to compromise a roster spot. Maybe I could have risked it but maybe I would have been out of the tournament early, which would mean Canada losing a roster spot. With that in mind and thinking of my longterm health, I made the decision to withdraw. The last thing I wanted to do was to go and not be at my best because I know that’s what the expectation will be from all of the players.”
He calls Self “a great addition.”
“He was one of the MVPs on that Peterborough team. He had a really good playoffs. Before that, he was a key part of Rochester’s three championship teams. He’s very dangerous in transition and a very smart player. Canada won’t skip a beat.”
Merrill likes Canada’s chances of repeating.
“It’s obviously become a much more competitive tournament but a great coaching staff has assembled a very balanced and well-rounded team with a lot of character,” he says.
Team Canada players Scott Campbell, Dan Dawson, Paul Dawson and Matt Vinc were Self’s Rochester NLL teammates last winter and Team Canada players Shawn Evans, Curtis Dickson, Adam Jones and Vinc were his Peterborough MSL teammates this summer as the Mann Cup national senior A men’s championship runnersup so he’ll be familiar with a lot of the men he’ll be going for gold with in Syracuse.
“It certainly will be nice playing with guys I’ve played with over the years,” he says. “It’ll make the transition to this team a lot easier, especially with the tournament being so short.”