James Gang looks ahead to upcoming season
The status of numerous players will depend on what Century 21 Lakers’ final roster looks like
An inconsistent lineup will be consistent for the Ennismore James Gang early this season.
The status of numerous players will depend on what the Peterborough Century 21 Lakers’ final roster looks like, and they’re nearly six weeks away from their first game. A number of James Gang players are also in the United States playing university lacrosse for another month.
The lineup that the James Gang will take to the floor with for their season opener on Saturday at 7 p.m. against the Owen Sound North Stars, at the Robert E. Young Recreation Complex, is sure to be much different than the one they’ll have by season’s end. Ennismore will visit the Hamilton Bengals, formerly the Oakville Rock senior-B franchise, on Sunday at 4 p.m.
“You’re probably going to see a different lineup all 16 games,” said James Gang owner, head coach and general manager Rob Martinell, who is joined on the bench by assistant coach, assistant GM and brother-in-law Chris Page.
Martinell took over the franchise two years ago with a five-year plan to rebuild a player pool of local senior-B players. The fifth year will be when a large number of players he once coached to an Ontario peewee championship graduate from the junior-A Lakers program, supplementing the players who will have joined the team in the first four years.
“The last couple of years, there haven’t been a lot of graduating players,” said Martinell.
Being an affiliate with the Lakers has provided them with good young players in recent years, like Mike Robinson, Chris Page and Owen Hiltz last year and Drew Hutchison, Taite Cattoni and Mitch Ogilvie the previous year. They tend to lose those players eventually to the Major Series Lacrosse club.
“Hopefully, they don’t come back because, ultimately, we’re a development team and we want them to play up there,” said Martinell. “This year, the Lakers have protected some guys, so I’m pretty sure we’ll have Adam Thistlethwaite, but six guys including him will be away at school until the third or fourth week of May. Nolan Kenney will be playing with us.”
Almost all of the 10 or so returning players are 25 and under and led by names like Aaron Bradshaw, Adam Churchill, Tyler Grandel, Holden Lowes, Jensen Walker and Nick Webb. Players they will have to wait on from school include Nate Allan, Avery Cook, Taylor Dooley, Hiltz and Page. They have two junior-C Lakers grads joining them in Curtis Martin and Keegan Walton. Dustyn Birkhof is another new face at camp.
Veteran Brandon Wilson is back in goal and they’re waiting to hear whether they might get help from the Lakers, who will have four goalies vying for playing time in incumbents Hutchison and Landon Kells and newcomers Deacan Knott and Andrew Kidd. Cobourg Kodiaks property Jackson Brown and Jackson Hainer could also figure in the mix.
“Early in the season, we’ll have the opportunity to have quite a few affiliated players in the lineup. We’ll use some junior-C and senior-C guys and give them the opportunity,” Martinell said.
The Ontario Series Lacrosse senior-B league will again consist of six teams. The other three franchises include the Brooklin Merchants, Clearview Crushers and Six Nations Rivermen. They’ll play a 16game regular season, with the top four teams advancing to playoffs. The James Gang missed the playoffs last season with a 2-14 record.
They will play all their home games in Ennismore, except for their season finale on July 4, when they will host Brooklin at the Lakefield-Smith Community Centre. Martinell said that with Selwyn Township serving as one of the team’s major sponsors, they decided to play at the township’s other facility for one game.