Superman returns
High-flying scorer Curtis Dick son will return to the Peter borough Lake rs for the 2017 MS L season.
Curtis Dickson feels like he has unfinished business with the Peterborough Century 21 Lakers. That’s why he’s coming back in 2017. Lakers GM Paul Day confirmed Friday the Lakers have secured the rights of the NLL superstar from the WLA’s Maple Ridge Burrards for the 2017 season. Dickson missed the 2016 season with a groin tear but is currently leading the NLL in scoring with 39 goals and 82 points in 14 games for the Calgary Roughnecks. Dickson said he came to Peterborough in 2015 with a goal of winning a Mann Cup and he hasn’t achieved that goal, yet. “With the finish we had, losing in the Mann Cup, and the team losing last year in the MSL final in a heartbreaker, it was kind of an easy decision to take care of some unfinished business,” Dickson said. “After experiencing Peterborough two summers ago and seeing the crowds there and how awesome the city is and how it gets behind the team it’s second to none. It’s a tough opportunity to turn down.” Dickson, 28, was the MSL playoff MVP in 2015 when he helped the Lakers win the league championship before falling to the Victoria Shamrocks in six games in the Mann Cup final. “It’s not every day you can get a player like him,” Day said. “We’re extremely happy to have him. “I don’t think there is anybody else in the game who gives more people space,” Day added. “He’s so hard to defend and is a great passer. He’s an unbelievably low-maintenance player, too. Whatever you need him to do he does and he creates so much room for Shawn (Evans) and everybody else. There is great chemistry there we’ve seen in the past that we’re going to rely on this summer.” Day made a deal with Maple Ridge last year for Dickson to play a second year in Peterborough but he was unable to because of the injury. Even though Maple Ridge is the defending WLA champions and will have a shot at hosting the 2017 Mann Cup, Day said he has a good relationship with the people in Maple Ridge, where he once played, and they honoured the deal by allowing Dickson to return in 2017. “I talked to Curtis in the fall and told him we’d love to have him back and he basically said he’d love to win a Mann Cup with Peterborough,” Day said. “It was a simple conversation I had with him and that’s all it took for me to believe he was coming back. As soon as the NLL season ends he’ll be moving back to Peterborough.” “I have nothing but fantastic things to say about Maple Ridge,” Dickson said. “I spent five years there and they’re a first-class organization. I love seeing them do well and they deserve it. They’ve been through some rough years and I was there for some of them. They’ve got some great players and a great coaching staff and they’ve got a promising future. I wish them well, obviously. I’m grateful they’re giving me the opportunity to go to a great lacrosse town like Peterborough and have another run at it.” Dickson said he can’t recall the last time he had a summer off from lacrosse but he thinks it might have helped. “My body definitely needed a break,” he said. “I came back this NLL season feeling as refreshed as ever. I think that’s going to carry over into the summer. That extra time off has given my body the time it needs to be able to put myself through the 40 or 50 games you play between an NLL and MSL season. I’m excited to get back there and get things fired up.” Day said his return is not just a boost for the Lakers but the MSL as well. “He’s an entertaining player to watch,” Day said.