Evans should help Warriors bounce back from rocking
NEXT GAME Saturday
Vancouver Warriors vs. Calgary Roughnecks 6:30 p.m., Scotiabank Saddledome TV: TSN
The Vancouver Warriors could certainly use a spark for the second week of the National Lacrosse League regular season and may get one in the form of a Shawn Evans debut.
Warriors GM Dan Richardson said Thursday that Evans (ankle surgery) will be a game-time decision Saturday when his club faces the Calgary Roughnecks. The veteran right-hander was Vancouver's key free agent pickup this off-season.
Evans sat out Vancouver's season-opening 19-8 shellacking at the hands of the Toronto Rock last Saturday in Hamilton. He was a limited participant at training camp, but the Warriors did put him on their 21-man active roster before last week. Teams dress 17 runners and two goalies on game day.
The 36-year-old Evans was hurt in the midst of helping his hometown Peterborough Lakers beat the Langley Thunder in the Mann Cup club national championships in September.
“He's very close,” Richardson said. “He has the green light from his surgeon. We still want him to show the coach and lead physio that he's ready to go and that decision will be made late Friday.”
Evans is a two-time NLL most valuable player. The last honour came in 2015, which was his fourth and final season with the Roughnecks.
He may not be the player he once was — he had 65 points in 16 games split between Rochester Knighthawks and Halifax Thunderbirds last season — but he'll help quarterback Vancouver's offence. He's fearless, too, and he'll drag others into the fight with him.
Vancouver didn't show much pushback against Toronto, trailing 4-0 within the game's first five minutes and coasting in from there. It was the Warriors' first game under coach Troy Cordingley, who's a former Rock bench boss.
“Toronto took it to us. They dominated every facet of the game,” Cordingley said. “We laid a big goose egg. There's no nice way to say it. It's on all of us. We have to learn from this game in a hurry.
“We have to believe in our systems and we have to support each other. The biggest thing is our work ethic. We can't worry about results. If we're truly being the hardest working team on the floor, success will follow.”
Richardson added: “We still believe in this team. We're not pushing the panic button.”
The Roughnecks and Warriors meet again Dec. 16 at Rogers Arena in Vancouver's home opener.