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New
Mission for 2009
Coming off of a
Mann cup berth and sweep in their historic 125th
year, the Brampton Excelsiors have once again laid
claim to the top spot in Canadian Indoor Lacrosse.
Although this achievement is great, for this Excelsior
squad it is seen as only the beginning of another
step towards dynasty status.
Since 1996 Brampton
has competed in all 13 OLA / MSL finals and have
succeeded in winning their way to the Mann 6 times.
The one thing that has been lacking during this
tremendous run is a Mann Cup win on enemy soil.
Brampton has defended Ontario at the Powerade Centre
for 3 Mann Cup Championships ('98, '02, '08) but
have lost 3 more when on the road ('99, '01, '03).
A Mann win on the road is one of the most challenging
things to do in sport, but the Excelsiors are geared
up and looking forward to the challenge.
Before the Mann
can even be discussed though, the Excelsiors will
have to earn their way there, and with the ever-changing
face of the MSL that task alone will be daunting.
With almost the entire team committed to attempting
the repeat the executive and coaching staff have
high hopes that this new mission can and will be
achieved.
The Excelsiors
have not seen the dramatic changes that some of
the other teams in the league have, but have continued
to inject youth and energy to a solid core. Seven
members of last year's squad were also with the
team during the 2002 victory and three additional
current teammates made the last trip out west in
2003. Ageless Captain Dan Teat has been a mainstay
throughout this long and successful run for Brampton
and led the team in points during the regular season
last year. Add to that the youth and energy of Jeff
Shattler and the Carnegie brothers, new offensive
threats John McClure and Ryan Campbell, size and
intimidation of Paul Dawson and a goaltending duo
that is the envy of everyone in the country and
it is understandable that the expectations are always
high. Much can be said about every individual in
the dressing room, but it is how they play as a
team that is most impressive.
With a team that
is hungry to come back for more, any rookie hopefuls
are going to have their work cut out for them, but
it's the ability to grow as a team that has kept
Brampton in its winning ways. It's never easy to
crack the line-up of a championship team, but Brampton
is fortunate enough to have yet another solid defender
graduating out of their Junior A program in Rory
Smith, whom the coaches are very eager to see face
the challenge of the fitting into Brampton's aggressive
defense.
The 18 game, 9 week
regular season kicks off in May, and while the team
proudly watches their championship banner being
raised at their home opener against Six Nations
on May 28th at the Powerade Centre, all 6 of the
other teams will be looking to knock them off the
top.
The 2009
Regular Season schedule has now been released
and you won't want or have to miss out on any of
the lacrosse action at the Powerade Centre in part
thanks to our amazing
deals this year…
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