Everyone understood that the upcoming B.C. Junior A Lacrosse League season would be a year of transition for the New Westminster Salmonbellies.
You don’t take a franchise player like Connor Robinson out of the lineup – now graduated to the senior ranks – and not feel an impact.
But the ’Bellies are making sure that ‘transition’ doesn’t exclude competing.
With a few key off-season moves, including this week’s acquisition of standout righthander Tre Leclaire, New West has continued its commitment to be in the Minto Cup conversation and challenge Coquitlam for the provincial mantle.
“You’re never going to replace a Connor Robinson, he’s also a generational type player,” New West general manager Warren Goss told the Record. “Now, what we’ve added in two players, righthanders, (players who) are going to really complement our strong left side.”
Leclaire, 19, was acquired for New West’s 2019 first round midget pick and cash, a deal signed off on by new Islander general manager Matt Disher. The righthanded sniper, who sat out last year after making a splash in his freshman season with the Ohio State Buckeyes of the NCAA, has already established himself as a junior A impact player, finishing second in the league scoring race as a 16-year-old rookie in 2015.
While Robinson, who won the league scoring title
three of the past four seasons and finished with 176 goals and 268 assists over 96 regular season games, has graduated as the No. 1 draft pick (to Langley) in February’s Western Lacrosse Association draft, Goss feels adding Leclaire and Bell has addressed a couple of huge needs. Both players are expected to join the club by late May, once the school year has wrapped up.
“(Bell’s) a big righthander, with a great shot who can score and he’ll be a great addition. In the deal for Tre Leclaire, another right shot, we acquired arguably one of the best players in Canada,” said Goss.
Added to the returning core, which includes second team all-star Carter Dickson, Larson Sundown and intermediate grads Erik Maas and Will Malcolm, the incoming talent creates a balance that should cause defences lots of consternation, noted Goss.
“We’re going to be a solid team right down from one-to-25 again this year,” the GM said. “Last year, we had the top defence in the league with great goaltending from Erik Kratz. This year I think we, even without Connor, I think we have more offensive weapons this year than last year.
“They can’t focus on our left side as they did last year.”
Kratz will be central to the club’s success, coming off a season where he won the Monty Leahy Award as top goalie and posted league-best numbers in goals against average (6.15) and save percentage (.845).
With new head coach Rich Catton taking over from Todd Stockdale this season, there is plenty of optimism that New West can continue pushing Coquitlam for league bragging rights – and compete for a Minto Cup.
“I absolutely love it. And we’re not done yet,” said Goss of improving the club. “We’re talking with teams back east about players; we’re going to do a big push to get that Minto Cup back in New West.”
Training camp officially begins April 6, with the regular season starting May 7 in Burnaby.
