THINK LACROSSE / FAUT Y PENSER

  The Mann Cup is lacrosse’s equivalent to hockey’s Stanley Cup and is awarded annually to the Canadian senior men's box lacrosse championship team. The championship series is a best four out of seven series.  Ontario (the East – Major Series Lacrosse League) versus British Columbia (the Western Lacrosse Association). Mann Cup History It is common knowledge to lacrosse fans; the Mann Cup was donated in 1910 by Sir Donald Mann (a Canadian railway contractor).  Initially, a challenge trophy, in 1925 the then current champion New Westminster Salmonbellies gave the trophy to the Canadian Lacrosse Association.  The CLA created a national playoff system.  Initially, challenges and championships for the Mann Cup were competed by rules of field lacrosse. However, in 1932 box lacrosse was adopted by the CLA and the first Mann Cup was played at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto. Unknown by many lacrosse followers, there have been three Mann Cup trophies – the original and two...

  By Jason Tasse jtasse@leevalley.com In 2020, I embarked on an ambitious journey with the Belgium Men’s National Lacrosse Team to launch the program as the inaugural coach. It all began as a small, dedicated group of core players, and since we were launching during the pandemic, our early days were all about virtual connection. We held Zoom chats to go over lacrosse fundamentals, ran chalk-talk sessions, and built the foundation of our team entirely online for about a year. When we finally launched the program in the latter part of the pandemic, it brought its own set of challenges. Travel and competition were tricky, but the core group of players showed incredible passion and commitment. They were the heart and soul of our efforts, and they won me over with how caring and dedicated they were. From the start, our vision was about more than just immediate success. We wanted to bring the principles of Canadian lacrosse to Belgium, planting the seeds at the grassroots level. This m...

Rich Kilgour Multi-Hall of Fame Player 1 Minto and 4 Mann Cup Championships Standing 6 feet tall and weighing 185 pounds, Rich Kilgour was known for being a defensive specialist. He played his junior lacrosse with St. Catharines winning a Minto Cup in 1990. During his junior career, Kilgour scored 136 goals and 218 assists for a total of 354 points in 88 games while addi n g 145 penalty mi nutes ( impressive numbers for a defensive specialist) . After his junior career, Rich Kilgour was part of four Mann Cup championship team s (Brampton in 1993 and Six Nations in 1994, 1995, 1996). Drafted by the Buffalo Bandits of the National Lacrosse League, Kilgour spent 18 seasons as an integral member of four NLL championship teams. Rich Kilgour served as team captain for 12 seasons for a team that played in eight championship games. He finished his NLL career with 156 points comprised of 107 goals and 249 assists in 200 regular season games. Upon retiring from playing, Rich Kilgour took...

By Pierre Filion pierrefilion@bell.net Before reading this article, it is essential that readers have the opportunity to take into account Lacrosse Canada’s statement of December 5 th called ‘’A new era for Lacrosse Canada’’. It’s on Lacrosse Canada’s website on the home page. A must read. But now here is what we have to say about the ‘’unsigned statement’’. Nothing less than a new ERA. ‘’Lacrosse Canada is entering a new era.’’ Hey that indicates a major change. Usually, an era refers to a long period of time. In geological terms it calls for hundreds of years. We are being told that Lacrosse Canada’s changes will last for a long period of time. All this is following an election in September 2025 where four new members joined the Board of Directors. Four members who seem to have a very high opinion of themselves. Hey, there was an election with many mistakes in the number of votes allocated to each province. Maybe a slight reservation should be presented following an election ama...

By Pierre Filion pierrefilion@bell.net Brace yourselves, this is going to hurt! For the second year in a row Lacrosse Canada will declare a deficit; last year (year ended June 30 th 2024) Lacrosse Canada declared a deficit of 194,749$; this year (year ended June 30 th 2025) Lacrosse Canada has bent over backward to improve on its deficit; the deficit will be 850,155$. Usually , associations present their audited statements at their annual meeting; this year Lacrosse Canada was not in a position to produce its audited statement at the annual meeting of September 26 th and 27 th ; it needed more time (!) and the 2025 audits were circulated in November, five months after the end of the fiscal year. The auditors ’ opinion clearly mentions that their report represents ‘’fairly the financial position of Lacrosse Canada as of June 30 th 2025.’’ The reality is that the deficit (850,155$) is real. Lacrosse Canada will hold a meeting of members , o n or around December 10 th , to...