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Canadian Lacrosse League (2012–2016)

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Canadian Lacrosse League (2012–2016)
SportIndoor lacrosse
Founded2011
First season2012
Ceased2016
CommissionerJim Veltman
No. of teams5
Country Canada
Last
champion(s)
Durham TurfDogs (2016)

Founded by Paul St. John in 2011, the Canadian Lacrosse League (CLax) was a men's semi-professional indoor lacrosse league based exclusively in Ontario, Canada. CLax ceased operation on August 31, 2016 after the league's single-entity ownership group, Charlesway Corporation Limited and Rodney 'Demon' Hill, deemed the league's business model to be no longer viable.[1]

Similar to the National Lacrosse League, and unlike other Canadian box lacrosse leagues that play in the summer, CLax played its regular season games in the winter with its playoff games and championship culminating in the early spring. CLax opened its inaugural season with six teams in three cities: Brampton Inferno and Peel Avengers in Brampton, Ontario; the Iroquois Ironmen and Ohsweken Demons in Hagersville, Ontario; and the Durham TurfDogs and Oshawa Machine in Oshawa, Ontario.

History

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The league's original intentions were to feature eastern and western leagues. This plan was modified to have multiple Ontario teams and one Quebec location in the first year.[2]

The first three teams announced were franchises in Ohsweken, Peterborough, and Montreal.[2] A Brampton Guardian article[3] listed a team in London. Of the original three, only Oshweken wound up with an actual team in the 2012 season.[2] With only three teams, the league decided two teams should operate in each announced location, leading to the creation of the Iroquois Ironmen, Peel Avengers, and Durham TurfDogs. Rodney Hill operated the two Oshweken teams, but the league owned the other clubs initially.[2]

The inaugural games took place January 7, 2012 starting in Ohsweken. The first game was an 18–11 win for the Brampton Inferno over the hometown Iroquois Ironmen. In the second game, the Peel Avengers defeated the Durham TurfDogs 16–9. To conclude the opening day of league play, the Oshawa Machine played the Ohsweken Demons, losing 13–9.

It was announced on October 3, 2012 that the league would be expanding to three new markets: Barrie, Toronto, and St. Catharines. The Oshawa Machine would be moving to Toronto to become the Toronto Shooting Stars; the Peel Avengers would relocate to St. Catharines and the city of Barrie would be awarded an expansion team. It was also announced that the Durham Turf Dogs would be changing their name to the Oshawa Turf Dogs.

In November 2013, the defending champion Iroquois Ironmen announced that they were ceasing operations and would no longer compete in CLax. That was followed in December with the news of 2013 finalists, Toronto Shooting Stars also folding. The Brampton Inferno would become a touring team based out of Southwestern Ontario called the SouthWest Cyclops for 2014.

Former Teams

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Team City Arena First
Season
Last
Season
Status
Barrie Blizzard Barrie, Ontario Barrie Molson Centre 2013 2016 Folded
Brampton Inferno Brampton, Ontario Powerade Centre 2012 2013 Relocated (SouthWest)
Durham TurfDogs Oshawa, Ontario GM Centre 2012 2016 Folded
Iroquois Ironmen Hagersville, Ontario Iroquois Lacrosse Arena 2012 2013 Folded
Niagara Lock Monsters St. Catharines, Ontario Meridian Centre 2013 2016 Folded
Ohsweken Demons Hagersville, Ontario Iroquois Lacrosse Arena 2012 2016 Folded
Oshawa Machine Oshawa, Ontario GM Centre 2012 2012 Relocated (Toronto)
Peel Avengers Brampton, Ontario Powerade Centre 2012 2012 Relocated (Niagara)
SouthWest Cyclops Paris, Ontario Syl Apps Community Centre 2014 2016 Folded
Toronto Shooting Stars Toronto, Ontario Mattamy Athletic Centre 2013 2013 Folded

Creators' Cup championship history

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Season

Champion

Finalist

Score

Game MVP

2012 Ohsweken Demons Iroquois Ironmen 15-10 Chris Attwood (Ohsweken)
2013 Iroquois Ironmen Toronto Shooting Stars 14-11 Travis Hill (Iroquois)
2014 Niagara Lock Monsters Ohsweken Demons 10-9, OT Davide DiRuscio (Niagara)
2015 Barrie Blizzard Ohsweken Demons 13-12, OT Caleb Wiles (Barrie)
2016 Durham TurfDogs Ohsweken Demons 11-9 Dyland Goddard (Durham)

Major awards

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Players

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Year Season MVP Outstanding Player Top Offensive Top Transition Top Defence Top Goalie Top Rookie
2012 Mike Attwood (II) Chris Attwood (OD) Chris Attwood (OD) John McClure (DT) Colin Boucher (DT) Jeff Powless (OD) Not awarded
2013 Wayne VanEvery (OD) Corey Fowler (NLM) Andrew Potter (NLM) Mack O'Brien (TSS) Ben McCullough (BI) Connor Danko (NLM) Caleb Wiles (BB)
2014 Davide DiRuscio (NLM) Chris Attwood (OD) Caleb Wiles (BB) Tom Montour (OD) Colin Boucher (BB) Davide DiRuscio (NLM) Mike Burke (SWC)
2015 Angus Dineley (BB) Jesse Guerin (DT) Michael Teeter (BB) Tom Montour (OD) Eric Pitre (SWC) Angus Dineley (BB) Dan Keane (SWC)
2016 Jay Preece (NLM) Corey Fowler (NLM) Corey Fowler (NLM) Thomas Hoggarth (DT) Mitch Dumont (NLM) Jay Preece (NLM) Vaughn Harris (OD)

Team and League Officials

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Year Top Coach Top Official
2012 Jason Crosbie, Jonas Derks, Brad MacArthur (DT) Jon Watson
2013 Glenn Clark (TSS) Wayne Paddick
2014 Jeff Dowling (NLM) Brent Coulombe
2015 Brad MacArthur (BB) Grant Spies
2016 Mat Giles (DT) Grant Spies

Statistical leaders

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Team Regular Season Champions

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Year Team Record GF–GA Points
2012 Durham TurfDogs 9-5 180-176 18
2013 Niagara Lock Monsters 11-3 231-160 22
2014 Ohsweken Demons 7-1 127-97 14
2015 Barrie Blizzard 6-2 92-76 12
2016 Niagara Lock Monsters 7-3 130-94 14

Runners

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Year Goals Assists Points Penalty Mins
2012 Chris Attwood (OD) - 35 &
Brad Favero (BI) - 35
Kim Squire (PA) - 38 Chris Attwood (OD) - 71 Chancy Johnson (II) - 121
2013 Wayne VanEvery (OD) - 41 Corey Fowler (NLM) - 48 &
Andrew Potter (NLM) - 48
Corey Fowler (NLM) - 80 Brock Boyle (BI) - 70
2014 Chris Attwood (OD) - 27 Chris Attwood (OD) - 27 Chris Attwood (OD) - 54 Tom Montour (OD) - 34 &
Jordan Dance (SWC) - 34
2015 Michael Teeter (BB) - 20 Jesse Guerin (DT) - 23 Michael Teeter (BB) - 33 Tom Montour (OD) - 42
2016 Dylan Goddard (DT) &
Shane Scott (BB)
Corey Fowler (NLM) - 29 Corey Fowler (NLM) - 45 Tom Montour (OD) - 54

Goalies

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Year Minutes Wins Goals Against Ave Save Percentage
2012 John Chesebrough (OM) - 640:15 Jeff Powless (OD) - 7 Jeff Powless (OD) - 11.52 Ben VanEvery (OD) - 0.793
2013 Jay Preece (BI) - 611:44 Connor Danko (NLM) - 7 Angus Dinely (TSS) - 9.57 Zach Higgins (DT) - 0.813
2014 Jay Preece (SWC) - 366:01 Davide DiRuscio (NLM) - 3 Davide DiRuscio (NLM) - 7.95 Davide DiRuscio (NLM) - 0.865
2015 Angus Dineley (BB) - 448:36 Angus Dineley (BB) - 6 Angus Dineley (BB) - 9.50 Angus Dineley (BB) - 0.801
2016

All-star teams

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First team

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Year Goalie Runners
2012 Jeff Powless (OD) Chris Attwood (OD), Colin Boucher (DT), John McClure (DT), Ryan Campbell (PA), Brad Favero (BI)
2013 Connor Danko (NLM) Ben McCullough (BI), Tom Montour (OD), Mack O'Brien (TSS), Andrew Potter (NLM), Wayne VanEvery (OD)
2014 Davide DiRuscio (NLM) Colin Boucher (BB), Tom Montour (OD), Chris Attwood (OD), Caleb Wiles (BB), Andrew Potter (NLM)
2015 Angus Dineley (BB) Jesse Guerin (DT), Tom Montour (OD), Eric Pitre (SWC), Michael Teeter (BB), Roger Vyse (OD)
2016 Jay Preece (NLM) Mitch Dumont (NLM), Corey Fowler (NLM), Thomas Hoggarth (DT), Dan Keane (SWC), Tom Montour (OD)

Second team

[edit]
Year Goalie Runners
2012 Mike Attwood (II) Brad Levick (OM), Kim Squire (PA), Jon Arnold (BI), Clay Hill (OD), Ben McCullough (BI)
2013 Jay Preece (BI) Colin Boucher (BB), Mitch Dumont (DT), Corey Fowler (NLM), Caleb Wiles (BB), Chris Attwood (II)
2014 Jake Henhawk (OD) Tyler Burton (SWC), Jon Arnold (NLM), Mike Burke (SWC), Mark Farthing (DT), Wayne VanEvery (OD)
2015 Jay Preece (SWC) Corey Fowler (NLM), Travis Hill (OD), Thomas Hoggarth (DT), Dan Keane (SWC), Mike Mawdsley (BB)
2016 Angus Dineley (BB) Jake Crans (BB), Dylan Goddard (DT), Vaughn Harris (OD), Shane Scott (BB), Matt Spanger (SWC)

Rookie

[edit]
Year Goalie Runners
2013 Connor Danko (NLM) Caleb Wiles (BB), Mike Teeter (BB), Dustin Caravello (BI), John St. John (DT), Corey Fowler (NLM)
2014 Davide DiRuscio (NLM) Matt Spanger (SWC), Patrick McCrory (SWC), Mike Burke (SWC), Tim Bergin (NLM), Dylan Goddard (DT)
2015 Doug Buchan (NLM) Eric Guiltinan (SWC), Thomas Hoggarth (DT), Dan Keane (SWC), Rodd Squire (OD), Cody Ward (NLM)
2016 Gowah Adams (OD) Phil Caputo (NLM), Vaughn Harris (OD), Cody McMahon (DT), Tyler Roche (BB), Mike Triolo (DT)

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Vandonk, Todd (1 September 2016). "CLAX lacrosse league folds leaving local talent without a place to play this winter". mykawartha.com. Peterborough, ON.
  2. ^ a b c d Cayley, Shawn (10 October 2011). "Canadian Lacrosse League to launch with two local teams". DurhamRegion.com. Durham Region, ON.
  3. ^ "Lacrosse Killer Bzz hope to fly". Brampton Guardian. 27 July 2011.
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