By Dan Marshall

Lacrosse season openers on tap for Senior B and Junior A Timbermen

May 2, 2018 | 10:54 AM

NANAIMO — The city’s youngest lacrosse players have been playing for a few weeks already, but May is when the junior and senior seasons ramp up.
 
This weekend the Junior A and Senior B Timbermen start their campaigns with very different expectations.
 
The Senior B’s will host the Presidents Cup national championship in August and they are going after their first title since the 1969 Nanaimo Luckies captured the cup.
 
Meanwhile the Junior A team is looking to get back to the playoffs after back to back two win seasons.
 
Senior B team president Shawn Swanson says anticipation is high around his group right now.
 
“It’s a big year for us. This is step one on our ultimate goal so hopefully we’ll get a win, bring out some fans, and have a great season,” said Swanson.
 
The Timbermen host Langley Sunday at 5 p.m. at Frank Crane Arena.
 
The Warriors are expected to be one of the teams Nanaimo will be battling for first place this year, another top contender is the Ladner Pioneers who the Tmen will visit on May 17.
 
Jon Diplock will lead the team by wearing the ‘C’ again this year and Swanson believes his club will have no shortage of veteran leadership with a handful of former Senior A captains in their ranks.
 
Graham Palmer, Doug Langlois, and Bobby DeBrone will wear letters as assistant captains.
 
Eight of Nanaimo’s nine home games will be played at Frank Crane Arena with two games on Wednesdays, two Saturday nights, and five Sundays.

The Junior A squad is a much faster team this year according to head coach Dave Bremner.
 
He says the team has a whole new outlook.
 
“I feel with the athletes that we have, the goal scoring that we’ve added, and a couple of the defensive players we’ve added that we’re going to be very athletic this year,” stated Bremner.  
 
Last season was a learning experience for a lot of young players and the coach is hoping his players will be better for it in 2018.
 
“For the most part players on our Junior A team got into 14 or 15 games, and that included 18 first year players,” Bremner said.
 
The next step for the juniors is to get into the playoffs and that’s the goal they’ve set for themselves.
 
Nanaimo hosts the Langley Thunder Saturday at the Nanaimo Ice Centre at 4:30 p.m.
 
Nine of their 11 home games are Saturdays at the NIC with one Tuesday game against their island rivals from Victoria and another neutral site game against the Shamrocks in Duncan.
 
For more team and schedule information about the Senior B and Junior A Timbermen, click on the links below:
 
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Senior B Timbermen
http://wcsla.ca/nanaimo/index.html
 
Jr A Timbermen
http://timbermen.bcjall.com/
 
 
 
 
dan@nanaimonewsnow.com
 
On twitter: @danmarshall77