By Dan Marshall

Senior B Timbermen hand out end of season awards

Nov 30, 2018 | 10:33 PM

NANAIMO – The Senior B lacrosse season ended on Labour Day weekend at a sold out Frank Crane Arena.

The Timbermen won a national silver medal after taking the St. Albert Miners to overtime in an unforgettable final.

That capped off a season that saw Nanaimo win the WCSLA regular season and playoff titles.

Last weekend the Timbermen got together to reminisce and hand out their end of season awards.

It was a chance to reflect on an amazing year and honour some of the standouts from one of the best Senior B teams Nanaimo has ever had.

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Team president Shawn Swanson was thrilled to see such a strong turnout.

“I think 70 plus people, volunteers, sponsors, 90 per cent of the players were there, our executive – it was a great Sunday afternoon,” Swanson said.

Here’s a list of the 2018 Award Winners:

WCSLA First Team All Stars

Pete Dubenski

Nick Patterson

WCSLA Second Team All Stars

Corey Shires

Jon Diplock

WCSLA Manager of the Year

Shawn Swanson

BCLA Ruth Seward Award

Natalie Cashmore

BCLA President’s Award

Ed Seidel

BCLA Art Daoust Award

Shawn Swanson

CLA President’s Cup All Star

Corey Shires

Volunteer of the Year

Mike Witty

Kyle McInnis

Most Popular

Sam Postma

Best Conditioned

Shane Chalker

Contribution to Minor Lacrosse

Graham Palmer

Best Stickhandler

Cory Conway

Jeff Shattler

Most Sportsmanlike

Joe Fendick

Unsung Hero

Cayle Ratcliff

Most Inspirational

Myles Kenny

Bobby Debrone

Most Improved

Braden Senft

Best Two Way Player

Doug Langlois

Ryan Taylor

Rookie of the Year

Sam Postma

Leading Scorer

Jon Diplock

Best Defensive Player

Graham Palmer

Playoff MVP

Nick Patterson

Pete Dubenski

Team MVP

Corey Shires

Jon Diplock

VIDEO: Jon Diplock and Corey Shires accept the Timbermen MVP Award

It was a season with a ton of highlights and Swanson says the way the community came out to support the Timbermen sticks with him.

“For me two minutes before we were getting into the gold medal game, the drums were going, the arena as full as it was, we were not anticipating that,” Swanson said. “That two to five minutes before the game I’ll always look back on those few minutes as the highlight of my experience in lacrosse for sure.”

Swanson expects as many as 80 per cent of the players will be back for another run at a championship.

Kahnawake will host the 2019 President’s Cup and 2019 also marks the 50thanniversary of the last Nanaimo championship.

The Nanaimo Luckies won the cup in 1969.

Lacrosse was the talk of the town in the days following the President’s Cup and Swanson says he’s still hearing from families who were impacted by the success of the Senior B Timbermen and the President’s Cup.

“I’ve heard of about five parents that told me they brought their kids who weren’t playing lacrosse at that point who will be playing next year. (because of the President’s Cup). I drop my kids off at Quarterway and I see our Timbermen hats, about five or six every morning. It’s a neat thing to see that we’re out there in the community and there’s some excitement from young kids who want to play lacrosse after seeing that, said Swanson.

It won’t be long until preparations for 2019 begin as the Timbermen look to once again be one of the elite teams in Senior B lacrosse.

dan@nanaimonewsnow.com

On twitter: @danmarshall77