November 5, 2009
Fantastic voyage for box beginners
by Barbara Matson/
Ryan Danehy could not contain his enthusiasm.
“This is my new favorite game,’’ said the 26-year-old from Billerica, a longtime lacrosse star. “I love it.’’
Danehy has been playing lacrosse nearly all his life. He was an All-American and a state champion at Billerica (Mass.) High, a four-year standout at Dartmouth (where he is now an assistant coach), and he played in Major League Lacrosse (with the Boston Cannons and the Chicago Machine) and the National Lacrosse League (with the Chicago Shamrox).
But when he joined Vermont’s new box lacrosse team, the Voyageurs, last summer, he said it was like falling for the game all over again.
“When I first started playing lacrosse in third grade,’’ Danehy said, “it was the new thing and I was learning every time I played. But then as you get older, you’re starting to learn less.
“Now, it’s like I’m back in third grade, learning every time I play. I want to get better. It’s like that one shot in golf that brings you back; you make that one move or one goal and you want to go back.”
Box lacrosse, created in Canada in the 1930s as a way to put hockey rinks to use in the summer months, is a wildly popular sport north of the border, where it has eclipsed the field game as the No. 1 version of the sport. Some of the best boxla teams come from southeastern Canada, where native teams dominate the competition.
“Box lacrosse, for me, is a whole different experience than just playing lacrosse,’’ said Danehy. “You’re in tighter confines. I was trying to play outdoor lacrosse indoors and it’s completely different. You really learn quickly that your skills have to be on point, to shoot on net, to catch the ball. All of the outdoor players find it hard to get used to, you don’t have the whole field to use. It’s more like playing lacrosse in a hockey atmosphere.’’
Jeff Culkin got the bug from his lacrosse coach at Niagara University, Kim Patterson, and he played box lacrosse for a year in the CanAm League after graduating. Culkin remained involved with lacrosse after moving to Vermont, coaching at St. Michael’s for eight years, and last summer, he decided it was time to bring box lacrosse to Burlington, Vt.
Culkin put together a team based at the Essex Skating Facility, filling the roster with players from across New England, collegians and post-grads, many of them veterans of professional lacrosse leagues, but new to the rougher, tougher lacrosse of box.
“There are definitely some adjustments transitioning from the outdoor to the indoor box game,’’ said Culkin. “It’s a much more physical, faster-paced game. You have to pad up because of the boards and the cross-checking.
“The native teams have been playing box since they were children, and playing together on teams since grade school. We had been playing together for a couple of weeks.’’
Playing an independent schedule, the Voyageurs lost their first six games. With some game experience, and instruction from expert coaches Russ George, an Onondaga from Syracuse who played in the original NLL, and Chad Fairfoull of Ontario, they improved.
“By the end of the summer, we were firing on all cylinders,’’ Culkin said. The Voyageurs claimed the Champlain Challenge Cup to close the season, swamping the Rochester Greywolves, 18-2, before upending the Quebec Senior Lacrosse League champion Kahnawake Mohawks, 8-6. In 2010, the Voyageurs will join the QSLL.
Box lacrosse is very much like trying to play the fastest game on two feet inside a very small box. There are five runners and a goalie on each side, and no one ever stops. A 30-second shot clock keeps the offense moving, and a team has only 10 seconds to move the ball from the defensive end to the offensive end after gaining possession. There’s no room on the small surface to switch hands, so box players are righties or lefties.
“It’s very strong-hand dominated,’’ said Danehy. “You stay on one side, and you’re constantly moving to set each other up for a shot or a pick or a roll.
“There is a whole dynamic of moving constantly off the ball. If you’re not keeping your defenseman occupied, he can get into another part of the game, and you’re going to get hurt because they’re going to hit you and then they’re going to make a quick play. I learned to be accurate with shooting and to shoot often.’’
All those shots make the heavily padded goalies crucial to the game.
“In field, you probably anticipate 30-40 shots on net, from 10-15 yards,’’ Culkin said. “In box, it’s 60-70 shots, virtually all taken inside 10 yards. The goalies take a beating.’’
The Voyageurs snagged Vincent Talbot from Sherbrooke, Quebec, to play goal and he gave them an MVP season. In the last four games, said Culkin, Talbot allowed just 3.7 goals per game.
Neal Anderson of Wayland, Mass., who coaches Norwich University and also is an MLL veteran, was, like Danehy, charged up by the Voyageurs’ high level of play.
“I still love the competition,’’ said Anderson, 32. “As players, it’s an opportunity for younger players to get their foot in the door with national organizations. For myself, I’ve been in and out [of the pros] for seven years, it’s a chance to be competitive and get that team atmosphere. And as a coach, it’s a chance to experience lacrosse in a different arena, to get to know more about the game. It was a very fruitful summer.’’
