January 5, 2010
For Dawson, '09 truly a career year
by Barbara Matson/
Dan Dawson is a changed man.
Last year, in the Blazers’ inaugural season, the 28-year-old Canadian lit up the National Lacrosse League with 104 points (30 goals, 74 assists) and was awarded league MVP honors. After the season, he traveled to Texas to attend a fire academy, then returned home to Ontario where he passed a certification exam and began his career as a firefighter.
It’s not the career he expected. Dawson, whose father, uncle, and sister are all police officers in Ontario, trained to be a policeman at Sheridan College. But his success as a professional lacrosse player — an eight-year National Lacrosse League veteran, he has earned the nickname Dangerous Dan because he is always a scoring threat — postponed the start of his law enforcement career.
In the meantime, life experiences steered him in a new direction.
“I was in a house fire one time when I was 21,’’ he said. “I think that is what sparked my interest, the way the fire department was and how they handled the situation and made my family feel at ease.’’
Dawson, who has played on NLL teams in Ohio, Arizona, and Oregon as well as Boston, grew close to teammates who were firefighters.
“They just talked to me about the camaraderie, the brotherhood, and serving your community,’’ said Dawson. “It was kind of everything I was doing with lacrosse. So I thought there was a direct translation between the two.
“I’ve been on with the [Brampton, Ontario] fire department for six months. We did three months of in-house training and I’ve been on the floor, which really means running calls, since September. So I’m a firefighter I guess.’’
Dawson remains the captain of the Blazers, who open their second season Jan. 9 against the Toronto Rock at TD Garden. Professional lacrosse is still a part-time pastime, though that’s hard to believe after taking a look at Dawson’s year: After the Blazers’ season, he played four games with the MLL’s Toronto Nationals in his first foray into professional outdoor lacrosse; he played box lacrosse with the Brampton Excelsiors as they claimed the 2009 Mann Cup (the Canadian senior title); and he participated in the Canadian world team selection camp during Thanksgiving weekend, making the first cut as the squad was trimmed from 53 players to 30.
Dawson’s toughest task was scheduling his holidays and trading shifts to make himself available for all the Blazers’ 2010 games.
“It works out where I’m almost spending half the month in Boston and half the month in Toronto so every day I’m off, I’m basically in Boston,’’ Dawson said. “[The scheduling] was a complicated process, but I’m excited and I couldn’t be happier, doing two things I’m passionate about, lacrosse and firefighting.’’
Like many Canadian youngsters, Dawson also played hockey, and though the sports share many attributes, big professional salaries are not on the list.
“I played hockey before I played lacrosse,’’ said Dawson, who grew up in Oakville, Ontario. “That’s just how it is in Canada. Lacrosse has kind of made a resurgence in the past 15 years. It wasn’t very popular when I was a kid growing up so I didn’t start playing until I was in sixth grade. Hockey was always No. 1.’’
The resurgence was fueled by the widespread use of rinks for the summer season of box lacrosse.
“There’s a big translation between the two sports — hand-eye coordination, the physicality,’’ said Dawson. “You could name a ton of [hockey] players — [Wayne] Gretzky, [Joe] Sakic, all these guys played lacrosse growing up, and they all attribute some of their great hand-eye coordination because of the game.’’
Hockey and box lacrosse have five players and a goalie on each side, use boards surrounding the playing surface, and feature quick scoring rushes to goal and brutal body slamming. Both sports have the occasional fight. It’s no surprise that Dawson loves hockey.
“I’m a huge Bruins fan,’’ he said.
Dawson tends to favor the roughest and toughest Bruins, guys like former lacrosse players Milan Lucic and Shawn Thornton, whose cousin, Bill Greer, is married to Dawson’s older sister. Dawson himself is 6 feet 5 inches tall and 225 pounds, but he’s agile and quick rather than a bruiser.
“I’m a big teddy bear,’’ he said. “I don’t think I’m a very intimidating guy.’’
Funny thing is, Bruin forward Thornton, a player who relishes throwing his weight around, once said he stopped playing lacrosse after high school because he wasn’t good enough to keep going.
“It was the reverse for me,’’ said Dawson, who gave up hockey when he reached juniors (16 years old). “I wasn’t good enough as a hockey player so I had to pick lacrosse. But I love lacrosse so it wasn’t like my second choice.’’
Diplomatic Dan paused, and admitted, “I’m a Bruins fan. I’m a Leafs fan as well, but my heart’s been broken so many times. No doubt, we’re years away. So I’m on the Bruins’ train, that’s for sure. I go to the games when I can and I watch them as much as I can on the television and follow them on the web site.’’
The NHL’s No 1 draft pick in 2009, John Tavares, comes from Dawson’s hometown of Oakville.
“He was an extremely good lacrosse player growing up,’’ said Dawson of the New York Islander, whose uncle, also named John Tavares, is the NLL’s all-time leading scorer. “He could have played pro and would have been a dominant player in this league. But there’s a little bit of pay difference between the two leagues — he probably made the right choice.’’
Last season, the 10-6 Blazers were bounced in the first round of the playoffs by the Buffalo Bandits. Dawson is determined to lead them farther this time around. After all, family bragging rights are at stake.
“[My brother-in-law] Bill Greer actually plays in the NLL for the Orlando Titans,’’ Dawson said, “and there’s a heated rivalry between us and Orlando, which used to be New York.
“So there’s a lot of jawing at Christmas dinner. But he has an NLL championship and I don’t, so he always wins.”
