![](https://www.laxjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2021/06/Lyle_Thompson_CannonsLC.jpg)
Lyle Thompson, left, of Cannons LC has emerged as one of the faces of professional lacrosse. (Dan Leahy)
The past, present and future of professional lacrosse was on display at Gillette Stadium this weekend, and all of them were personified by the Cannons Lacrosse Club.
Officially, that is Cannons LC of the Premier Lacrosse League, and not the Boston Cannons of Major League Lacrosse – who spent 19 summers playing in Lowell, Boston, Cambridge, Foxboro and Quincy – nor the unspoken-but-on-everyone’s-mind future "Boston Cannons" PLL squad.
That status is as confusing as the serpentine path of professional lacrosse which, thankfully for New England fans, has actually had a history of success in the Northeast even as it has struggled to gain a foothold in most parts of the country.