Mark Matthews is finally coming to the Langley Thunder. (Edmonton Journal.)
There’s an argument to be made that the Western Lacrosse Association hasn’t been this interesting in years.
Not only are there just two points separating both first and third and fourth and seventh, but the two-time reigning champion Langley Thunder added ballyhooed Mark Matthews, along with fellow eastern-based stars Jeremy Noble and Adam Jones, this week for the stretch drive.
The Victoria Shamrocks had made the big moves in the off-season, nabbing Scott Ranger and Cory Conway via trade, inking eastern goalie Matt Vinc and getting Rhys Duch to return after a summer in Ontario.
Matthews and Jones are former National Lacrosse League rookies of the year, while Noble is a candidate to be the No. 1 pick in 2014.
The Thunder had been chasing Matthews, who counted 38 goals for the Edmonton Rush as an NLL freshman this past winter, for some time, considering they used the fifth overall pick in the 2012 WLA draft on him. The Brooklin Redmen, the Ontario team that had his national rights, had been balking about giving him up, but they eventually relented.
There were reports that the Redmen wanted $100,000 for his release. No one from Langley is offering up what it actually cost them.
Langley star Garrett Billings admits that he’s surprised that the deal actually happened. The Thunder were missing a marquee offensive threat from last season, what with Lewis Ratcliff suspended for the campaign due to a positive drug test.
“It’s crazy, to tell you the truth,” said Billings. “I had been talking to Rob Buchan [one of the team owners] and he had been working on this for awhile. I thought it was done, and then I got a text from him that he actually pulled it off.
“I couldn’t be happier for Rob and for the prospects of the Langley Thunder. We’re going to be a dangerous team.”
Matthews, 23, who’s from Oshawa originally, played his 2010 junior season with Coquitlam, where current Langley bench boss Rod Jensen was assistant coach. In 59 career regular season junior games, he put up 256 career points, including 118 goals. In 32 playoff games at that level, he had 148 points, including 54 goals.
Jones, 23, was also property of the Redmen. He played three regular season and three playoff games with them last year. He put up 33 goals this winter with the NLL’s Colorado Mammoth.
Noble, 21, who was property of the Kitchener-Waterloo Kodiaks, is currently in his junior year at the University of Denver. In 79 regular season games over his junior career in Orangeville, he had 321 points, including 139 goals, to go with 302 points, featuring 112 goals, in 87 playoff encounters at that level.
On the flip side, the Thunder have lost Joel McCready, 25, until playoff time at best with shoulder surgery. He had 13 points, including seven goals, in four regular season games this summer.
