the history of lacrosse in alberta
Alberta has a rich history of lacrosse without many people even knowing it. In fact as part of the September 1st, 1905 Inauguration Celebrations as Alberta joined Canada, lacrosse (among other sports) was played to entertain the masses in Edmonton. One of our finest moments saw the Calgary Chinooks winning the Mann Cup for being the Senior Lacrosse Champions of Canada way back in 1914. In truth, teams from Alberta have challenged for all 4 major trophies in Canadian box lacrosse and over the last 30 years Albertan teams have brought home five national championships.
Lacrosse was in Alberta even before the turn of the 20th century. In 1882 lacrosse equipment was available in Edmonton, and several pickup games were played there during the summer. The following March, the Edmonton Lacrosse Club was organized but, because of a lack of competition, it disbanded in 1885. The Calgary Lacrosse Club was organized in 1884 with Captain Boynton serving as the club’s first president. The club’s membership swelled to thirty, with games among the club members being held periodically on weekends and, on several occasions, competitions took place between the citizens and the police.
After lagging interest, the Calgary Lacrosse Club was re-organized in 1887. Mr. Boag, a teacher who was to be elected as the club’s president, organized a lacrosse meeting at the school house. A practice ground was secured on the prairie south of the railway tracks. Mr. Boag introduced the game to some of the older students in the school. The Calgary Lacrosse Club operated in a local manner for several years.
Once the interest in the field game subsided and the interest of the box game grew. Teams sprung up from all over the province to battle for the provincial title until interest disappeared. Following the Second World War there is little recorded history dealing with lacrosse in Alberta. The teams likely didn’t vanish just compared to world events didn’t draw much attention at the time.
Referenced from the Outsider’s Guide to the NLL
League play in this province has developed in many forms over the years and details are spotty at best. The Rocky Mountain Lacrosse League in it’s current form is a growing league with a bright future in the Sr. B ranks. As for it’s own origins I’ve been able to roughly set the RMLL in it’s current form to being a 1998 introduction to Alberta lacrosse.
Sr. B Champions
2002 – Edmonton Outlaws defeated the Calgary Mountaineers 3 games to none
2001 – Edmonton Outlaws
2000 – Calgary Mountaineers
1999 – Edmonton Outlaws
Jr. B Champions
2002 – Edmonton Miners defeated the Edmonton Warriors 3 games to 0
2001 – Edmonton Miners defeated the Calgary Jr. Mountaineers 4 games to 3
2000 – Calgary Jr. Mountaineers defeated the Edmonton Miners 2 games to 1
1999 – Edmonton Miners
1998 – Edmonton Miners
1997 – Edmonton Miners
1996 – Edmonton Miners
1995 – Edmonton Miners
Tier II Champions
2002 – Sherwood Park Titans
2001 – Edmonton Warriors
2000 – Edmonton Warriors
Year by Year Standings
Senior Teams
2002
Team GP W L T Pts GF GA Stk.
Edmonton Outlaws 20 17 1 2 36 249 113 1L
Calgary Mountaineers 20 14 3 3 31 209 146 3W
Red Deer Rage 20 9 10 1 19 184 180 5W
Calgary Knights 20 2 17 1 5 126 245 5L
2001
Team GP W L T Pts GF GA
Edmonton Outlaws 17 15 0 2 32 219 107
Calgary Mountaineers 16 11 3 2 24 138 103
*Edmonton Jr. Miners 17 8 7 2 18 151 132
Red Deer Rage 17 7 9 1 15 158 174
*Cgy Jr. Mountaineers 16 4 11 1 9 112 171
Calgary Knights 17 0 15 2 2 72 164
1999
Edmonton Outlaws
Calgary Knights
Calgary Mountaineers
*Edmonton Jr. Miners
*Cgy Jr. Mountaineers
1998
Edmonton Outlaws
Calgary Mountaineers
*Edmonton Jr. Miners
*Cgy Jr. Mountaineers
* Junior teams were listed in standings with the Senior teams.
Junior Teams
2002
Team GP W L T Pts GF GA Stk.
Edmonton Miners 20 14 6 0 28 205 164 1L
Edmonton Warriors 20 8 11 1 17 160 185 2W
Calgary Shamrocks 20 8 12 0 16 177 210 3L
Calgary Warthogs 20 3 15 2 8 172 247 1W
Junior Tier II
2002
North Division: GP W L T Pts GF GA
Titans 17 15 1 1 31 190 89
Rams 17 12 3 2 26 177 105
Renegades 17 9 5 3 21 190 169
Warriors 17 6 9 2 14 165 159
Blues 17 1 15 1 3 101 208
South Division: GP W L T Pts GF GA
Mustangs 17 11 4 2 24 161 128
Bandits 17 9 8 0 18 138 134
Chill 17 7 6 3 17 135 115
Rustlers 17 5 10 2 12 116 178
Rockies 17 1 14 2 4 139 215
2001
Team GP W L T Pts GF GA
Warriors 15 9 5 1 19 151 126
Titans 15 8 4 3 19 113 105
Rockies 15 8 7 0 16 147 129
Bandits 15 6 8 1 13 135 136
Rustlers 15 5 7 3 13 120 163
Rams 15 4 9 2 10 129 140
Referenced from the Outsider’s Guide to the NLL
In 1979 a junior league in Alberta featured the Enoch Tomahawks, Calgary Clansmen and Calgary Mountaineers.
In 1974 there was a junior league in southern Alberta comprised of the Calgary Irish, Calgary Royals, Calgary Shamrocks, Lethbridge Native, Nanton Blazers and Taber Ebony Hawks.
Referenced from the Outsider’s Guide to the NLL
Challenging for the Founder’s Cup Competition for National Championship in the Junior “B” classification was initiated by the Canadian Lacrosse Association in September, 1964. A silver cup donated by Castrol Oils limited served as the winner’s trophy (1964 – 1971) but was retired to the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame, New Westminster, B.C. in 1972.
In 1972, the C.L.A. inaugurated the Founder’s Trophy (1972 – Present) as emblematic of the Junior “B” Championship of Canada. this beautiful handcrafted unique trophy commemorates the founders of organized Lacrosse, particularly the contributions of “The Father of Organized Lacrosse”, Dr. George W. Beers of Montreal, Quebec who wrote the first rulebook and in 1867 was instrumental in organizing the National Lacrosse Association, predecessor to the Canadian Lacrosse Association. A full listing of Founder’s Cup winners can be found on the 2002 Founder’s Cup page.
Alberta has been home to two Founder’s Cup champions with the most recent in 1999 and last hosted the Founder’s Cup tournament in 2001.
Year Alberta Champions Result
2002 Edmonton Miners Finished third at Founder’s Cup
2001 Edmonton Miners Finished second at Founder’s Cup
2000 Calgary Jr. Mountaineers Finished fourth at Founder’s Cup
1999 Edmonton Miners WON FOUNDER’S CUP
1998 Edmonton Miners
1997 Edmonton Miners
1996 Edmonton Miners Finished third at Founder’s Cup
1995 Edmonton Miners Finished second at Founder’s Cup
1983 Enoch Tomahawks Finished second at Founder’s Cup
1982 Calgary
1981 Calgary
1980 Enoch Tomahawks WON FOUNDER’S CUP
The 1981 Calgary team that went to the Founder’s Cup also represented Alberta at the Canada Games. They returned with a 4th place finish.
Challenging for the President’s Cup
The President’s Cup is emblematic of Canadian Champions at the Senior “B” level.
The President’s Cup is in honour of the Canadian Lacrosse Association President and recognizes the contributions of all Past Presidents of the C.L.A. This beautiful silver trophy was donated to the Canadian Lacrosse Association in September 1964 by Mr. K.G. Thompson.
The original Presidents Cup was retired to the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame in New
Westminster, B.C. in the early 1980’s. The current trophy commemorates the history of leadership of the C.L.A. and lists the Presidents of the Association and the Chair of the Board of Directors under the new structure of the C.L.A. A full listing of President’s Cup winners can be found on the 2002 President’s Cup page.
Alberta is home to the defending President’s Cup Champions! We’ve been home to three championship squads since the inception of the Cup. 2002 was the first year the Cup tournament was hosted in Alberta.
Year Alberta Champions Result
2002 Edmonton Outlaws 4-1 record – WON PRESIDENT’SCUP
2001 Edmonton Outlaws 1-3 record – finished 5th out of 6
2000 Did not send team.
1999 Edmonton Outlaws
1995 Edmonton Miners finished third
1994 Edmonton Miners
1993 Edmonton Miners finished second
1992 Edmonton Miners finished third
1991 Edmonton Miners finished second
1990 Edmonton Miners finished second
1989 Edmonton Miners finished third
1983 Calgary Mountaineers WON PRESIDENT’S CUP
1978 Sherwood Park Capitals finished second
1976 Edmonton Fullers finished second
1975 Edmonton Fullers WON PRESIDENT’S CUP
Challenging for the Alcan Cup
The Alcan is an interesting trophy. It has been set up to be an invitational tournament hosted by the Okanagan Xtreme Lacrosse League. Normally it is attended by teams not going to the President’s Cup. Alberta last won the Alcan Cup in 2000 when the Calgary Mountaineers brought home the hardware.
Alberta Representive Result
2000 – Calgary Mountaineers WON ALCAN CUP
Challenging for the Minto Cup
“The Minto Cup is a beautiful silver cup donated by Lord Minto on May 31, 1901, for competition among the Lacrosse teams in the Dominion. Lord Minto was Governor General of Canada at the time. The amateur status of the competition continued until 1904.
The cup was placed under control of trustees and in possession of C.A. Welsh, of Nw Westminster, B.C., the last surviving trustee. When he died, the present Lord Minto of England, whose father donated the cup, was informed of the circumstances. He officially transferred the Minto cup to the care and management of the Canadian Lacrosse Association, who placed it into competition for the Junior Championship of Canada.
The Duke and Duchess of York (later King George V and Queen Mary) were present at the first game played for the Minto Cup between the Capitals of Ottawa and Cornwall in 1901. It continued as a Senior Championship until 1934.
When the Minto Cup was originally place into Junior competition in 1937, All-Star teams were built around Provincial Championship teams. This practice was soon discontinued and in 1960 the trophy became emblematic of the Canadian Junior “A” Championship.”
– quoted from the Canadian Lacrosse Association.
In 1979 Alberta sent a team that has been referred to in different publications by three names. The Alberta All-Stars, Alberta Tomahawks or Edmonton Tomahawks were composed of primarily Edmonton based players with a few Calgary Mountaineers and Calgary Clansmen added to the team for depth. Instead of the familiar best of seven series format that we are accustomed to today the Minto Cup was made into a round robin tournament followed by a single game final. The bulk of this team went on to form the Enoch Tomahawks that won the Founder’s Cup the following season. Our Alberta boys managed to beat Burnaby Cablevision, the eventual champions, once but dropped their other 3 matches. The full tournament results are as follows:
ROUND-ROBIN SCORES
Peterborough defeated Alberta 8-5
Peterborough defeated Burnaby 11-7
Burnaby defeated Alberta 18-7
Peterborough defeated Alberta 11-5
Burnaby defeated Peterborough 10-4
Alberta defeated Burnaby 14-10
(SINGLE-GAME) CHAMPIONSHIP
Burnaby 8, Peterborough 6
Challenging for the Mann Cup
In previous years there was more to the Mann Cup championships than the current East-West set up. Before the current system came into play, the host team, from British Columbia or Ontario, went straight to the Mann Cup while the opposition teams went through the Dominion Playoffs. The leagues of Alberta, Manitoba, Quebec and one of BC or Ontario would send their champions to the Dominion Playoffs for the chance to reach the Mann Cup. The last recorded Alberta based squad to reach the Dominion Playoffs was the Medicine Hat Badmen in 1939 when they faced off against the St. Catherine’s Athletics and lost 32-8.
The Mann Cup was presented by the late Sir Donald Mann, builder of the Canadian Northern Railway, for the Senior Amateur Championship of Canada and was originally a challenge cup. It is a gold cup valued at $25,000 and is one of the most valuable trophies in sport.
In September, 1925, when the Canadian Lacrosse Association was organized and uniform rules adopted for all competing teams, the Mann Cup was turned over to the C.L.A. by the New Westminster Club who held the trophy at that time. It was then placed into annual competition, with the series alternating from east to west.
Alberta’s lone Mann Cup win came on the heels of a protest surrounding a Vancouver player and the questioning of if he was given funds to play that series with the Vancouver club. Full details can be found here in a Vancouver Daily Province article from Sept. 30th, 1914.
Year Alberta Champions Result
1939 Medicine Hat Badmen lost in Dominion Playoffs – 32-8 to St. Catherine’s
1938 Medicine Hat Badmen lost Western Final – 25-8 to New West. Adanacs
1937 Calgary Rangers lost in Dominion Playoffs – 28-8 to Orillia
1936 Calgary Pontiacs lost in Dominion Playoffs – 19-5 to North Shore
1934 Calgary Shamrocks lost Western Semi-Final by default to Winnipeg
1933 Calgary Shamrocks lost in Dominion Playoffs – 15-4 to Hamilton
1932 Calgary Shamrocks lost Western Semi-Final – two game total goal series 32-11 to North Vancouver (17-6; 15-5)
1931 Calgary All-Stars lost in Dominion Playoffs – 8-5 to Brampton
1930 Edmonton Native Sons lost in Dominion Playoffs – 17-0 to New West.
1929 Edmonton Native Sons lost in Dominion Playoffs – 14-1 to Oshawa
1928 Edmonton Native Sons lost in Dominion Playoffs – 13-1 to Winnipeg
1927 Edmonton Native Sons lost in Dominion Playoffs – 13-3 to Toronto
1919 Edmonton Eskimos made Mann Cup round robin – defeated Lawson 13-3 lost two game series to Victoria 28-5 (19-4; 9-1)
1914 Calgary Chinooks AWARDED MANN CUP – A disputed Mann Cup Playoffs regarding a Vancouver player the Mann Cup Trustees awarded the Cup to Calgary
Two Inter-League Exhibitions were played of note almost a hundred years ago.
1908 – New Westminster Salmonbellies defeated Calgary 6-2
1906 – Vancouver Maple Leafs defeated Calgary Strathcona 15-4
Information sources –
Canadian Lacrosse Almanac by David Stewart-Candy, 2002 Vancouver
(available through the New Westminster Salmonbellies or email David Stewart-Candy
Canadian Lacrosse Association website)
Referenced from the Outsider’s Guide to the NLL
Calgary Roughnecks
The first truly professional lacrosse team in Alberta is the Calgary Roughnecks of the National Lacrosse League. They entered the NLL during the 2001-2002 season as an expansion franchise. At the halfway mark of their initial season they had managed a 4-4 record with a couple of tight games but ultimately fell off the pace in the second half and hit a streak with 9 losses in a row to finish at 4-12. Two of those losses came in overtime while another saw the game winning goal scored with a mere 19 seconds remaining. In 2004, the Roughnecks won the League Championship and Champion’s Cup. The Calgary Roughnecks have made playoffs every season since 2004.
Final record of 4-12 in their first season of play.
Finished last in the Northern Division out of the playoffs.
First Roughneck: Jason Wulder
First Roughneck Goal: John Kilbride, Nov. 24 2001 vs. Montreal
First Power Play Goal: John Kilbride, Nov. 24 2001 vs. Montreal
First Short Handed Goal: Kaleb Toth, Nov. 29 2001 @ Montreal
First Home Goal: John Kilbride, Nov. 24 2001 vs. Montreal
First Road Goal: Jason Wulder, Nov. 29 2001 @ Montreal
First Starting Goalie: Derek Collins, Nov. 24 2001 vs. Montreal
First Goaltender Win: Matt King, Dec. 2 2001 @ Ottawa
First Team Win: 17-11 @ Ottawa, Dec. 2nd 2001
First Home Win: 20-13 vs. Columbus, Dec. 14th 2001
First Road Win:17-11 @ Ottawa, Dec. 2nd 2001
First OT Win: 14-13 @ New Jersey, Dec. 28th 2001
Team Year W L GF GA
Roughnecks 2001 4 12 224 264
Roughnecks 2002 6 3 116 111
Roughnecks 2005 10 6 216 208
Roughnecks 2006 9 7 183 178
Roughnecks 2007 9 7 – –
Roughnecks 2008 7 9 183 178
Roughnecks 2009 12 4 206 167
Edmonton Rush
The Edmonton Rush’s first season in the National Lacrosse League was in 2006. The Rush became Alberta’s second professional lacrosse team.
Final Record of 1-15 in their first season of play
Finished last in the Western Division out of playoffs
First Rush Goal: Jamey Bowen, Jan. 6, 2006 vs San Jose
First Power Play Goal: Tyler Heavenor, Jan. 6, 2006 vs San Jose
First Short-handed Goal: Chris Stachniak, Jan. 21, 2006 vs Calgary
First Home Goal: Jamey Bowen, Jan. 6, 2006 vs San Jose
First Road Goal: Jordan Cornfield, Jan 13, 2006 @ Calgary
First Starting Goalie: Pat Campbell, Jan. 6, 2006 vs San Jose
First Goaltender Win: Pat Campbell, Feb. 17, 2006 @ Calgary
First Team Win: 12-11 @ Calgary, Feb. 17, 2006
First Home Win: 13-12 vs Philadelphia, Jan. 6, 2007
First Road Win: 12-11 @ Calgary, Feb. 17, 2006
First OT Win: 9-8 vs Portland, Feb. 23, 2007
Team Year W L GF GA
Rush 2006 1 15 150 202
Rush 2007 6 10 – –
Rush 2008 4 12 141 197
Rush 2009 5 11 159 200
Information from www.nll.com
Referenced from the Outsider’s Guide to the NLL