Dave Leaderhouse
Special to the Daily Herald
Winning never gets old, but the more it happens it does become even more special.
“This feels amazing,” said Prince Albert Predators standout Matthew Cudmore, who capped his junior playing career by leading his squad to a fourth straight Prairie Gold Lacrosse League championship with a 16-10 triumph over the Swift Current Wolverines on Sunday at the Kinsmen Arena. “This year was gruelling, but it was special. I’m just happy I got to spend another year with these guys.”
Cudmore, who was named the PGLL’s most valuable player at the conclusion of Sunday’s contest, leaves a large footprint on both the local and provincial lacrosse scenes as he now owns the career records for most goals, most assists and most total points.
Predators’ head coach and general manager Lucas Wells got emotional when talking about his core group of players, of which Cudmore is one.
“The graduating players have been with me since they were 13 years old,” stated Wells. “They are a special group. They expect nothing less than to win championships. They are like my kids.”
The championship final was actually a two-game affair with Prince Albert claiming the first end of the event with a 17-2 decision in Swift Current on Saturday.
Cudmore was the catalyst in the first game scoring four times and setting up four others while Ryley Prediger also had a four-goal effort in that victory. Cole Barmby added three tallies while single markers came from Owen Bear, Tucker Proedahl, Sawyer Elphinstone, Sam Cooper, Bennett Acorn and Talon Sandry.
While he didn’t score any goals on Sunday, Cudmore registered six assists to help push the Predators over the top. Chase Lehner and Sandry were the scoring stars in the final game with each netting four goals while Prediger had a pair. Rowan Rudderham, Braden Shewchuk, Barmby, Bear, Cooper and Acorn rounded out the scoring with one goal apiece.
For the Wolverines, Sunday’s performance was a marked improvement from the first game and head coach Kevin Schafer said he was proud of how his club responded.
“We had some short lapses, but we never quit,” said Schafer. “It’s a big testament to our team. Our motto all year was to never give up.”
The road to get to the championship series couldn’t have been more different as the Wolverines outscored the Winnipeg Blizzard 13-10 on Friday in one semi-final while the Predators were awarded a direct path to the final when the Moose Jaw Mustangs forfeited their semi-final match citing a lack of players willing to make the trip for a Thursday game in Prince Albert.
It was a year of cancellations and forefeitures for the Predators as the Weyburn Razorbacks also cited a lack of players as a reason to not to come to Prince Albert for a doubleheader in May. Then, just two weeks ago, the Predators had to announce that the MacDonald Cup event they were to host in August was cancelled due to a lack of entries. Ironically, it was just the Mustangs who had committed to competing at the event.
“There was a lot of stuff that was out of our control,” says Wells. “It’s nice to see the “P” (PGLL) still runs through Prince Albert. We’ve built a strong culture here and hopefully we can keep it going.”
The MacDonald Cup is presented to the champions of Western Canada and if it were still being staged the Predators would be trying to win that for a third straight year. While disappointed the season is now over, Wells did admit that having a summer off will be a nice change.
While the PGLL’s Junior Division went according to plan with the top two clubs meeting in the final, the same can not be said for the Senior Division as the Winnipeg Blizzard surprised the first-place Saskatoon Brewers 15-5 in the championship final on Saturday. To get to that game the Blizzard had to go to Fort Qu’Appelle on Friday where they outscored the Standing Buffalo Fighting Sioux 11-9 while the Brewers had a bye to the gold-medal game.
Prince Albert’s entry in the senior circuit, the Outlaws, had failed to qualify for the post-season after going 2-8-0 in the regular season.
The lights are now out for the box lacrosse season and it will be interesting to see how things look next spring when leagues start up once again. For now, however, the Predators have a lot to be proud of.
