Bad timing has cost the Burnaby Lakers their starting goalie and perhaps a lot more than that.
Burnaby’s starting goalie Tyler Richards announced his retirement from the game on Friday – just three days before the Lakers’ season opener against the Maple Ridge Burrards on Sunday, leaving a big hole for the Western Lacrosse Association club to fill.
Richards, who played seven seasons in the National Lacrosse League with the Vancouver Stealth franchise, cited ongoing concussions as the reason for hanging up his stick.
The 28-year-old goalie also played six seasons with the New Westminster Salmonbellies of the WLA, including a rookie of the year debut in 2008 and two goaltender of the year honours, before being dealt to the Lakers for two first-round draft picks prior to the 2014 season.
“We’re in a bit of a bind here,” said Lakers’ general manager Paul Rowbotham on Sunday.
The abrupt departure of one of the league’s top goaltenders left the Lakers without a bona fide starter to begin what was expected to be a promising season for the Burnaby franchise.
Earlier this year, Burnaby dealt goalie Dan Lewis, the Minto Cup hero for the Coquitlam junior Adanacs in 2010, for the playing rights to former junior Laker defender Brad Richardson in a one-for-one swap in February.
The senior A Lakers finished last season with Richards in goal with a league record of 11-7-0, finishing runner-up to the regular-season and playoff champion Victoria Shamrocks.
In 2013, Burnaby placed third at 10-8-0 after making it back to the playoffs a season earlier after three seasons out of the post season, including back-to-back seasons in last place and just two wins in 2009.
Rowbotham said the Lakers were caught off guard by Richards’ announcement.
Earlier this year, Burnaby put Joe Bell back on the club’s active roster after a season in the West Coast senior B league. The Lakers also have Mike Lowe from Langley to help fill in.
But Richards is not the only Laker loss this year.
Alex Gajic, who was picked up in a multi-player trade with New West that sent Colton Clark to the Salmonbellies, has also retired due to health reasons. Defenders Patrick Corrigan and transition runner T.J. Cowx will also not be playing this season.
Burnaby has brought in Brandon Parnham, a player from Barrie Lakeshore from the Ontario league, to fill one of those spots.
The Lakers are also currently scouring the east in the hopes of picking up an unattached goalie, said Rowbotham.
In his NLL career, Richards appeared in three Champions Cup finals, including the team's 2010 cup run.
Drafted in the fourth round in 2007, Richards holds the franchise record of eight playoff wins and posted 33 regular season wins – second-best in club history. He surpassed Rob Blasdell for most saves with 2,576 last year.
This season, Richards became just the 13th goalie to record 3,000 career regular season saves. He also scored his first career NLL goal in a 21-15 win at home over Minnesota on Feb. 28
He was also the Stealth franchise leader amongst goalies in games and minutes played. He shared a gold medal with Team Canada in the World indoor lacrosse championships in 2011.
