In what was a meteoric rise and a franchise-first Western Lacrosse Association regular season title, the Burnaby Lakers could call 2017 as a breakthrough season.
By the list of award winners announced this week, the league’s board of governors soundly agree.
Robert Church and Eric Penney carted off two of the biggest prizes handed out on the individual side of the ledger. Two other teammates joined them in the honour circle as Burnaby players were front-and-centre when it came to hardware.
Church was named the Commission Trophy Most Outstanding Player recipient, as voted by the WLA’s board of governors, while Penney picked up the Leo Nicholson Memorial Trophy as Outstanding Goaltender.
Both were voted to the WLA’s first all-star team, joining teammates Eli McLaughlin and Justin Salt.
Church, the Lakers captain, counted 29 goals and 36 assists in just 13 games, after playing a large role in the National Lacrosse League’s Saskatchewan Rush’s run to that league’s championship final. In his fifth year with the club, the Coquitlam native saw Burnaby jump from fourth overall to first, with a 12-5-1 record. Unfortunately that success didn’t translate to a league playoff final berth, after Victoria edged them in seven games in the semifinals.
Church and McLaughlin finished second and third, respectively, in the league’s scoring race, behind Victoria’s Corey Small. McLaughlin scored 30 goals and 36 assists over 17 games, including a league-leading five shorthand tallies. He added 18 points in the playoffs.
Penney was the circuit’s Most Outstanding Goaltender for the second time in three years, having won it as a rookie in 2015 with New West. Burnaby acquired him in a deal this past spring after the ’Bellies inked ex-Laker Tye Belanger.
In Penney’s first year in Laker green, the Rexdale, Ont. native posted a league-best 7.02 goals against average and .856 save percentage. He finished with an 8-2 record and started all seven of the club’s playoff games.
Church, Penney, McLaughlin and Salt anchor the first all-star team, joined by New West defender Brett Mydske and Small.
Entering his sixth season in Burnaby, Salt continued to be a foundational player on a backline that limited the opposition to just 141 goals. He also contributed 10 goals and seven assists over 13 games, after joining the squad from the Vancouver Stealth.
While they outlasted Maple Ridge, New West and Victoria in a battle for top spot during the regular season, the Lakers saw their season end in a seven-game showdown with the Shamrocks.
While Nanaimo’s Chase Fraser was a deserving recipient in the vote for the Ed Bayley Memorial Rookie of the Year award, a strong argument could be made for Burnaby’s Cam Milligan.
The Peterborough, Ont. native and former Delta junior Islander was chosen in the third round at last February’s WLA draft but emerged as a great source of secondary scoring. The 22-year-old finished fourth with 16 goals and 35 assists over 17 games.
He wasn’t the only family member who made an impact in Burnaby, as Jim Milligan – Cam’s dad – may have been tough to beat in the WLA’s coach-of-the-year discussion after piloting the hard-done-by franchise into the top group before being unceremoniously ousted by Laker governor Ed Safarik with just three games remaining in the regular season.
The WLA selected Nanaimo’s Kaleb Toth as the top coach, after the former sniper helped guide his squad to within six points of the playoffs.
