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The road through Langley leads to Mann Cup

If the regular season is any indication, we're in for a long Western Lacrosse Association playoff final. The matchup between the Langley Thunder and the three-time defending B.C. champions is an intriguing one.

If the regular season is any indication, we're in for a long Western Lacrosse Association playoff final.

The matchup between the Langley Thunder and the three-time defending B.C. champions is an intriguing one.

Langley, third-place finishers with an 8-8-2 record, swept league runner-up Victoria in straight games in its semifinal.

The New Westminster Salmonbellies had a spot of trouble with Maple Ridge before getting by the Burrards in five games following an 8-5 win at home last Thursday.

The Thunder have never won a B.C. senior A playoff final in any of its former incarnations since breaking into the league as the North Shore Indians back in 1994.

New Westminster has been stuck on an unprecedented 24 Mann Cups and has desperately thirsted for more than a decade for that all-elusive 25th Canadian championship title.

With the incentive of hosting the national senior A championships at home, both teams do not need much to get themselves ready for a series that many believe could go the distance.

The one factor in New Westminster's favour is experience.

In fact, the Thunder franchise has only ever been to two WLA finals - back-to-back losses to Victoria in 1996 and again in '97.

The club moved to Kelowna as the Okanagan Thunder in 2001 but returned to North Shore after two unsuccessful seasons.

In 2004, it became the Langley Thunder but only ever made the playoffs once since then in 2009, when it was swept 4-0 in the semifinals by the same New Westminster Salmonbellies.

On Wednesday, the Thunder gets perhaps its best chance at a little payback.

In three league games this season, Langley arguably matched up as well or better than any other WLA team against the Salmonbellies, winning one game in late June and losing an earlier contest by a single goal in overtime. In both those games, WLA rookie of the year Brodie MacDonald was a standout for the Thunder.

There are also nine players on the Langley club that have played at one time of another in the Salmonbellies red, white and blue, including playoff goal-scoring leader Athan Iannucci.

Along the back end are former junior Salmonbellie captain Jarrett Toll, rookie Rob Danilkiewicz and sophomore phenom Brett Mydske alongside the dependable 6-3 Mike Grimes.

New Westminster finished up the regular season losing three games and tying just one in its final four league games before winning its fourth title in five years.

But while the Salmonbellies eliminated the Maple Ridge Burrards in five games, New Westminster looked far from the juggernaut it has been in recent years.

Jordan Hall has seen the floor just four times this year for the 'Bellies, while the Gajic brothers, captain Nenad and Ilija, have been nursing injuries.

"We're just going to do what the coaches say, play hard and if we do that, we're going to be fine. We're going to be successful," said righthander Jordan McBride, who shares the team's playoff goal-scoring lead with Cliff Smith, both with eight goals.

But how much of that disappointing 2009 Mann Cup memory of Game 7 still lingers in the minds of the Salmonbellies who were there, may play a factor in the outcome of the B.C. series.

"This is the time of year we want to get better," McBride said. "We have to give it all we got, and if we do that, we'll meet our goal."

That goal, not surprisingly, is a Mann Cup.

The B.C. final begins at Queen's Park Arena Wednesday, beginning at 7:45 p.m.