St. Catharines ShockWave Preview
Chris and Mike Attwood are very different players, but both of the brothers bring valuable experience and contributions to the first ever St. Catharines ShockWave roster, announced today ahead of the team's opening game at 4pm Saturday as part of the Arena Lacrosse League's Showcase Event Launch at the Tribute Communities Centre in Oshawa.
Chris Attwood was the Canadian Lacrosse League's all-time leading scoring, putting up 114 goals and 113 assists in 42 regular season games. He was the league's offensive player of the year in 2012 as he led the Ohsweken Demons to the first ever Creators Cup championship.
Mike Attwood started that season as a defender with the Iroquois Ironmen but reluctantly agreed to return to his former position between the pipes after the team gave up 55 goals in its first three games. While he may have preferred to remain a runner, he thrived back in net to the tune of being named CLax's first most valuable player.
The brothers who hail from St. Catharines were united by a midseason 2013 trade that brought Chris to the Ironmen and—with Mike back at defence—helped lead the Iroquois to an improbable championship after the team had to win its final two regular-season games just to clinch the sixth and final playoff spot in the seven-team league.
The ShockWave have plenty of other local flavour. Jr A Athletics star Jeff Wittig was the first draft pick in ALL history. He's joined by other Niagara area products including Justin Pychel, Jordan Houtby, and Dustin and Dylan Gatt.