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Irish Eyes (and Goalies) are Smiling
In the week following St. Patrick's Day most people wake up with a sore head, cursing the Irish, and ruing their bad decisions. The Victoria Shamrocks organization was doing quite the opposite in 2009; instead they were celebrating the luck of the Irish, the quick action of a couple of Ontario lacrosse teams, and curing their no goalie hangover.
Victoria goaltending consultant Larry Smeltzer was busy over the Christmas holidays searching back east for the answer to the 'Rocks goalie dilemma. "I was looking in the London/Windsor area for goalies because those regions seem to get ignored." Says Smeltzer, "I thought if I could get a couple of guys who have faced a ton of shots, bring them out, and put a good defense in front of them they would do just fine. I could tell right away both Adam and Greg were who the Shamrocks were looking for, they are quality guys who are willing to learn and thrilled to be here."
"It's always been a dream for me to come out west and play," says 19 year old Adam Hickey who came out from the Kitchener-Waterloo Jr 'A' Braves, "I like that it's a different city, and a different style of play. It's nice to see another side of lacrosse; back home it's way more faking and finesse, here guys are so much bigger and drive the net hard." In five Ontario Junior 'A' appearances, Hickey posted 128 minutes with a 6.53 GAA; he knows playing out west for the Shamrocks will be a completely different ball game. "Seeing what Victoria did last year in the BC league and then finishing as the runner up for the Minto, made me so excited to come out here. Both Greg and I want to help them win a repeat performance on the championship, and we would love to win the Minto Cup especially since it's being held back home."
Sharing the duty with Hickey between the iron for Victoria is Greg Krstic from Windsor. "Even though he (Hickey) is two years younger, he has more Junior 'A' experience than I do." says Krstic, "I was stuck in the Junior 'B' circuit (Sarnia Pacers) back there, and out of the blue I get the call to come out here, when I heard they were bringing another Ontario kid too, I was pretty excited."
Both Krstic and Hickey have hockey backgrounds, making them quick on the ball and willing to jump in on the play. "We are both pretty agile and interactive," says Krstic when asked what his strengths are, "we've noticed out here a lot of goalies are stand up, where we like to get in there and help out our teammates, it helps us get into the game too." Their hockey experience and enthusiasm to jump in on plays was just another bonus for Smeltzer. "With the nets going larger this year, it's a perfect time to bring in two new goalies. Some guys around the BC league who depend on their size will be out of luck this season, having guys that are quick on lateral movements will be such an asset to our team."
Both goalies have their first starts of the regular season out of the way; Hickey getting the season opener nod versus the Timbermen, getting an assist only allowing six goals; Krstic made 51 saves in a 12-11 win against Delta the very next night on the mainland. "From the looks of it we will split the duties until one of us really blows it," says Krstic with a laugh, giving Hickey a shot in the arm, "that's not going to happen though, so we will have to share."
Submitted by Jen Mutas
League Reporter
jmutas@bcjunioralacrosse.com
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Around The League With Jen - Archives
2010 Articles
July 28, 2010 - (Finals—What To Expect)
July 16, 2010 - (Round Two—What To Expect)
July 10, 2010 - (Playoffs—What To Expect)
June 24, 2010 - (Prospects Game)
April 30, 2010 - (Beat This)
April 19, 2010 - (New Coaches A'Plenty)
2009 Articles
July 30, 2009 - (Getting to the Good Stuff Faster)
July 1, 2009 - (Prospects Success)
May 13, 2009 - (National Rankings)
April 26, 2009 - (Shamrocks pluck two netminders from Ontario)
February 9, 2009 - (2009 Midget Draft Report)
2008 Articles
August 23, 2008 - (Fans Have Say)
June 9, 2008 - (Mid Season)
May 2008 - (Month One)
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