It’s shaping up to be another extremely strong lacrosse season for the
junior B Lloydminster Xtreme.
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Reflective of their winning pedigree, the Xtreme are off to a 6-0 start in the North Division of the Rocky Mountain Lacrosse League’s junior B Tier 2 category.
“I don’t expect us to lose many games, if any at all,” said coach Graham Murray, whose club has been riding a medal streak in recent Alberta provincial championships.
A crane operator by day, Murray has a good read on how big a lift it might be for the 21-and-under Lloyd contingent to go all the way this summer.
“We lost by a goal last year in the provincial final,” he said. “Won bronze the year before that, and silver before that. We’re kind of gearing up for gold this year.
“I absolutely think we do (have the personnel to prevail). I mean, we only lost three players from last year’s team, and we’ve added some great
rookies.”
The Xtreme practise and play out of Hillmond Redden Arena, where they posted two victories on Mother’s Day weekend. They topped the Red Deer Renegades 6-1 on May 11, the day after defeating the Sylvan Lake Yetti 15-2 in Lloyd’s home-opener.
“In my opinion, Sylvan Lake is the second-best team in our division,” said Murray, the Xtreme coach for 12 years. “I think it’s going to be us and them come the championship for the North. We put up 15 on them (in one) of the best efforts and games that we’ve had all year. Just a total team effort where we just dominated them from start to finish. It was awesome to see and to be a part of.
“We maybe regressed a little bit on the Sunday against Red Deer but still came out with the victory. It’s great.”
PLAMONDON RIGHT ON
Just as he does on the ice with the Lloydminster Bandits junior B hockey team, Xtreme veteran Jayden Plamondon provides plenty of offence for his lacrosse team. Already in this young season, Plamondon has 15 goals and
32 points in six games and sits one point behind North leader Brandon McNalley of the St. Albert-based Crude.
“Jayden has been one of the top scorers in the league the last three years,” Murray said of Plamondon, one of the Xtreme’s assistant captains. “He’s a great leader for us, and with the junior B Bandits as well.
“He’s off to a tremendous start and I doubt he’ll slow down throughout. I would say he’s going to be one of the top guys in the league come the end, for point totals. He’s had success throughout (his junior B career). He’s a goal-scorer in hockey as well, and he’s scored even more for us. Goals and assists, he’s getting it all over.”
Owen Hill is the Xtreme captain, and his assistants are Plamondon, Jace Gunderson and Brady Gamble.
“Owen is just a leader on and off the floor,” Murray said about Hill, an assistant last year. “He says what needs to be said, but again, leads by example.”
Gunderson is one of Plamondon’s teammates with the Bandits, too, and has played with the Xtreme for multiple seasons, all the way back to his days as an affiliated player.
Gamble is the youngest member of the captaincy group. This past winter, he captained his hockey team, the U18 AAA Lloydminster Lancers. After signing with the junior A Bobcats, he hopes to graduate to the AJHL team on a full-time basis for the coming season.
“A phenomenal lacrosse player and a phenomenal kid,” Murray said of the 18-year-old Gamble. “I don’t have a bad thing to say about him.
“Brady is an assistant captain on our team and he’s one of the younger guys. He brings it every single night. I never have to talk to him about his effort. His effort level is through the roof. It’s not hard to see why he succeeds in almost everything he does.”
For the Xtreme, the competitiveness begins during their Tuesday night practices, with an abundant roster of players jockeying for a berth in the next gameday lineup.
“In years past, we’ve had issues with commitment, but so far (this season) we’re actually carrying a roster of 24 guys, so every game we’ve got to scratch four guys,” Murray said. “It raises everybody’s effort level. Every game is essentially a tryout for when the games really matter. It’s going to be those 20 guys that get to play come playoffs and in the championship round.”
HILLMOND HOME
The Xtreme finish their 16-game regular season on the second weekend of July. Provincials are set for Calgary on the August long weekend.
As mandated by the league, no games were scheduled for the May long weekend. The next action for the Xtreme is a two-game homestand this weekend in Hillmond. They face St. Albert at 3 p.m. Saturday and the Sherwood Park Titans at 1 p.m. Sunday.
Hillmond is most familiar territory for Murray, who has just retired from playing senior AA hockey with the Hillmond Hitmen. He grew up in Ontario, where he played junior B lacrosse before moving to Western Canada.
He said the Hillmond community has embraced the Xtreme for three years. Most of the players are from Lloydminster, along with three from Wainwright, two from Vermilion and one from Maidstone.
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