Lacrosse Legends

Al Luciuk - S2 Al Luciuk is known for his involvement in many areas in growing the game. He is a builder of field lacrosse in Saskatchewan and has worked at all levels of the game: locally, provincially, nationally and internationally. Al has taken skills learned as a professional teacher and brought them to benefit lacrosse. He has served for 15 years as the President of the Saskatoon Field Lacro...

Joanne Stanga - Season 2 Joanne Stanga is one of the important women who helped to build Canadian Women’s Field Lacrosse. She was the Head Coach and Assistant Coach of Senior and U19 National Teams for a 10 year period going back to 1993. She coached the Ontario Senior and Junior Teams beginning in 1990 through 2005, and coached locally in Orillia as well. Joanne shared her knowledge of the game a...

Tewanee Joseph - Season 2 Tewanee Joseph was born in North Vancouver with a unique ancestry – half Squamish Nation and half Maori from New Zealand. Growing up on a Squamish reserve, Tewanee used his love of sports and natural athleticism to survive the rough-and-tumble challenges of reserve life. Playing lacrosse, soccer and basketball he earned the respect of many. As a teenager, Tewanee became c...

Donald Barrie - Season 2 Don started playing as a nine year old in 1949 in Peterborough. He played minor lacrosse in Peterborough, senior lacrosse in Brooklin, Peterborough, Sorel , Montreal ,Quebec City and Hastings. He started coaching in the Peterborough minor system in 1960, winning 10 Ontario titles and went on to coach Junior A lacrosse in Peterborough in 1970, 1971 and 1977. He advanced to...

Welcome to Season 2 of The Lacrosse Legends Podcast Series Russ Sheppard Russ was introduced to lacrosse in Saskatchewan through master coach Al Luciuk. He played some senior men’s lacrosse and began coaching youth in 1995. He moved to Nunavut as a teacher in 1998 and began the Kugluktuk Grizzlies lacrosse program in 1999. Soon after, he formed Nunavut Lacrosse. The journey of his program and the...

Dwight Maetche was born in Edmonton and was recruited to play goal for the BC Jr. League Burnaby Cablevision. He was a Western Lacrosse Association (WLA) all-star in 1980 and ’81. Maetche played 24 WLA seasons from 1982 to 2007 with the Vancouver Burrards, North Shore/Okanagan, and Victoria. He is a seven-time WLA all-star, the WLA’s top goaltender five times, and was MVP in 1988. In 378 league an...

Robert Hanna was inducted into the Ontario Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 1997 as a player for Toronto and Jim Bishop. He won the Merv McKenzie MVP Trophy in the 1967 senior “A” series and was a member of Pro Lacrosse Detroit in 1968. Hanna was also a Mann Cup finalist for three of four consecutive years between 1964 and 1967.

NAME: William “Whitey” Frick INDUCTED: 1997 TEAM: St. Catharines POSITION: Builder – COACH & BUILDER OVER 35 YEARS – ST. CATHARINES OLD BOY’S ASSOCIATION 30 YEARS – MAYOR’S AWARD OF MERIT 1992 William "Whitey" Frick of St. Catharines excelled at lacrosse. He was inducted into the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 1999. Frick played forward, defense as well as goal in his career. Frick was the goal...

Russ Heard was a stellar lacrosse player whose career spanned over 20 years in Jr. A, WLA and the NLL. In the WLA, Heard scored more than 1,000 points, was three times WLA scoring leader, and was twice elected League MVP. In 1993 he set five WLA playoff scoring records, including scoring 6 goals in one period. In 2000, he won an NLL Champions Cup with the Toronto Rock. In 2013, the Burnaby Lakers...

Jim Brady - Inducted CLHOF: 1998 Team: Whitby / St. Catharines Position: Builder – Minto Cup Championship Teams 1980, 90, 91, 97. – OLA JR.”A” Coach of the Year 1984, 89, 98. – Teams under his direction have amassed over 475 wins James "Jim" Brady has had a long and distinguished role in the development of lacrosse in Whitby and southern Ontario. He first organized and ran the Lacrosse program for...

Dave Durante - Colourful nicknames have followed Dave Durante throughout his two decade lacrosse career: Dave the Magnificent, Dandy Dave and Dave the Dude; all adorned him as well as one of his tailored silk suits, but sobriquets notwithstanding, he has always been a winner. Few, if any, players can boast victories in lacrosse’s four major championships. He took part in 9 Mann Cup series, winning...

Gordon Gimple Gord Gimple played on Minto Cup championship teams in 1954 and 1956 before graduating to Senior. One of the few players who was effective shooting from either side; he scored 540 goals and 417 assists in his 11-year career. He was the winner of the Maitland Trophy a record-breaking 6 times and a member of the ICLL all-star team 8 times. He coached the Coquitlam and Portland Adanacs.

Tom Parker - Manitoba Tom began playing lacrosse at Kelvin Community Centre when he was 18 years old . Since the early 1960s, he has played a major role in the promotion, development and growth of the sport of lacrosse in Manitoba. In 1961, Tom took over as player-coach of the Fort Rouge Olympic Lacrosse Club. He later went on to capture four Winnipeg Senior Box Lacrosse League championships: in 1...

Morley Kells was born in Midland, Ontario in 1936. He was raised in Mimico in the southern part of Etobicoke in west Toronto, Ontario. He was a lacrosse player from 1954 to 1961. In 1955, Kells became a Minto Cup champion with the Canadian Junior Lacrosse Long Branch team. He worked as a coach in the 1960s and 1970s, and started the semi-professional Ontario Lacrosse Association in 1972. In 1974-7...

William K.C. "Casey" Cook was born in The Hague, Holland in 1945 and his family moved to Burnaby, BC in 1950. He graduated from Burnaby Central high school and played his junior lacrosse in Coquitlam, played up for the senior Adanacs in 1966 and 1967, and played 14 games of Senior for Coquitlam. In 1969 he joined the New Westminster Blues of the Inter-City amateur league and also played for the Sa...

Al Lewthwaite was a giant on the lacrosse floor in stature, strength and talent. But like Achilles of mythical antiquity, Big Al Lewthwaite had his weakness: a battered knee that hobbled his career. Born in New Westminster on October 15, 1950, Lewthwaite developed his box lacrosse skills in the Royal City’s Sapperton district, but by age 15 he was considered too big to continue playing at the Juve...

Wayne and Ed Goss Wayne Goss: Wayne excelled at all aspects of lacrosse from goal scoring and play making to penalty killing and face-offs. Between 1968 and 1981, Goss scored 812 goals, added 1,040 assists, and amassed 1,852 points in 465 games. He held 41 WLA scoring and faceoff records and shared 4 others. Goss was named Rookie of the Year in 1968, league MVP 4 times (1969-71, 1975) and playoff...

Barb Cormier INDUCTED OLHoF: 2007 TEAM: Etobicoke POSITION: Builder It was for the love of the game and the benefit of all children of Etobicoke that she donated 25 plus years to Mimico Minor Lacrosse. – Acted as main Administrator and Fundraiser along with Ruby Lang (previously inducted). – Created new House League program and served on many boards and committees. – Received OLA Presidents Award....

Paul Parnell was born March 28, 1938, in Peterborough, Ontario. He began playing lacrosse in Peterborough and played 2 seasons of Senior for Peterborough in 1958 & 59. In 1960 he joined the Victoria Shamrocks for 1 season. In 1961 he joined the Salmonbellies and won 5 Mann Cups. He was selected to the ICLL/WLA all-star team in 14 of his 15 years with New Westminster, and retired in 1975 holding 23...

Jack Fulton Sr. (New Westminster, B.C.) Jack got involved in lacrosse in 1955. For 11 years, he served as team manager, then as general manager, for the New Westminster Salmonbellies. He was with the Canadian Lacrosse Association for 8 years and was president for 2 years. Fulton and Harry McKnight founded the CLHOF in 1963. He was a member of the CLHOF’s board of governors and served as chair for...

Alfred Jacques - "The Stick Maker" - Ontario Hall of Fame Inductee Alf grew up in the world of lacrosse and learned the art of making lacrosse sticks from his father and fellow Inductee Louis Jacques. – Played Junior, Senior and Professional lacrosse in the 60’s and 7O’s. – Coached and managed the Onondaga Red Hawks from 2002 to 2010. – In 2005, 2006 & 2010 coached the Red Hawks to the league cham...

Bobby Allan (Peterborough, Ontario) In his heyday, Bobby Allan was in a class by himself, the finest lacrosse player in Canada. His consummate skill, agility and adroitness in faking a move made him one-of-a-kind. His backhand shot was a prototype move. Allan won three scoring titles, three league MVP awards, and the Mike Kelly Award in 1964 as the most valuable player in the Mann Cup. His record...

George “Jeep” Woolley – Manitoba Started playing lacrosse with the Deer Lodge Hornets under the direction of Tom O’Brien. After capturing numerous minor league titles, Jeep went on to play Junior for the Winnipeg Wellingtons. Based on his play with the Wellingtons, Jeep was selected to play for Manitoba All stars against the BC All Stars for the Western Canadian championship. After winning the ope...

George “Potsy” Burrows – Involved in lacrosse since 1926 at the age of 8 and is still involved today 84 years later. – His involvement in the game has ranged from being a goaltender for Brampton in Minor Field to Senior Box, a referee for over 20 years and a longtime Director of the Brampton Excelsior Lacrosse Club. – Instrumental in starting the Lakeshore Lacrosse League with Jim Clevely and Bill...

Born in 1936, Harry started playing lacrosse at Kelvin Community Club at age twelve after buying an old beat up wooden lacrosse stick from the neighbour across the lane. He fell in love with the game and spent countless hours practicing to throw and catch at the club or at a Safeway parking lot down the street from where he lived. He was picked up by a senior league team in 1955, and, in 1955, 56,...