The Ottawa Rebel: An Uphill Climb

By Josh Blumenthal

When the Toronto Rock secured their second straight first place finish with a 25-11 win in Syracuse on April 14th the loss left the last place Smash 1-11, with the worst record in the three-year history of the team.

    

A history peppered with only 6 wins in 36 tries since joining the National Lacrosse League in 1998, consistently low attendance figures and scant few draft choices this year to lift them from the depths, was about to take a northward turn. The team was sold and moved to Ottawa. The Ottawa Rebels, which are owned by Brad Watters, the son of Toronto Rock owner Bill Watters, will play out of the Corel Centre along with the Ottawa Senators of the NHL. The Rebel will be assisted with their marketing by the Ottawa Senators too. It is rumored that the investment group actually includes the Ottawa Senators organization and possibly even Canadian beer giant, Molson.

While the roster for the Rebel won't be more clear until the opening of camp this Saturday, the management team is in place, including their Head Coach and General Manager Mark Vitarelli from Peterborough. Vitarelli, who was the assistant coach for Pat Donahue's Syracuse Smash, is well respected around the league as a tough competitor. "I don't like to lose, I'll tell you that," Vitarelli stated. Vitarelli played junior lacrosse as a teen and major series lacrosse in Ottawa for a year before getting into coaching. He has coached 9 or more junior championships and a number of senior championships. He is known as a teaching coach and a players' coach. Vitarelli brings in his brother Lee, also from Peterborough, and Gerard Cowie from Ottawa as his assistants.



The Corel Centre

The Rebel will open up their training camp on November 4th and will welcome back members from the Syracuse franchise, draftees, and invitees from the states and eastern Canada. On the 11th another camp will be held for the same group and then the western players like Stars Del Halladay and Bruce Alexander and draftees Jake Lawson and Jamie Roy will join the narrowed down squad for practices. Mark Vitarelli thinks the camps will be very competitive, "We're going to have a bunch of guys who are good, solid lacrosse players."

Halladay, who led the team in goals with 29 and in points with 49 last season, will be more prepared to take charge in 2001. The leadership role was thrust on him mid-season last year as Paul Gait and Mark Millon were dealt to Pittsburgh and Philly. Alexander, Eric Seremet, and the Fay Brothers, Ed and John will have their work cut out for them to reverse their fortunes in a tight league. Assistant coach Lee Vitarelli told E-Lacrosse that he thinks that the difference between the best and the worst team in the NLL isn't so great, but with a limited pool of talent left outside of the league and the parity of talent coming in through the draft, making up the difference can be very difficult. "In theory there's not a bad team or a bad player in the league" He says, "If we can manage this group carefully and do it right, we might be able to move up in this tough league. We have to be better and we intend to be better. But it's a tough league to break into."


A large portion of the players in the Rebel camp will be from Canada. The western players joining the team after the 11th are all Canadians, including #1 draft choice Jason Lawson from Nanaimo, on Vancouver Island.


Lawson, who helped the Limestone Saints win the Div II National Championship in 2000, also played for the Maple Ridge Burrards of the Western Lacrosse Association in British Columbia this summer.


Limestone wins the D II Championship
Jason Lawson is in there somewhere

He scored 13 goals and had 21 assists in 11 games played for the Burrards. Lee Vitarelli likes Lawson's game, "He's a big west coast kid and an offensive ball player who follows the ball to the net very well. It's a big jump to this league but we think he can do it."

The Rebel chose Duke's Nick Hartofilis with their second pick, the 32nd pick overall, on the recommendation of many field coaches in the US. Lee Vitarelli says that Hartofilis and Johns Hopkins' A.J. Haugen were the two Americans they were interested in and they were lucky to have Nick still available after sitting out the second and third rounds, having traded those picks.



Hartofilis' other sport

Hartofilis, out of St. Anthony's High School in Huntington, New York, is one of the few easterners that won't be in camp on Saturday. He is attending the Major League Lacrosse combines in Orlando, Florida and fulfilling his last year of eligibility with the Duke football program. The wide receiver has 20 catches in 8 games for 222 yards and 1 touchdown.


Other draft choices include Jamie Roy from the Victoria Shamrocks Junior club, Peterborough Junior Kyle Laverty, Mississauga Senior Cory Leigh and Bryden Denyes of the Nepian Knights in the OLA Junior B league. Roy and Laverty still have a year of eligibility left in the junior leagues at age 20. Denyes is a local player. "If Bryden can make the club, he'll be a great draw for us," says Vitarelli. Roy joined the Shamrocks Senior squad in this year's Mann cup championship and picked up some invaluable experience playing with a number of pros in the losing effort.

         
Derek Collins         

Andrew Leyshon from Port Coquitlam is a top goalkeeper in the junior leagues but needs senior experience before he can challenge veteran Derek Collins who finished with the NLL's 6th best save percentage last season.


The Rebel have already launched a team website at www.ottawarebel.com on which fans can learn about the players and staff, purchase tickets and see pictures as well. In addition the Rebel have already gone out into the community to promote their team, making an appearance at a recent Ottawa Senators game during intermission.


E-Lacrosse quality logo gear is a great Holiday Gift!


The 2000-2001 rock season will in the state of the art Corel Centre open against in country rival Toronto Rock. How could a new team in a new city have a rival already? The two time champion rock are only a 4 ½ hour drive from Ottawa. They are also the only other Canadian team in the NLL. But most importantly, they beat the Syracuse Smash 6 times in 6 chances and Vitarelli's bunch didn't lose their memory when they crossed the border.



The Ottawa Rebel Shockwave Site!



11/3/00

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