The Montreal Express

By Ted Montour

The Montreal Express materialized from some pretty imaginative management on the part of the NLL.

    
With Brad Watters in the hunt for another franchise after a successful debut by Ottawa, and the Landsharks in trouble after a shaky start in Columbus, New York Saints' owners Mike Gongas and Charlie Russo joined the mix. The result was expansion to Montreal, with local owners and management by Watters, Columbus in the hands of Gongas and Russo, and last year's 'sharks roster divided between the two, mostly to Montreal.

Watters signed Terry Sanderson to be the new Montreal Head Coach and General Manager, after he left his twin posting with the Albany Attack. Sanderson, a sporting goods store owner from Orangeville, coached the Brampton Excelsiors of the Ontario Lacrosse Association (OLA) Senior Major Series to the Mann Cup national finals this summer (losing to the Coquitlam Adanacs, and yes, that's the plural of Canada spelled backward).



Joe Hiltz in Baltimore and Washington
          

Sanderson went right to work. He took Washington Power veteran Joe Hiltz of Peterborough (who led his hometown OLA Sr. Lakers in scoring this season with 26 goals and 51 assists, 4th in the league) with his first pick in the seventh round of the expansion draft, and later grabbed Defender Shawn Zettel and Forward Jason Tassé from the Rebel.





Tassé would return to Ottawa, going with Attacker Mike Benedict Jr. in trade for Bruce Alexander, who in turn was sent to Calgary for '02 and '03 entry draft selections. Drafting for the future, the newly named Express would not see any of their '01 entry selections make this year's roster. However, in a major move in early November, Sanderson traded his 1st and 2nd round '02 draft choices to the Bandits for veteran Forward Ted Dowling of Victoria, where he led the Western Lacrosse Association (WLA) and the Shamrocks to an undefeated regular season (19-0-1) with 33 goals and 62 assists in 15 games (a scoring average of 6.33 points per game).


Curtis Palidwor

Holdovers from Columbus include Goaltender Curtis Palidwor, an original 'shark draft choice, Defenders Bruce Codd and Brad McArthur (also a top draw-man), and Forwards Matt Giles, Aime Caines, Jason Henhawk of the Six Nations OLA Jr. Arrows, and 2001 NLL Rookie of the Year Tracy Kelusky, who would be appointed Express Captain.


The Express will start Palidwor in goal, backed up by Montreal native Alain Lalumière. On defence, in addition to Codd, McArthur and Zettel, free agents Shawn Parnell and Scott Forbes can expect to see a lot of action. Out the front door, Kelusky and Dowling will be ably supported by Giles, who led team-mate Hiltz's Peterborough Lakers this summer with 34 goals, and Caines, who played for "Turk" (as Sanderson was known in his playing days, which included a stint with the Québec Caribou of the old NLL in the 70's) in Brampton.

Sanderson is known for his system defences, which demand precision and execution in addition to individual aggressiveness, and, with a core of Montreal players already familiar with that system, the Express can be expected to play tough against every opposing attack. What he has in Montreal, that he did not in Albany, is a more varied offence. While Kelusky and Dowling are expected to lead, Hiltz and Giles will also generate scoring opportunities, and, if he can crack the starting line-up, Henhawk could add some surprises with his high-velocity shooting.


     
The Molson Centre


     
Captain Tracey Kelusky

Montreal lines up in the NLL Central Division, along with Albany, Buffalo, Columbus, and heavily favoured Rochester. Molson Centre (capacity 21,273, largest in the League) fans can expect hard-fought battles, akin to family feuds, with the Attack and Landsharks, and some defensive heroics versus the high-powered Bandits and Knighthawks.



The Express will spend the other half of their season in home-and-home series with the entire Northern Division, starting the Roughnecks. This all means at least six games against contenders, but four more with other expansion clubs and two with fellow 'hybrid' Columbus, plus only two trips outside their time zone.

The Montreal Express start their inaugural season with an NLL-experienced coach, and a relatively favourable schedule. If their stars stay healthy, if the defence executes Sanderson's high-intensity system consistently, and if the potent offence can score and control the ball enough to give the defenders sufficient rest, they could finish at the head of the 2001-02 NLL expansion class.


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GAMES SO FAR:

Montreal at Calgary, 11/24 (32-17 Montreal)


MONTREAL SWEEPS WEEK 2 AWARDS:

OFFENSE: Forward Tracey Kelusky - Six Goals and Five Assists for ElevenPoints against Calgary.

DEFENSE: Defenseman Bruce Codd - Twelve Loose Balls, Two Goals and ThreeAssists for Five Points against Calgary.

ROOKIE: Defenseman Zac Aitken - One goal and Five Assists for Six Points against Calgary.

OVERALL PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Forward Tracey Kelusky - Six Goals and Five Assists for ElevenPoints against Calgary.







The 2002 Montreal Express Web Site!



11/27/01

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