Hunters drafted to Arena Lacrosse
Courtesy Kanesatake Health Center
It has been a great year for the Kahnawake Hunters’ Junior B team, and things are continuing to look up for some of the players after their historic Founder’s Cup win this summer.
The Arena Lacrosse League (ALL) held its Eastern draft over the weekend, which saw four members of this past summer’s Hunters team get chosen: Owen Rice, Deeland Martin, Kasey Lahache, and Hawi Francis.
Rice (14th overall), Martin (22nd overall), and Lahache (54th overall) were all taken by the same team, the Paris RiverWolves. Francis was picked 84th overall by the Peterborough Timbermen.
“They are diehard lacrosse fanatics, nothing surprises me anymore with them. They’re all so determined. It’s nice to see that they’re reaching some of the goals that they set for themselves,” said David Rice, Owen’s father, about the Hunters who got drafted.
David said while this is just one step towards the possibility of playing in the National Lacrosse League (NLL), it’s still an exciting one to take.
“It’s something he’s passionate about, something he works weekly for,” said David.
He said the Hunters’ season and their players getting picked in the draft would not have happened without the hard work from the team’s coaches and ownership.
“A lot of parents find that the Hunters aren’t just a lacrosse team. It’s a lacrosse family,” said David.
“It’s something that everybody should be proud of, not just for the boys themselves, but for everything they’ve done for the boys to get to this level. It’s exciting to see.”
Goaltender Waukiigan Shogonosh, who played part of last season with the Hunters before moving to Junior A with the Peterborough Lakers, was picked second overall by the Ohsweken Bears. Kasey’s brother Kobe was also picked in the draft, going one spot before him, 53rd overall to the Six Nations Snipers.
The trio going to Paris will join a team that drafted another Hunters’ standout, Kaymen Diabo, last year and saw immediate results as he was their second leading scorer with 57 points in 10 games.
Jamie Dubrick, the RiverWolves’ general manager, said he followed Diabo during the summer as he played for the Hunters, where he had the opportunity to see what would become three of his three draft picks in action.
“Kaymen reached out to me and said some positive things about Owen, Deeland, and Kasey’s playing abilities,” said Dubrick. “The main thing was, they just want to play.”
Dubrick said the RiverWolves are going through a small rebuild as players move on to other things, which means adding two potentially strong offensive players and a quality goaltender who will have an opportunity to learn behind someone who has NLL experience will help the team a lot next season and beyond.
Dubrick, himself an NLL player once upon a time, said that Paris’ experienced coaching staff will be very helpful for these players’ development.
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“Our Paris RiverWolves team has sent over 20 players to the NLL in the past five seasons, and we have a lot of NLL practice roster players playing with us throughout the season as well,” said Dubrick.
The ALL East season will start in early December.
