The Prairie Gold Lacrosse League (PGLL) season is right around the corner and the Prince Albert Predators are hoping to win their third consecutive league title.
In an interview with the Daily Herald, Predators head coach Lucas Wells says the entire team is chomping at the bit for the upcoming season.
“I know the coaching staff is really excited. All the guys are really excited. Training camp is going to be a little bit different this year. We are an older team, a lot of guys are writing finals through the month of April here. So it’ll be a little bit different and be a little bit slower to start getting into things. But I do know that the guys are excited to get going and get back to the rink every other night. I’m looking forward to it.”
The Predators went undefeated in league play last season and took home the PGLL title at the Kinsmen Arena with a 16-5 win over the Swift Current Wolverines. It was the second straight season that Prince Albert had played Swift Current in the final after a dramatic 12-11 victory in Moose Jaw in 2023.
The PGLL will be adopting some new rule changes this season, in order to more closely reflect the ruleset played in the Rocky Mountain Lacrosse League (RMLL). Prince Albert played some games under the RMLL ruleset last season as they attempted to play for the Founders’ Cup for the first time in program history.
Wells says the new rule changes should speed up the game.
“Your most important ones are going to be the goalie who only has four seconds instead of five seconds (with the ball). You have eight seconds to get the ball over half whereas before you had on the 30 second shot clock. The third biggest one will be if you miss the net or miss a pass and it comes across half, it’s an automatic change of possession unless it’s knocked that way by a defending player. I would say it’s more similar to basketball. You’re going to see the game be sped up a little bit and you’re going to see the teams that can move the ball well and that are fast take control of the game quicker.”
One major change for the Predators this season will be in between the pipes. Mason Hawkes was a fixture for Prince Albert over the last two seasons and was named the PGLL’s most valuable player with a 3.71 Goals Against Average and an .882 save percentage last season.
With Hawkes aging out of the PGLL, Oliver Volek will look to shoulder a majority of the workload in the Predator crease.
Wells says Volek learned a lot last season in a backup role and should give Prince Albert a chance to win every night.
“He played behind Mason as a first-year midget. He took a lot of strides last year. He is obviously still young, still can be emotional, which is something we’re going to work on. But I don’t expect anybody to step in and be a Mason Hawkes. I’ve said for the last three years, he was the best goalie junior age in the province and it wasn’t close. I think if we can just get the saves we need to be made, the saves we need will be fine. I have all the confidence in the world in Oliver right now.”
With the inexperienced Volek in net, Wells says one area the Predators are going to have focus on this season to have success is limiting the opportunities for opponents.
“I think we’re going to have to lean on our defense a lot more this year. I still expect us to score a lot of goals, you still have those guys (from last year). Defensively, I think we’re going to have to play a more physical style, more fast paced in your face style of game just to help our younger goalie out. I think defensively, that’s where we’re going to have to shine this year.”
The Predators open the season on April 25 when they welcome the Saskatoon Swat to the Kinsmen Arena. Ball drop is scheduled for 8 p.m.
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