Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame Announces 2017 Inductees

Canadian Lacrosse Association  – The Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame is proud to announce its 2017 class of inductees, made up of five players, two builders, and one team.

 

These new inductees bring the total number honoured in lacrosse’s national shrine to 521 – 153 Builders, 316 Players and 52 Veterans (those who played in 1980 or before). There are also 20 teams inducted under the Team category.

 

The formal induction banquet and ceremonies will be held Saturday, November 18, 2017 at the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame in the ANVIL Centre in New Westminster, British Columbia.

 

The Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame’s class of 2017 includes:

 

Oshawa, Ontario-born Ken Colley played his Junior A lacrosse with Whitby and is 2nd in All-time Junior A Series scoring with 384 goals. He joined the Senior A Brooklin Redmen in 1980, winning the Gene Dopp Award as Major Series Outstanding Rookie and the Bucko McDonald Award as top scorer. He won Mann Cups with the Redmen in 1985 and ’87.  

  

Orangeville, Ontario-born Pat Coyle was a standout defensive player and a 7-time Western Lacrosse Association All-star, 5-time WLA Top Defensive Player, a winner of the WLA’s Bill Ellison Trophy as playoffs MVP and a 3-time Mann Cup winner. Coyle played Junior lacrosse in Orangeville and Brampton. From 1991 to ’93 he was with the Senior A Brampton Excelsiors, winning Mann Cups in ’92 and ’93. From 1994 to 2005 (and again in ‘09) he was with the Coquitlam Adanacs, winning the Mann Cup in ‘01. He spent 11 seasons in the NLL, winning 5 championship titles with the Toronto Rock and Colorado Mammoth. He was named to the NLL Hall of Fame in 2014. 

 

Peterborough, Ontario-born Jan Magee won Minto Cups with the legendary Peterborough PCOs in 1972 and ’73. In ’74 he joined the NLL’s Rochester Griffins, becoming the first rookie drafted by the league and helping the team win the NLL championship. In ’75 he scored 160 points playing for the Long Island Tomahawks. In ’76 he won a Mann Cup with the New Westminster Salmonbellies. Magee possessed one of the hardest and quickest shots in lacrosse and was a complete player on offense and defense, quarterbacking power plays from the point position and playing on short man teams. He closed out his career with Peterborough, winning the Canadian Field Lacrosse Championship in 1985. He passed away in 2017.

 

Goaltender Rick Mang won the Minto Cup with Peterborough in 1986, played Senior A with Coquitlam 1987-89, New Westminster 1990-98 and Brampton 1998. He won the Mann Cup with New Westminster in ‘91 and Brampton in ‘98. Mang’s Western Lacrosse Association 81.35% save percentage is the best among all goalies playing over 100 games.  

 

Whitby, Ontario-born Don Craggs played Intermediate and Senior B lacrosse for Brooklin and Whitby in the 1950s, a difficult time of low fan interest in the game. At the age of 28 he joined the Senior A Brooklin Redmen of the Ontario Lacrosse Association. He was with the Redmen until ’69 and again in ’73. He won Mann Cups as a player/coach with the team in ‘68 and ’69. In total, Craggs scored 622 goals with 316 assists in his Major, Senior A and B, and Intermediate career. 

 

Orangeville, Ontario’s Bob “Beav” Clevely served on the Senior Orangeville Northmen executive from 1981-87 and was instrumental in resurrecting Orangeville’s dormant Junior B program in ’89. His Junior B team won the Founders Cup in ’89 and ’90. Clevely moved his team up to the A level and served as President and/or GM from 1991-96 and again from ’07 to ’12. During his years with Orangeville’s Junior A program the Northmen won Minto Cups in ’93, ’95, ’96, ’07, ’08 and ’12. In total, Clevely has been part of 16 Ontario, 13 Canadian and 2 world championship teams, along with 1 NLL championship team. 

 

Victoria, B.C.’s Jim Cain joined the training and clubhouse staff of the Victoria Shamrocks in 1979. In ‘82 he became the team’s head trainer, a position he held for 31 years. A selfless, dedicated and knowledgable trainer, Cain was an vital part of the Shamrocks’ 13 national championship campaigns and 6 Mann Cup wins. He was the head trainer for the Victoria Seaspray field lacrosse team in the 1980s and helped the team win 2 Canadian championships. He was also the head trainer for the ‘94 Canadian National men’s field team, silver medalists at the World Field Lacrosse Championship. 

  

The 1986 and ’87 Peterborough Maulers Junior A lacrosse teams were undefeated over two regular seasons, winning 45 of 45 games and going 18 out of 18 in the playoffs on the way to Minto Cup championships. The Maulers suffered 1 loss out of 24 regular season games in ’88, were a perfect 8-0 in the playoffs but had to settle for 3rd place in the Minto Cup. In ’89 the Maulers went 20-3-1 in the regular season, 8-3 in the playoffs and 4-1 to win the Minto Cup over the Richmond Outlaws. In 147 total games between ’86 and ’89 the Maulers won 131 of them.

 

 

For additional information, please visit the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame website at www.clhof.org.

 

Media Contact:

Chairman, Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame

Email:   davidl@lancasteranddavid.ca

Phone:  604-717-5522