This is an installment in the 13-part, 2020 NLL season recap series.
Season Summary
2019-20 NLL Season Record: 4-9 (.308 win percentage)
The 2020 season for your Vancouver Warriors resembled more of a Shakespearean play, broken into three acts, than an NLL season. Act one saw the Vancouver Warriors begin the season 1-4, losing a few close games that could have gone either way. What easily could have been a 3-2 start, instead set them up to have to chase the teams ahead of them in the standings. This is not a good place to be when you reside in the most competitive of the three divisions during this season’s new NLL format.
However, during act two of their season, they battled back and won three out of the next four games, catapulting them into playoff contention. At that moment, led by Mitch Jones and his career best start, they had to feel good about the way they were playing as their momentum started to swing. Just then, as all Shakespeare plays do, their season quickly turned into tragedy.
They proceeded to lose 4 straight games, buy a total of 29 goals, before seeing their season, like everyone else’s, end early due to COVID-19. Vancouver’s season is more of a testament to the league as a whole, than their own play. It is a highly competitive league, with very little room for error week to week. This environment demands the best out of it’s players every time they step on the floor. If the beginning of the season went a little differently, this article would have been focused on a sneaky playoff team. A bad start in the NLL though, can put you too far behind to catch up!
Offensive Player of the Year
Mitch Jones was phenomenal all year. He finished second in league for overall points and fourth in points per game. In just 13 games, he nearly broke his personal career scoring record set last year, over the full 18 game slate. To me, what makes him unique is his ability to play multiple spots on the floor, and his uncanny ability to build chemistry with various different players who have various different skill sets. At only 28, he has a long career ahead of him still and we are starting to see what kind of player he will become.
Defensive/Transition Player of the Year
In most cases across the league, it was pretty easy to make these decisions. In Vancouver, however, a case could be made for both Owen Barker and Matt Beers. Both of these men played excellent lacrosse all season long. Beers would push in transition a little more, but Barker played some of the best lock down defense in the league. Ultimately, Beers’s physicality and leadership put him above Barker. With this duo intact moving into 2021, if they can upgrade in some other areas, they should be able to flourish as a defensive unit.
Best Team Transaction
I have tried really hard not to make this article all about Jones. Admittedly, that has been tough to do. When they locked him up to a two year agreement prior to the start of the season, they gave themselves a franchise player. By doing this, they have made themselves a destination next year for some aging veterans who might be the final piece to the puzzle in Vancouver (Kyle Buchanan perhaps). Any veteran in the league would easily fit next to Jones for a possible deep championship run next year.
Biggest question entering the offseason
Is Eric Penney the right goalie for this team? Don’t get me wrong, Penney is a very good goaltender. However, in a league where very little separates the best from the worst, is it time to look into another option in the net? The argument for Penney is he has improved every single season. This past year, he had games in which he carried and willed the team to victory. However, they have Andrew Gallant, who played really well at the World Games for team Netherlands and has also excelled in the WLA for two seasons now. There is also the possibility of picking up another veteran goalie, either through a trade or a free agent signing, to bring some heated competition into camp next year.
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