Dillan Cochrane is one of the rare returnees to the Prince Albert Predators. (File photo/paNOW Staff)

By Jeff D’Andrea

PGLL action roaring back to the Kinsmen this weekend

May 6, 2022 | 6:00 PM

For the first time in a three-year span, box lacrosse is returning indoors to Prince Albert.

Both of Prince Albert’s teams in the Prairie Gold Lacrosse League will be in action at the Kinsmen Arena on Saturday. The Prince Albert Outlaws will kick off the weekend with some senior league action with a 2:30 p.m. against the Regina Heat. The Prince Albert Predators will play the evening showcase at 6:30 p.m. against the Swift Current Wolverines.

“We haven’t had a box game in the city of Prince Albert for a few years,” Junior Predators head coach Tyson Fetch. “The boys are excited to get back on the floor, the parents are excited to watch and I’m sure the fans will be eager once the game starts.”

Before 2020 and 2021 seasons were forced to be canceled, the Junior Predators were on the cusp of a dynasty. They won the 2018 PGLL Junior title, before being edged out in 2019 by the Standing Buffalo Fighting Sioux.

Only two players have returned from the 2019 team; attacker Dillan Cochrane and goaltender Duncan Fetch. In fact, both were a part of the Predators’ championship in 2018. Other than brothers Hayden and Chase Ulriksen, who played as callups in 2019, most of the Predators will be playing their first year of junior lacrosse.

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“We’re going to have to lean heavily on those guys. The younger guys are coming up and are really skilled now, they have a different understanding of the game they did maybe six or eight years ago, the 16-year-olds coming through,” Fetch said. “But you always need the veteran presence, you always need the guys to calm the bench down, to make a big play, a big hit, pick up a couple loose balls, and show the young guys how it’s done. They follow suit.”

The Outlaws will be playing their first game of the season. But the Predators have already got into some action. They were up 5-3 early in the second period before having their game against the Fighting Sioux postponed due to poor floor conditions in Balcarres last Saturday. Then on Sunday, the Predators defeated the Regina Barracudas 11-7.

Fetch believes the Wildcats could pose an early test to the Predators.

“We’re playing arguably the best team in the league coming up. I think all the teams are really close, but I give Swifty the edge on all the other teams,” Fetch said. “It will be a close game, I hope. It will be fast, lacrosse is literally the fastest game on two feet. We’re a fast, young, and small team. That’s what we’re going to bring.”

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jeff.dandrea@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @jeff_paNOW