Thompson’s Taylor Ritchie has had his first taste of junior B lacrosse with the Manitoba Blizzard and so far he’s enjoying the ride.
“I’m loving it,” said Ritchie, who made his debut with the team May 22, when the Blizzard lost back-to-back games to the Edmonton Warriors before rebounding the following day with an 11-5 win. The final weekend of May was his first road trip with the team, which left Winnipeg for Calgary following practice on Thursday night, arriving the following afternoon and playing their first game Friday evening, beating the Rockyview Silvertips 8-5. They suffered their only loss of the four-game trip May 30, falling 14-12 to the Calgary Mountaineers after a third period comeback attempt fell short. They then beat the Silvertips 9-4 later that day and knocked off the Okotoks Marauders 12-3 on the last day of the month before heading home.
“We were happy,” said Ritchie, noting that even the one loss had some positives as the team made it a two-goal differential after trailing by much more. “Our first two periods were pretty bad. [In the third period] we showed that we can compete with them.”
Ritchie has an advantage over his Winnipeg teammates because the gruelling road trip was just what he’s used to, playing at least three hockey games on weekend road trips as a member of the Norman Northstars, during which the team drives about 1,400 kilometres.
“It wasn’t so bad for me,” said Ritchie.
It hasn’t taken the one Thompson player long to mesh with his teammates.
“We have a pretty tight group this year,” says Ritchie, who feels pretty good about his play so far. “I feel I’ve played some pretty strong defence.”
Offensively, he’s notched a couple of assists but would like to the get his first goal under his belt.
“I’m sure I’ll get a chance eventually,” he said.
Ritchie was off from the Blizzard but not from lacrosse last weekend, joining his R.D. Parker Collegiate teammates for the high school field lacrosse playoffs. This weekend he’ll be back in Winnipeg again as the Blizzard play a pair of games against the Saskatchewan Swat. Ritchie says the competitiveness of the Rocky Mountain Lacrosse League is similar to what he experienced at lacrosse nationals in his four trips there with Manitoba’s provincial box lacrosse team, except for the size of the players
“Now everyone’s so big, so fast,” he said. “There’s no weak links to the teams.”
