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Boston Cannons Lacrosse 2012: A Look At The Offseason

Coming off a championship season, the Boston Cannons open up the 2012 season at the end of April. The defending champs had an eventful offseason, retaining the majority of their roster while making some additions via drafts.

By Marisa Ingemi
BOSTON, MA - JUNE 4: Jake Deane #17 and Kyle Dixon #21 of the Chesapeake Bayhawks races Matt Smalley #11 of the Boston Cannons for a loose ball at Harvard Stadium on June 4, 2011 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Jim Rogash/Getty Images)
BOSTON, MA - JUNE 4: Jake Deane #17 and Kyle Dixon #21 of the Chesapeake Bayhawks races Matt Smalley #11 of the Boston Cannons for a loose ball at Harvard Stadium on June 4, 2011 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Jim Rogash/Getty Images)
Getty Images

The Boston Cannons open up their season on April 28th when they take on the Rochester Rattlers, but before we look ahead, we will take a look back. The 2011 Major League Lacrosse champions had a good off season, only losing one or two key players to expansion teams and they gained some players of their own.

The offseason began when the Cannons released their protected player list for the expansion draft. They protected starting goalie Jordan Burke, also the MLL Championship MVP. They did not protect goaltender Kip Turner, who was a former goalie of the year for the Cannons.

The Chesapeake Bayhawks ended up taking Turner, and said that he will be their goaltender for 2012. The Cannons also lost local midfielder Max Quinzani to the expansion Charlotte Hounds, who then traded Quinzani to the Long Island Lizards for star attackman Matt Danowski. The Cannons did not protect Quinzani because he wanted to play closer to his New York home.

In the expansion draft the Cannons had one pick, where they selected Denver Outlaws midfielder Bill McGlone. McGlone will be playing in his seventh MLL season, and has played in Baltimore, San Francisco and Denver. Last season he played in seven games with the Outlaws and had 17 points. He has a career 129 points.

In early October, head coach Bill Daye resigned from the Cannons. Daye, a former MLL goalie, had been the Cannons coach for six years and led them to their first and only MLL title. They have named assistant head coach Steve Duffy his replacement. The rest of the coaching staff and GM Kevin Barney remain in tact.

In the supplemental draft in earlier December, the Cannons selected Jon Hayes, who was part of the team last year, Ryan Nizolek, Ari Sussmen, Tom Burke, Shane Koppins, Bruce Bickford, Jason Duboe, Chris Collins, Jed Prossner, Brian Vitter, David Hawley, Patrick Gaffney, DJ Hessler, Garrett Pedley, Ethan Vedder, Kevin Gould, Jake Beebe, and Eric Hagerty.

Duboe and Gould has been playing with the Boston Rock Hoppers of the North American Lacrosse League, while Nizolek has been playing on the Kentucky Stickhorses. Bickford saw time as the Cannons back up goalie last season while Prossner has played NLL with the Colorado Mammoth.

The Cannons offseason is not over, though, and some trades have been flying around Major League Lacrosse. The Cannons will have nine of their fourteen games on national TV this season as well.

For more Major League Lacrosse coverage, visit our blog, In Lax We Trust.