By PETER WHITE - THE GLOBE AND MAIL, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 30th, 1975
Professional box lacrosse has left Toronto. Syracuse and Rochester, gone to virgin territories where the game is not well known and, presumably, can be sold on a violence appeal.
Toronto Tomahawks, a charter member of the National Lacrosse League last season, promoted the sport as if it were the Roller Derby and lacrosse fans were put off.
The Tomahawks have been relocated in Boston, apparently to fill a gap between hockey and football, and Syracuse and Rochester, provincial cities in upper New York state, compromised the NLL’s big-league ambitions.
What remains of the Rochester franchise is now on Long Island. operating out of the Nassau County Coliseum, home of New York Islanders.
The former Syracuse club has gone to Quebec City.
Leftovers are Philadelphia. Montreal and Maryland. which had some considerable box-office success last season.
But the major change in the league is not the shifting of sites. It is a determination to thrive or die as a strictly professional entity, which it wasn’t last year.
The schedule has been increased from 40 to 56 games. Of greater consequence, the semi-pro status of many of the clubs is gone with salaries in the $15,000 range and full-time commitments from the players.
It was a source of much embarrassment to league investors last season when Philadelphia, the most successful operation, was accused by doubters of being a carpetbagging operation. which it was.
Most of the players worked in Peterborough. All trained there. chartering in a DC-3 to Philadelphia on game days. This season. with more ade- quale salaries, players will live where they play.
Inadvertently, the pros have benefitted senior lacrosse in Southern Ontario.
“A lot of the men who played with the pro league last season have come back here because they weren’t willing to give up their careers. They didn’t want to move to a new community.” explains Jack Christie of the Ontario Lacrosse Association. sponsoring body of the amateur senior A league in the province.
“That and an increased number of over-age juniors are helping us. When the season began last year. most of the clubs didn’t have enough players to fill out a roster. From what I’ve heard. most are having good training camps with strong competition for jobs.”
He said it has also helped that the NLL has chosen to consolidate rather than expand, cutting down the number of professional jobs.
“We’ve already picked up a number of their cuts.”
The past few years have not been happy ones for the senior amateur game in Ontario. In 1973 there were two leagues. a major series as well as the seniors. With the advent of the pro league, the two were merged into a six-team league.
Windsor Warlocks, league defending champions and 1974 Mann Cup finalists. have withdrawn because of the ad verse economic situation in the area. Bramalea Excelsiors return after a year’s absence.
Also missing from last season are the Toronto Shooting Stars, who perhaps suffered most from the NHL. Neither they nor the Tomahawks did a thriving business.
The Shooting Stars lost $5,300 and have disbanded for the season to regroup. “We’re not participating for two reasons. One is personal and the other is that we felt if we took a year off we could concentrate on the areas where we have been weak, which is mostly in the executive.” said Harry Reynolds, owner of the club. “We haven’t stopped. We’re still talking about plans for next season.”
