Dispatch From Coquitlam: Day One

Dispatch from Coquitlam: Press Conference Kicks of Minto Cup

Welcome to the first dispatch from Coquitlam. This is Jon Donville, and I have taken over the LCD Newsletter feed for the week. The plan is to send a daily newsletter (rather than our regular bi-weekly edition), for the duration of the Minto Cup. The hope is to have the newsletter sent by at least 10 AM PST.

My goal is to highlight the lacrosse on the floor, but also try to tell the stories of the tournament itself and to give a peak behind the curtain as to what the Minto is really like.

I will be part of the broadcast this week, which can be found on trickshot. Links to watch the games can be found here.

The tournament begins this afternoon, but the official proceedings began with the introductory press conference yesterday. As you can imagine, the mood was pretty intense. These players will play the biggest tournament of their lives against each other in an obviously physical sport. Rubbing elbows in a conference room is not a comfortable experience.

But the players spoke well and gave some good insight. My favourite moment came when Raiders veteran Josh Goodman spoke about how old he was (21 years old) and how the young Raiders players give life to the old vets.

Read about that and more in my Minto Cup Preview!

I also made it a goal to check out and document some of the best eats, adventures, and other experiences around the tournament. On the recommendation of my NLL teammates Dean Fairall and John Lintz, I started my trip with a visit to Soup Plus in Coquitlam.

It was a great sandwich and a better experience. I had the Louisiana Poor Boy (on recommendation). It was delicious and I will be back. Anyone coming to the tournament should carve out some time for a sandwich and soup.

I then headed to Port Moody to check out the waterfront walk. This Ontario kid apparently forgot about tides… but my walk around the mudflats was nonetheless a good stretch of the legs.

After the press conference, we got to check out the setup in the rink and our broadcast position. The Palace on Poirier is a beautiful facility, and there is no question that it has a shine to it unlike many other venues in the sport.

The rumour is that they are expecting a sellout on Saturday night for Coquitlam’s first game. It’s going to be a lot of fun.

That’s all for today, check back tomorrow, and make sure to refer some friends to the newsletter. Signup pages can be found on our homepage and the bottom of most articles.

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