With the summer season finishing up (locally) and the Maple Ridge Burrards of the WLA set to play for the prestigious Mann Cup against Six Nations, lacrosse news is still front and centre.
Albeit the season doesn’t kick off until January of 2017, the local team, the Vancouver Stealth announced they signed Coquitlam
Crystal Schick/ Calgary Herald CALGARY
goaltender Tyler Richards to a one-year and as per league rules; it all depends on league approval.
Stealth President and GM Doug Locker stated “Tyler has been an important part of our franchise for many years, and he continues to be one of the league’s elite goaltenders.”
He continued “We are extremely happy to have him back in a Stealth uniform representing his local team.”
Richards is entering his 10th season in the National Lacrosse League all of which have been spent in a Stealth uniform.
Last season he appeared in 13 games, sported a 12.98 goals against average (GAA) and a SV% of .760.
Richards obviously felt that the way the team began to come together as a group made his decision an easy choice.
Richards told the media “The way the team played to finish the year off was some of the most fun I have ever had playing lacrosse and seeing the way that we started to gel made me want to come back and help move the team forward even further.”
He continued “We have a lot of talent on our team and I think we are ready to get the franchise back on the winning track and I couldn’t be happier to be a part of it.”
Richards’ history with the Stealth franchise dates back to the draft in 2007 where he was selected as the 46th overall pick.
In 2010, he backstopped an NLL Championship and participated in Championship games with the Stealth in 2011 and 2013.
February 2015 saw him record what many “goalies” fail to do not only in one game, but the entire season as he managed to score his first career NLL goal.
This past season saw Tyler Richards play a hand-full of games with the Burnaby Lakers of the WLA.
The Vancouver Stealth’s season kick’s off In January 2017 with all home games played at the Langley Events Centre.