East Coast Junior Lacrosse League

The East Coast Junior Lacrosse League is a Junior-level Canadian box lacrosse league. The teams are located in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. The champions of the East Coast league have in the past moved on to represent Team Nova Scotia at the Founders Cup, the Canadian National Junior B championship. The league has produced some notable players, including players in NCAA Division II, Division III, CUFLA and Ontario Junior A and B leagues.

East Coast Junior Lacrosse League
SportBox lacrosse
Founded2004
No. of teams6
Country Canada
Most recent
champion(s)
Dartmouth Bandits (2018)
Most titlesHalifax Southwest Hurricanes (6)
Official websiteECJLL website

History

Formed in 2004, the league featured five original teams (Dartmouth Bandits, Halifax Northwest Rebels, Halifax Southwest Hurricanes, Moncton Mavericks, Sackville Wolves). Fourth-seeded Dartmouth (7-8-1) upset league winning Rebels (10-4-2) in the opening round before defeating the Hurricanes in the finals 3-games-to-1.

A second-tier league was added in 2012 with Eastern Shore Breakers, St. Margarets Bay Storm and Truro Bearcats competing against "B" teams from Halifax Northwest, Moncton and Sackville. This lasted just two years as St. Margarets folded after one season and Sackville "B" failed to finish their 2013 season.

Just four teams competed in 2014 with Moncton Mavericks going on hiatus for the season. Halifax Northwest re-branded as Northwest Marley Lions.

The Mavericks returned in 2015 along with a new team, the Truro-based Mi'kmaq Warriors, increasing the league to six teams.

For the 2016 season the Mavericks changed their name from Moncton to New Brunswick Mavericks.

The 2018 season saw the Halifax Northwest Marley Lions withdraw from play and a disbursal draft spread their players throughout the remaining teams on a one-year release. The ECJLL operated as a five team league for the duration of the season.

Prior to the 2019 season, Halifax Northwest moved its franchise to St. Margaret's Bay and re-branded once again as the Rebels. Previously disbursed players were re-called and the St. Margaret's Bay Rebels made their debut at the start of 2019, restoring the league to six teams. The 2020 season was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Teams

TeamCity Arena Formed
Dartmouth BanditsDartmouth, Nova Scotia Shearwater Arena 2005
Halifax HurricanesHalifax, Nova Scotia Spryfield Lions Arena 2005
St. Margaret's Bay RebelsSt. Margaret's Bay, Nova Scotia BMO Centre 2019
Mi'kmaq WarriorsTruro, Nova Scotia Colchester Arena 2015
New Brunswick MavericksMoncton, New Brunswick Kay Arena 2009
Sackville Sportwheels WolvesLower Sackville, Nova Scotia Sackville Arena 2005

Former teams

  • Suburban Storm (2006-2008)
  • Halifax Northwest Rebels (2004-2013)
  • Halifax Northwest Marley Lions (2014-2017)

Garnet Knight Cup Champions

Season Champions Runner-up Results
2004 Halifax Northwest Rebels (Best of 5)
2005 Halifax Northwest Rebels (Best of 5)
2006 Halifax Northwest Rebels Suburban Storm (Best of 5)
2007 Halifax Northwest Rebels Suburban Storm (Best of 5)
2008 Halifax Southwest Hurricanes Sackville Wolves (Best of 5)
2009 Dartmouth Bandits Sackville Wolves 3-1 (best of 5)
2010 Halifax Southwest Hurricanes Halifax Northwest Rebels 3-2 (best of 5)
2011 Dartmouth Bandits[1] Halifax Southwest Hurricanes 3-1 (best-of 5)
2012 Halifax Southwest Hurricanes Halifax Northwest Rebels 3-0 (best of 5)
2013 Halifax Southwest Hurricanes Moncton Mavericks 3-1 (best-of 5)
2014 Halifax Southwest Hurricanes[2] Halifax Northwest Marley Lions 4-0 (best-of 7)
2015 Halifax Southwest Hurricanes Halifax Northwest Marley Lions 3-2 (best-of 5)
2016 Dartmouth Bandits Halifax Northwest Marley Lions 3-0 (best of 5)
2017 Dartmouth Bandits Halifax Southwest Hurricanes 3-0 (best of 5)
2018 Dartmouth Bandits Halifax Hurricanes 3-2 (best of 5)
2019 Dartmouth Bandits Sackville Wolves 3-0 (best of 5)

Notable alumni

The ECJLL has evolved into a highly competitive and skilled lacrosse league producing talented players and coaches who have gone on to continue their lacrosse careers at the NCAA, national and professional levels. Notable alumni include:

NATIONAL LACROSSE LEAGUE

  • Alex Pace (Philadelphia Wings)
  • Chet Koneczny (Halifax, Philadelphia, Orlando, Washington, Colorado)

NCAA DIVISION I


NCAA DIVISION II

  • Liam McGrath (Lenoir-Rhyne University)
  • Zac Carrigan (Mars Hill University)
  • Luke Parker (Briarcliffe College)
  • Brian Huyghue (Limestone College & Team Canada)
  • Jake Mosher-McGraw (Tampa University)

NCAA DIVISION III

  • Alex Bechard (St. Lawrence University)
  • Luke Smeltzer (RIT)
  • Jeremy Vautour (St. Lawrence University)
  • Jamie Dunbar (New England College)
  • Matt Dunbar (Guilford College)
  • Breton Penney (Lynchburg College)

Western Lacrosse Association Senior A

  • Ian McShane - Victoria Shamrocks

National Lacrosse League

  • Former ECJLL Commissioner and former Mi'kmaq Warriors Head Coach Chet Koneczny played in the NLL from 2010-2014 and 2018-2019 with Orlando, Washington, Colorado and Philadelphia, and is currently a member of the Halifax Thunderbirds.

References

  1. "2011 ECJLL Junior A Champs!!!". Dartmouth Bandits. Retrieved 27 July 2011.
  2. "Halifax Southwest Hurricanes are the Champions!". ECJLL. Retrieved 27 July 2014.


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