When the Guelph Regals take to the floor for Ontario junior lacrosse play this spring and summer, they’ll have another close rival with the addition of the Cambridge Highlanders as an expansion franchise.
“In terms of lacrosse and just being a fan and all that, I think it's awesome,” said Regals general manager and assistant coach Matt Pelkey. “I'm sure there's just going to be a natural rivalry right off the bat just because of proximity. Us and Elora, it’s 20 minutes, Cambridge is only 20 minutes so in terms of that, I think it's going to be awesome for the fans and just generally lacrosse people. It's going to be fun.”
While the Elora Mohawks get a large contingent of fans making the short trip to Guelph for their games with the Regals at the Victoria Road arena, the same could happen when the Cambridge Highlanders play there.
“Yeah, exactly,” Pelkey said. “I think it's going to be a lot of fun, especially the first year.”
The addition of the Cambridge squad does have a bit of a cost for the Regals as they have had players from Cambridge on their roster during the last decade.
“We'd probably average between two and four Cambridge guys a year, depending on the year,” Pelkey said. “Well, actually last year we only had two, but previous years I think we've had up to four, maybe five and so it does take away a little bit from the player pool for us.”
It could also cost them a player or two from Kitchener who might decide to go to Cambridge instead of Guelph.
And it also changes the area from which the Regals can attract players.
“It almost kind of boxes us in in a way,” Pelkey said. “We’ve got Elora, we’ve got Halton, now we have Cambridge. It's even more important to really develop our Guelph guys, if you will, because we can't necessarily rely on two Cambridge guys a year coming our way anymore. But overall, I think I think it can be good for the league. They've had a good (minor lacrosse) program there for a few years now. They really stepped it up. I don't think (adding the Cambridge team) can hurt, but us specifically, there's no hiding it, it definitely affects us a little bit.”
The Regals should know the home arena of the Highlanders as they called the Galt Arena Gardens home during the 2016 season when they couldn’t play at their usual Victoria Road arena home due to renovations there.
“When they were doing the big renovations out at Vic, we moved to that arena for a year so we know kind of what it's like there,” Pelkey said “It's a great place and I know Cambridge will welcome them, too.”
However, the Regals won’t play there this year. There are 12 teams in the Western Conference and the teams play nine of their conference mates twice apiece and two of them once apiece. This season the Regals are to play Cambridge once, in Guelph May 28.
The Highlanders, who have a schedule that has them playing their first seven games on the road and their last eight games of the regular season at home, are to play the Elora Mohawks twice – at Elora May 18 and at Cambridge June 11.
The Regals had their usual pre-season runs at Queensmount Arena in Kitchener and also participated in a preseason tournament hosted by the Mohawks at the Centre Wellington Community Sportsplex. The Highlanders and Orangeville Northmen also took part in the tournament that saw games feature 15-minute straight time periods. The Guelph side had a different lineup in each of its three games.
That tournament served as a warm-up for the Regals’ regular season that is to begin Sunday, April 22, with a 3 p.m. home game against the Six Nations Rebels and then they’re to play the Welland Generals at Welland the following afternoon.
