Guelph native Anthony Joaquim is coming up on the first anniversary of his National Lacrosse League trade from the Philadelphia Wings to the Colorado Mammoth, a trade that he wasn’t too thrilled about at first.
But then it turned out to be the best thing for the 29-year-old as he realized every NLL player’s goal of holding the National Lacrosse League Cup championship trophy aloft a couple of months later.
“At first I was definitely thrown off and frustrated and upset. It was kind of a shock,” he said in a video call from Philadelphia where he now resides. “It just happened rather quickly. I think the trade happened on a Tuesday or a Wednesday and then I flew out to Colorado that following Friday and it just kind of took over. It worked out well in the long run. At first I was upset and frustrated, but that's the business of sports as well. It couldn't have happened to a better team, obviously.”
That he lived in Philadelphia and played for that city’s team was really the only reason to be put off a bit by the trade.
“Exactly,” he said. “It was my third year with Philadelphia. I moved down here, settled down. I went to school here and now I'm actually coaching at Saint Joseph's University, too. It all kind of worked out well. The organization said nothing but good things and it seemed like this would be where I was playing, but that's not the reality for all sports, all players – essentially you kind of move around to a couple of teams.
“I had everything set up perfectly playing here in Philadelphia, working in Philadelphia, setting up a second home here, but Colorado (Denver) is a really cool city to play for as well. It could've been to a different location that's not as popular as Denver. It definitely worked out well.”
Colorado traded for Joaquim and Tyson Gibson from the New York Titans on the same day and both figured in the championship win.
“I guess we were key pieces there,” Joaquim said tentatively. “The guys once I did get traded, they were very welcoming to both myself and Tyson. 'We want you guys and we need you guys and we think you're going to help us get over the hump.' Colorado has been one of the top teams in the West, but always seemed to not get to the finals. They kind of keep pumping my tires saying, 'You helped us get here.' I'll take it and enjoy it, but I'm just a player doing my role. I don't think I'm too special, but I'm happy to have contributed and see that it all worked out in the end.”
Now in his fifth season in the pro league – it would’ve been his sixth if not for the season lost to COVID – the Mammoth are his third team. He was drafted by the New England Black Wolves and played a season there before being selected by Philadelphia in an expansion draft.
A defensive specialist, Joaquim has 10 goals and 14 assists in 69 career games in the NLL. He’d been more of a transition player during 60 games in junior A, mainly with the Mississauga Tomahawks, where he had 63 goals and 37 assists.
“I would play defence, as well,” he said. “I'd stay in play a little bit more in the junior league, but now more it's strictly defence.
“It's more if an opportunity presents itself, go and take it, but I'm not really pushing the pace too much or staying and playing because we have top-calibre guys that get paid to do that. I'm just more of a defender and beating up on the opposing team's offence.”
After starring in U.S. college lacrosse as a midfielder with the Saint Joseph’s University Hawks in Philadelphia, Joaquim is now a member of that team’s coaching staff.
“It's good. It's fun,” he said. “It's what I want to do after playing so kind of getting my feet wet and still being able to play is awesome. It's kind of cool because I still kind of feel like a student even though I'm not now. It's been five or six years since I graduated, but it's cool to interact with some of the kids there because they were some kids that I had on recruiting visits when they were thinking of coming to St. Joe's.
“I get to be around lacrosse 24/7 so it doesn't feel like a job, but it is. I enjoy it so I really can't complain.”
While Joaquim did play almost all of his junior lacrosse at the junior A level, he did play one game on junior B lacrosse with the Guelph Regals before he was selected in the junior A draft by the Mississauga Tomahawks.
“I remember I got called up for it,” he said of that game with the Regals. “I was still in minor lacrosse. I think we won. I think it was 15-5 or something. I remember it being a bit of a blowout.”
Actually, it was a 7-1 win over the Niagara Thunderhawks and he scored one of the goals in the game that was played a few days before his 17th birthday.
Living in Philadelphia, he does try to return to Guelph a couple of times a year, usually at Christmas and during the summer, but COVID played havoc with those plans.
“I was able to come home last summer and Christmas,” he said. “It's always good to see friends and family.”
Joaquim also played a few sports during his high school days at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic High School. He was a receiver for the Crusaders and also played two years of hockey and four of basketball.
“I remember it being fun,” he said of the football. “I definitely wished I'd played all four years instead of my last two. I guess I was decent at it, just tall and fast. 'Just run down there and we're going to throw the ball to you and hope you catch it.' I said, 'All right.' I enjoyed it, I had some good friends on the team as well so it made it fun and enjoyable to be out there after school every day practising. We were pretty good, too, for the Lourdes teams that I was part of. I just saw it as something else to do and it was just a fun sport to play with some friends.”
It helped make it fun and a good memory that the Crusaders made it to the local District 10 final both years he played, winning the title once.
“(I played) a little bit of everything,” he said. “They didn't have any lacrosse so I was trying to do whatever else they had.”
