Kids who grow up playing box lacrosse in the hotbed of the sport that is Peterborough, Ontario, dream of playing for the Lakers of Major Series Lacrosse and maybe making it to the National Lacrosse League.
Brothers Josh and Zach Currier had the dream, and they’ve made it all the way.
Josh, 24, and Zach, 23, grew up watching Tracey Kelusky, John Grant Jr., Dan Carey, Shawn Evans and many others who came up through the minor lacrosse ranks in the Lift Lock City play for the Lakers.
“We’re super lucky to have grown up in Peterborough with lacrosse being our favorite sport,” Josh Currier said. “Going to Lakers games every Thursday reinforced our determination to one day be a Laker, too, to be on that floor in front of all those fans.
“Then, getting the chance to play for the senior Lakers, you take pride stepping into the shoes of those guys who came before you. And I’m super happy to be one of the guys to have made it to the NLL level.”
They will never forget those home games in the Memorial Centre watching their heroes.
“We’d see those guys and think, ‘These guys are gods,’” Zach Currier said. “John Grant Jr. was incredible to watch. Watching Dan Carey was inspiring because he wasn’t necessarily as skilled as Grant, but he worked his ass off.”
The Curriers are the latest brother act from Peterborough in the NLL. They follow in the fresh footsteps of Brad and Scott Self, Kyle and Brock Sorensen and Scott and Shawn Evans.
The Lakers won the Mann Cup national championship of Canada last September with Josh and Zach Currier in the lineup. Head coach Mike Hasen, who also coaches Josh Currier in the NLL in Rochester, had 20 NLL players on the roster last summer. Eleven of them had a special bond as Peterborough-raised and trained.
“We take pride in playing with those guys,” Zach Currier said.
Josh was 9 and Zach was 8 when they first registered to play organized indoor lacrosse.
“We both started the same year,” Josh Currier said. “I played hockey with Turner Evans, and he was going to play lacrosse that summer and we’d heard about the Lakers, so we gave lacrosse a try.”
Getting to learn in their early years from coaches like pro player Joey Hiltz, Mark Evans and John Posner accelerated the Curriers’ development. Playing NCAA field lacrosse — Josh at Virginia Wesleyan and Zach at Princeton — broadened the brothers’ lacrosse horizons.
Josh Currier was drafted by Rochester two years ago, and the transition was made easy because Lakers teammate Cory Vitarelli and Lakers head coach Mike Hasen were Knighthawks and helped guide his arrival into the NLL.
Zach Currier was drafted by Calgary this year and Kelusky, an assistant Lakers coach and captain when Calgary won the Champion’s Cup in 2009, told him all he needed to know about playing for the Roughnecks. It was a great experience for Kelusky and, as one of the Currier boys’ Peterborough-bred mentors, hearing stories about the organization and the great fan support was music to Zach’s ears.
“He’s a great part of the lacrosse community in Peterborough,” Zach Currier said of Kelusky, also an assistant coach with the New England Black Wolves. “Me being in Calgary now, I realize how good he really was — one of the best to play the game.”
Going into the latest draft, the brothers wondered if they’d become NLL teammates in Rochester. It would have been sweet.
“Brothers dream of playing together on the same team,” Zach Currier said. “I would have loved to play with Josh in the NLL. It wouldn’t matter what city. If he’d been in Buffalo or Georgia, I would have wanted to be on those teams. But I wound up in Calgary, and I couldn’t be happier that I am in Calgary.”
Getting to join Lakers teammates Curtis Dickson and Holden Cattoni in Calgary was a bonus.
“It’s huge coming into a new team and having familiar faces there,’’ Zach Currier rsaid. “If you have any questions at all, you can turn to those guys. We have the experience of the Mann Cup to fall back on and, hopefully, that will translate into a Calgary NLL championship as well.
“It’s been great so far. The coaching staff is awesome. From top to bottom it’s an impressive organization. I’m really excited to be a part of it and I’m continuing to immerse myself in Calgary Roughnecks culture.”
Josh Currier said the same about being a Knighthawk.
Zach Currier’s first NLL game was in Rochester against his brother’s team. It was the first time they had ever been lacrosse opponents.
“It was different,” Josh Currier said. “Zach reminded me we played one game of soccer against each other in elementary school.
“We’d always played on the same teams, including four years of junior and the last two with the senior Lakers. It was odd to be on the other end of it. I wish nothing but the best for him, but we’re competitive, and I wanted nothing more to win that game. Just because he’s my brother doesn’t mean I’m going to play any different against him.”
Peterborough pride enters into the equation.
“Everyone from Peterborough knows lacrosse, which is different from some other cities where they don’t know lacrosse,” Josh Currier said. “You definitely have pride playing in Peterborough. Being a Laker has been huge for me.’’
‘Boro boys in the NLL this season include the Curriers, Vitarelli, Jake Withers, Eric Shewell, Brock Sorensen, Turner Evans, Robert Hope, Brad Self, Bryce Sweeting and Shawn Evans. Other NLL players who played for the 2017 Lakers: Mark Steenhuis, Chad Tutton, Adam Jones, Tom Hoggarth, Kyle Buchanan, Dylan Evans Ian Llord, Nick Weiss, Evan Kirk and Matt Vinc.