A blockbuster trade usually leaves plenty of room for second guessing.
But five months after being part of a deal that rocked the National Lacrosse League, neither Colin Doyle nor the Washington Stealth have any regrets.
Doyle, the Stealth’s former captain, is the leading scorer for the Toronto Rock, the team that plays Washington on Saturday in the NLL Champion’s Cup at Comcast Arena.
Prior to this year, Doyle spent three seasons as a member of the Stealth, who relocated to Everett from San Jose, Calif., last June.
The 6-foot-3, 215-pound forward — a 13-year NLL veteran and the league’s leading scorer in 2009 with the Stealth — couldn’t relocate his family to the Northwest, nor could he stomach another season of 5,000-mile round trips from his home in Kitchener, Ontario.
So the 32-year-old Doyle, who started his career with the Ontario Raiders in 1998 (the Raiders became the Rock in 1999), asked the Stealth to trade him to a team closer to home.
“One of the toughest decisions was to make the call to actually ask for a trade because realistically I had been a part of something with the Stealth for three years and I thought we were getting awfully close to being able to take a run at a championship,” Doyle said.
The Stealth lost in the 2009 West Division finals to eventual champion Calgary.
“I seriously thought about trying to travel for one more year to see if we could win a championship …,” Doyle said, “It was really bittersweet, it wasn’t an easy decision to make by any stretch of the imagination.”
Doyle’s trade request presented the recently relocated Stealth with a dilemma: How to find fair market value for a five-time NLL champion, three-time Champion’s Cup Most Valuable Player, 2005 league MVP and team cornerstone.
Washington talked with Toronto and another East Division team in order to help Doyle — a seventh- and eighth-grade substitute teacher in Waterloo, Ontario — find a roster spot closer to his wife, Stacey, and 21/2-year-old daughter, Brooklyn.
On Dec. 14, 2009, four weeks before Washington’s debut in Comcast Arena, the Stealth granted Doyle’s wish, shipping him to Toronto for forwards Lewis Ratcliff and Joel Dalgarno, and defender Tyler Codron.
“It was a tough decision,” Stealth head coach Chris Hall said. “The struggle was ‘How do you give up a Colin Doyle and get equality in return?’ But we did in that we got Lewis (Ratcliff) and we got two great young players in Joel Dalgarno on offense and Tyler Codron on defense. It really did turn out to be a great trade because all three of those players played for us in the West Division final (a 12-11 victory over Edmonton).”
Ratcliff, who lives in Victoria, B.C., ended up leading the league with 46 goals during the regular season and finished second in total points (97) behind Calgary’s Josh Sanderson (104).
The deal worked out for Toronto, too.
Doyle led the Rock to the East Division title, scoring 84 points during the regular season (22 goals, 62 assists). He ranks third all-time in the NLL with 1,049 career points (406 goals, 643 assists).
“We were just very fortunate that the deal went through,” Toronto Rock assistant coach and general manager Terry Sanderson said. “We knew it was going to be tough on Lewis to travel back and forth even though that’s part of the makeup of our league. I’m sure Washington was happy with their end of it and we’re happy about how things turned out for us.”
At the time, the trade received mixed reviews.
“I was disappointed that (Colin) was gone because he’s a game-breaker, but I knew our team would be in good shape,” Stealth forward Jeff Zywicki said. “As it turns out, I think we’ve been better with those (three) guys.”
NLLInsider.com writer Paul Tutka said the trade gave each team exactly what it needed.
“All the guys involved in the deal are such different players that it’s hard to match them up head-to-head,” he said. “I think both teams got what they needed, Toronto an on-and-off-floor leader that the franchise has been sorely lacking … Washington another big gun up front to give their offense more versatility, as well as some very, very good depth and youth at either end of the floor.”
But did anyone actually think it would come to this — the two major components of the trade helping their teams reach the Champion’s Cup?
“Trades don’t always do that (work out both ways),” Sanderson said. “This is just one of those cases where it did and it’s very unique that we’re ending up playing one another for the championship.”
While Doyle is making his 12th consecutive trip to the postseason, Ratcliff and Co. have helped Washington reach the NLL final in its first season in its new home.
“If there has to be a winner in a trade, then I guess you have to go about (judging) it in a different way,” Doyle said. “I think both franchises are in better positions than they were last year and I think if you ask either part, they’re both happy with what they’ve got.”
Doyle is pleased to see the Stealth enjoying success in their new home, even if he’s not around to enjoy it.
“There was no ill will when I left the Stealth organization so I’m so happy to see them having success,” he said. “I certainly don’t hold anything against anybody there or any of the players I was traded for.
“It’s pretty neat to see them in the championship game.”
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
