St. James lacrosse pro headed for HOF

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This article was published 21/09/2018 (2788 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The province’s first professional lacrosse player is set to be inducted into the Manitoba Lacrosse Hall of Fame this October. 

St. James native Ryan McNish grew up playing recreation and minor league lacrosse in Winnipeg and was drafted to the National Lacrosse League’s Calgary Roughnecks in 2005. Making it into the Manitoba Hall of Fame is an honour he’s thought about since he was a kid.

“It gave me some idols to look up to,” McNish said over the phone from his home in Edmonton. “To be part of that elite group is something that brings a lot of excitement to me… it’s definitely a huge honour.”

McNish was introduced to the sport through his older brother’s friends and started playing recreationally at Keith Bodley Arena when he was 10 years old. From the beginning, McNish knew it was something he wanted to pursue at a higher level. 

“I really enjoy the physicality but I also enjoyed the hand-eye co-ordination and the eliteness of some of the older players — how they moved the ball was just inspiring to me,” he said. 

Since Manitoba doesn’t have an A-level lacrosse league, it can be hard for local players to break onto the national playing field.

For McNish, the stars aligned when he was recruited to play for Team Manitoba in the Founders Cup, where he was scouted by the Burlington Chiefs junior A team. From there he went on to play four years with the Roughnecks and another three with the Edmonton Rush.

During most of his professional career, McNish also served with the Canadian Air Force. He signed up for the reserves at 17 and joined the regular forces when he graduated high school.

“I definitely think that the discipline and the regimented aspect of the military definitely helped as far as my training went and my dedication to the sport,” he said. 

As a defensive player, McNish was often called “Corporal Punishment” and “McSquish” for his physical style of play. His former Manitoba U18 coach, Rob Gardner, can vouch for the accuracy of those nicknames.

“He was a kickass guy… the other teams would be a little less eager to go to your net with Ryan back there,” Gardner said. “He’s a character, you love him to death and at the same time you’re scared to death of him.”

Gardner is also being inducted into the lacrosse hall this year as a builder and says it’s neat to be nominated with one of his former players — a sentiment shared by McNish.

“He elevated all of his players,” McNish said. “He was the first coach who really took me under his wing and to be inducted in the same year as him is truly exciting.”

The Hall of Fame’s induction ceremony will be held Oct. 14 at 1 p.m. at the Canad Inn Garden City. Anyone interested in tickets can contact ghenkewich@shaw.ca