It’s easy to suggest the Christian Del Bianco trade is working out just fine for the Vancouver Warriors.
The Warriors’ 12-10 triumph over the host Toronto Rock Friday night marked their fifth straight win since landing the Del Bianco from the Calgary Roughnecks in a trade deadline blockbuster and clinched the Vancouver franchise just its second playoff berth in the past 11 National Lacrosse League seasons.
Furthermore, if Vancouver (10-7) beats the Philadelphia Wings (6-10) in their regular season finale next Saturday at Rogers Arena they secure home-floor advantage for the single elimination quarterfinal round.
This is a massive opportunity to win over mainstream fans, particularly with the Vancouver Canucks officially out of the playoffs. The Canucks, of course, bought the lacrosse team in 2018 — then known as the Vancouver Stealth — and moved them from the Langley Events Centre to Rogers Arena in the midst of giving them a new monicker and new look.
The Canucks brass recruited Curt Malawsky away from the Roughnecks to be coach and general manager. The Warriors then landed several of the top free agents on the market — defenders Matt Beers, Ryan Dilks and Jeff Cornwall, and forward Kevin Crowley. And then they spent heavily to bring in Del Bianco, trading highly regarded young defender Brayden Laity plus two first-round picks to Calgary.
“Obviously, that’s what you play for as a competitor,” Warriors forward Keegan Bal, 33, told the Toronto Sun in regards to clinching a postseason berth Friday.
“As an athlete, I want to play in the most important games which are the playoffs. We had some tough years but we all stuck with it. The reward is that much sweeter.”
The 2017 Stealth were the last incarnation of the franchise to make the playoffs. The club was 29-74 going into this year in the six regular seasons that followed that. Just getting into the postseason this time around seemed like a credible No. 1 goal for the season. Now, it feels like they’re capable of doing some damage in these playoffs.
The Warriors are playing with more swagger since adding Del Bianco, the 2023 NLL most valuable player.
Their transition game is improved, both because of the way Del Bianco moves the ball and how much confidence he gives the group to take more chances.
The enhanced transition game is also taking pressure off the offence, and they aren’t having the cold spells they had earlier in the regular season.
Aden Walsh had the Vancouver net prior to the trade, and the 24-year-old showed well. He looked like he deserved a spot in the top third of starters in this league. Del Bianco is in the conversation for best goalie in the league. He’s in the conversation for best player.
Del Bianco was sitting out from the Roughnecks, telling them that he had grown tired of travelling every week of the season from his Lower Mainland home, and that he wanted to play in Vancouver.
It didn’t look like a trade was going to happen. There was no deal at the dispersal draft or at the entry draft or just after training camp. The swap was announced well after the official last bell for the trade deadline, which makes you think that it went down to the very last minute.
Del Bianco called his shot, and he’s delivered. He leads all NLL goalies with 300 or more minutes in goals against average (9.40) and save percentage (81.2 per cent).
Toronto scored the final four goals on Friday cutting into what had been a 12-6 Warrior lead.
Adam Charalambides had four goals and eight points for the Warriors. Keegan Bal added two goals and seven points.
(Photo of Christian Del Bianco and Adam Charalambides courtesy of the Vancouver Warriors )
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