12.3°C Cloudy 
- Elite wrap up 2011 season
- Elite drop home closer 7-3
- Prasad to give 'tending another shot for Elite
- Elite pull out a point with just two lines
- Elite score lots, but run out of gas against Cudas
- Elite score lots, but run out of gas against Cudas
- Battered Elite notch first victory
- Elite set to host Cudas, Wranglers
- Ismond's four-point night leads Ice to OT win
- Ice take series lead with Game 3 OT win
- Ice take forward in Bantam draft
- Ed Chynoweth Cup on the line as WHL final begins in Oregon
- Hollisters off to prep school in North Carolina
- Rennich makes local lacrosse history, Team B.C.
- Brothers Hollister field first lacrosse scholarship offers
- Field lacrosse finding young Cranbrook converts
- Locals excited for Cranbrook lacrosse camp
- Brothers Hollister set to impress U.S. lacrosse scouts
- Final-game Elite comeback hits the wall
- Nelson hopes to return for Elite’s final weekend at home
- Shorthanded Elite nearly hand Sun Devils a rare loss
- Dean paces Elite to victory over Axemen
- Elite tapped to help with security for local ZZ Top shows
- Elite gut out season’s first win over T-Cudas
- Elite make discipline progress during homestand
So begins another season of Tier II junior B lacrosse in Cranbrook.
The Elite are set to start the 2011 campaign this weekend, with games against the Medicine Hat Sun Devils (7 p.m. Saturday) and the Strathmore Venom (2 p.m. Sunday). Both will be played at the Memorial Arena.
The Rocky Mountain Lacrosse League team had been scheduled to play all of its home games at the Rec Plex, but that pesky sheet of ice isn't going anywhere with a certain other junior team four rounds deep in the Western Hockey League playoffs.
"I'm okay with the Kootenay Ice hanging around a little bit longer. That's certainly fine by me," said head coach Ron Miles.
The Elite's practice floor was chock full this week, with several athletes trying out lacrosse for the first time.
"How we're going to work them into the lineup is going to be the curious part of it," said Miles, who is bracing for a drastic shortage of left-handed shots.
"In lacrosse, it's far more important to balance your lines than hockey," said Miles. "That is going to be a struggle for us because it's much more difficult to play on the floor when you don't have that proper balance. It's harder to set up plays."
The Elite are bringing a few players back, as Morgan Brown, Caleb Ross and former captain Kyle Lomon did not play last year.
Brown gives the team a potent goaltending duo paired with Joel Fruncillo. They will have more on their collective plate this year as the RMLL goes to National Lacrosse League-sized nets, which are six inches wider than the old ones.
"That's probably going to open up some more scoring - hopefully for us too," said Miles. "That's a lot of net to add, and it's going to make the goalie's job tougher."
Big guns Dave Nesbitt and Mike Nelson will look to make a splash after missing most of last season with injuries.
"They're back and healthy, and that's going to make a huge difference," said Miles. "Us just picking up those two guys alone is really going to help us.
"It should be an interesting year. I won't know until we're three or four games in. We're certainly not ready to go. There's no doubt about that, but that's always one of the difficulties about lacrosse: you've got to wait for the ice to come out before you get going."
