Player Spotlight

Player Spotlight highlights the finer details and elements while supplying insight to the fans on what a player's thought process may be pertaining to a certain play, game or situation. It brings the intensity, passion, and inner most thoughts of the individual player that otherwise may not be felt or heard.



01/16/02

Ryan O'Connor was on the roster of two NLL championship teams as a semi-regular with the Toronto Rock, but is enjoying a breakout year personally with the Vancouver Ravens. The 23-year-old from New Westminster, B.C, who was acquired by the Ravens in the expansion draft, was fifth in team scoring - 18 goals, 29 assists for 47 points - heading into the final week of the regular season. He talked with Gary Kingston after the Ravens' 17-10 win over the Calgary Roughnecks on March 16.





Question The win over the Roughnecks clinched a playoff berth. How exciting is it to be going to the playoffs as an expansion team?
Answer It's great for Vancouver. The fans are ecstatic about it. Being the first year in the league and clinching a playoff spot before the last game of the regular season, it's just great for the organization.



Question Can this team do some damage in the playoffs?
Answer I think so. We've got a great nucleus of guys. We've got the old, experienced guys giving us good defence. [Goaltender] Dwight [Maetche] is playing unreal right now and we're scoring 17, 18 goals a game lately. We have it all right now.



Question You talked about the wealth of experience. It really seems this team came together when the lineup solidified somewhat, particularly with all the veterans. Ten of your 15 regular runners are 29 or older. How critical has that been to the team's success?
Answer I think you pinpointed it exactly. Once the older guys, the experienced guys, the leaders on the team got healthy, we started really clicking together. At the beginning of the year, we talked about how we just weren't gelling together, how we're not playing as a team. In the last little while, everyone's started playing well together and getting used to each other and we're on a roll here.



Question Talk about your game. Gill, Morgan, Prat get all the notice offensively, but you've quietly, in some respects, put together a pretty solid season?
Answer Every team needs a key goal scorer, like a Gill who's going to score the 40 or 50 a season, but one guy can't win the game. Everyone else has to chip in where they can and I guess I've done that. At the beginning of the year, I was playing a lot of transition and trying to move the ball a lot. I've really been looking to be a feeder, but when I get the opportunities I've been putting the ball in the net a bit, too. The big thing is I've got my chance to play every game here and to really prove myself as a player in this league. [Head coach] Paul [Dal Monte] and the Ravens have realy given me an opportunity and I am proving myself and helping the team out.



Question How does this team measure against those Rock teams you played on?
Answer We're a similar type of team. We've got the veteran leaders, the good matchups - the Gill and Morgan, similar to Doyle and Squire. Hopefully we can be a back-to-back championship team like they were. I had a taste of that and I know winning is addictive. I don't want to stop winning, that's for sure, especially now we're 6-0 in our little run here.



Question Yeah, how important is it now to go into Calgary in the regular season finale and maintain that momentum going into the playoffs?
Answer I think the last game of the season is one of our biggest games. It's not necessary to clinch a spot, but it's going to keep our momentum going into Rochester, or Albany or whoever we're going to be playing in the playoffs. This game is enormous for us to keep us going.



Question There are a number of playoff scenarios at play, but it does look like the Ravens will open in either Albany or Rochester. Ironically, those are the only two teams you haven't faced this season. What do you know about them and do you have a preference as to who you'd like to face?
Answer Yeah, it's interesting because a lot of guys have never seen them play. Rochester and Albany really aren't teams that are on the television games here and game tape is hard to find. But obviously, their records say they're both teams to be reckoned with. It really doesn't matter who we face. We'll just take them as they come to us.



PLPA Correspondent

Gary Kingston covers the Ravens for the Vancouver Sun. He spent the previous six years covering the NBA Vancouver Grizzlies for the Sun and, before that, covered the B.C. Lions for six seasons. He has quickly become a fan of the NLL game and, after dealing with overpaid, whiny and egotistical NBA athletes who had little time for the media, is enjoying talking to the "real" people who play in the NLL.


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