Steve Milton: NLL record etched in Rock
First, a brief synopsis of Saturday night's formal business. The Rock got off to a slow start, were held to the outside by a structured Georgia Swarm defence and lost 10-6 to tighten the National Lacrosse League East standings.
Second, and far more timelessly, the Rock's Dan Dawson became the league's all-time leader in games played. And four minutes into the third quarter, he notched an assist on one of Zach Manns' three goals to tie for the career lead (934) in setting the table.
Both marks had once been the sole property of the great John Tavares, who was part of a touching video tribute to the 40-year-old Dawson prior to the game that elicited a fulsome ovation from a FirstOntario Kids Night crowd of 8,841.
It was a good ceremony and a great atmosphere in the arena," Rock coach Matt Sawyer said.
But?
We wanted to put on a better performance out there than we did for Dan to truly enjoy that."
Dawson truly did not enjoy the loss, just the Rock's second in their past eight games. But, the Oakville native and Burlington resident was definitely stirred by the pre-game congratulations from past and current teammates and opponents.
It was Dawson's 307th game of a spectacular NLL career that began when the now-gone Columbus Landsharks got a steal with the 68th selection in the draft before the 2002 season. He was the league's MVP in 2009 with Boston, has twice held the single-season's assist mark, won a pair of titles with Rochester Knighthawks and another with the Saskatchewan Rush and has played for NLL teams in 10 different cities including Toronto and Hamilton, as he finally came home to the Rock in 2020.
Is there a better way to cap off my career?" he asked rhetorically, adding that he is in year-to-year decision-making mode and will play as long as his young family agrees to it and as long as he feels he's making vital contributions to his team.
This final chapter of my career I'll be playing out in front of family and friends, 20 minutes from my home in Burlington. I couldn't have thought of a better way to do it."
Perhaps most amazing about Dawson's games-played record is that the six-foot-five, 215-pounder has a power forward motif, especially since transitioning from a goal scorer to more of a feeder. He can score with muscular drives to the net - he has a dozen goals this year and 538 in his career - but more often sets hard picks or cuts boldly into the slashing-hacking inside to draw the physical attention away from Rock shooters like Tom Schreiber. Lacrosse is still an inordinately punishing game in the middle.
Dawson says he's been fortunate that any injuries have usually come just before he's had off-seasons to recover. But, he's also committed to a healthy lifestyle and physical preparation.
I believe to have longevity you need three things. One; you need the family support and I really have that. My wife (Alyse) and I had three sons in 18 months (seven-year-old Theo and five-year-old twins Kai and Brooks) so talk to Alyse about being the real Rock star. She had three babies in her arms and I was going away to play on weekends.
Two, we all have secondary jobs and I'm lucky to be in my 13th year with the Brampton fire department and have great support from them. And three, your body has to co-operate."
His superb NLL resume doesn't even paint the full picture of his endurance. Most NLL players also play summer lacrosse, either on the field or in semi-pro box lacrosse leagues in Ontario or B.C.
Dawson played field for the old Hamilton Nationals in 2011 and won a league championship with them two years earlier in Toronto. He's captured world indoor lacrosse titles and Heritage Cups with Team Canada and went to the world field lacrosse finals.
And before restricting himself to the NLL only four years ago he played 18 years of senior and went to the Mann Cup a stunning nine times and was often playing 60 lacrosse games in a calendar year. So, while he set the NLL mark at 307, he's probably played closer to 900 games of elite-level lacrosse. He says his body feels fine during the games but that it sometimes screams at him the next day.
He says he'll know when it's time to retire, well before anyone else knows it: I don't want to people say, Oh, that's Dan Dawson, I remember when he could play.'"
Dawson took up the game at the age of 11 because his father felt it would help make him a tougher and better hockey player. He ended up switching to lacrosse full time and played junior in Brampton, then began his stellar senior/pro/international career.
I've got to play in a lot of places," he said. Hawaii, Prague, Manchester, Victoria Island, where I met my wife," Dawson says. So, every day when I wake up and see Alyse and the kids, I say, I don't have them without this sport.' I was an insecure young kid from Oakville who takes a stick and gets to travel around the world, and gets paid to do it.
I love it."
Steve Milton is a Hamilton-based sports columnist at The Spectator. Reach him via email: smilton@thespec.com