The older brother to one of the NLL’s biggest stars, Garrett McIntosh has had a pretty successful career of his own so far.
A third-round draft pick by the Roughnecks in 2013, the 6-foot-3 defender has suited up for at least 10 games in each of his four seasons with the team and has recorded 18 points (10g, 8a) and 128 loose balls during that time.
We spoke with McIntosh about his brother Ben, an offensive standout with the Saskatchewan Rush, the hardest player to cover and more.
On how he started playing lacrosse:
“My parents put me in the sport, my dad played when he was growing up. When I was four years old, he signed me up for some lacrosse and my grandparents were big into lacrosse, so it was a family thing. I got into it and excelled at it.”
“No one ever pushed me to make it there, but it was always a dream of mine. Just playing and loving the sport and then when the Vancouver Ravens came, it gave me the realization that I could play pro one day. It’s like how kids grow up watching their favourite NHL team, but I grew up watching my favourite lacrosse team, which was the Ravens. From there, I kept going and going and going.”
On his brother Ben:
“It’s definitely fun. It’s something not a lot of people get to do, so it’s nice when we get to square off against each other. It’s nice when one of us – well, when I win. It’s a lot nicer when I win. But it’s good to see each other playing a sport that we grew up playing together on a professional level.”
On his stick set-up:
“I use a stick that was strung up by Dan MacRae last year and I think it’s the same head as last year. If a stick is throwing well for me, I use it until it’s busted. Something has to break for me to change my head. I don’t like change too much. I have a deep, mid pocket and the stick is a Warrior Charge, or something like that.”
On the hardest player to cover:
“I don’t even know. No one is easy to cover.
“Well, my brother is pretty hard to cover. This is hard. Maybe Kasey Beirnes? He’s hard to cover. The small, quick guys are hard to cover. They’re running everywhere and they’re cutting through and the grinders, they’re hard to cover as well.”
On the league’s best trash talker:
“Geoff Snider … well he’s not around anymore.”
“The best trash talker I’ve ever heard was Geoff Snider. Shawn Evans is good, too.”
On if the playoff push affects preparation:
“Preparation, I don’t change at all. You’ve got to keep things the same. It’s just like any other game. When you get to the playoff level, you don’t really want to change much. You got there working hard and doing the things your good at and so you don’t change too much. I’m pretty superstitious, I like to eat the same meal and same routine every game, so I eat my banana and peanut butter about 10 minutes before warm-up and my pre-workout routine is the same. Everything is mostly the same, but the focus goes up and the intensity goes up, but most everything else stays the same.
On the mindset in the locker-room:
“The mentality in the room is to stay the course, keep playing hard, and we know what’s been working for us the last couple of games and that’s what we’ve got to keep bringing to the rest of our games. Buffalo is our next challenge. We’ve got to bring the hard work, the effort, and keep achieving our goals that we’ve set in front of us, such as little things like loose balls and changes and stuff like that.”
On his favourite lacrosse memory:
“Favourite memory in lacrosse is winning the Minto Cup in 2010 in Coquitlam. We beat Orangeville. I think Greg Harnett might have been on that team at that time.”
“Until we win the championship here, that’s the best memory.”
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