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Stealth earn three finalist nominations

Vancouver falls shot in National Lacrosse League voting for most valuable player, teammate of the year and coach of the year
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Vancouver Stealth forward Corey Small was a finalist for the National Lacrosse League’s most valuable player award. Small was second in the league with 46 goals and third with 111 points, both of which were career highs. Gary Ahuja Langley Times

Three members of the Vancouver Stealth were finalists in their respective categories for the National Lacrosse League year-end awards, but all three were stymied by candidates of the Georgia Swarm.

Corey Small, Joel McCready and Jamie Batley each made the top three.

Small was up for most valuable player after finishing second in the league with 46 goals and third with 111 points. The award went to Georgia’s Lyle Thompson.

In the NLL’s teammate of the year category, McCready fell short of Swarm goaltender Mike Poulin. McCready won the award in 2015 and was a finalist in 2016.

And leading the Stealth to the NLL post-season for the first time since the team moved to Langley four seasons ago was not enough to get Batley past Georgia’s Ed Comeau, who guided the Swarm to their first-ever Champion’s Cup.

Batley, who took over behind the Vancouver partway through the 2016 season, guided Vancouver back to the post-season with a 9-9 record.

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Vancouver Stealth’s Joel McCready was a finalist for the National Lacrosse League’s teammate of the year award. McCready won the award in 2015 and has been a finalist the past two seasons. Gary Ahuja Langley Times
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Vancouver Stealth head coach Jamie Batley was a finalist for the NLL’s coach of the year award. photo courtesy of Vancouver Stealth