Hall of Fame Series-Dwight Maetche

Dwight Maetche

Commitment leads to a Stellar

Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame Career

Dwight Maetche began playing competitive lacrosse in 1972 at the peewee level. He played one season of Junior “B” in Alberta in 1979 before moving to Burnaby, British Columbia where he played Junior “A” for the 1980 and 1981 seasons. Dwight was drafted in 1982 by the Western Lacrosse Association Vancouver Burrards. Dwight felt he did not have the pedigree to compete with some of the other goalies. He decided he was going to “need to be the fittest goalie he could be and to outwork them all”. His commitment to being the very best he could, resulted in an outstanding career with Dwight eventually being inducted into the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame.

Standing 6 feet tall and weighing 195 pounds, Dwight Maetche was one of the most spectacular and entertaining goalies in the game. His accomplishments included winning two Mann Cup championships with the Victoria Shamrocks and being the recipient of numerous All-Star and Most Valuable Player awards. He played 376 games of Canadian Senior based lacrosse, collecting 317 points including scoring a goal. Dwight also played ten years in the National Lacrosse League. After a stellar career as a player, Dwight remains involved in the game serving as the goalie coach for the NLL Vancouver Warriors.

Dwight Maetche

Goaltender Coach

Vancouver Warriors

Photo Source: Vancouver Warriors

1. When did you first begin playing lacrosse? 

I think I was eleven or twelve when I started playing. My mother worked for the provincial government of Alberta in Parks and Recreation. She heard about this sport called lacrosse and the government was putting on an information session. She thought it looked interesting and suggested I go. I had been playing baseball at the time and didn’t find it exciting enough.

2. What compelled you to become a goalie in lacrosse? 

I was a hockey goalie starting at the age of eight or nine. I always loved the goalie equipment, especially the goalie stick in hockey first, then lacrosse.

3. Which person(s) taught you the most in regard to goaltending? 

Without a doubt the most influential person over the course of my career is Dave Evans, but I didn’t actually start with him. Growing up in Edmonton it was a man named Doug Walkey. He was a goalie that had moved to Edmonton from Ontario. He taught me the basics. I remember seeing him come to one of our practices with bruises all up and down his arms. If I remember correctly, he said he forgot his arm pads for a Senior “B” practice. I was very impressed!

I should also mention Warren Renden. He was my coach along with others, who had a great impact on my development in Alberta. He believed in me. Also, Dan Mattinson from Burnaby who took a chance on a no name kid from Alberta. He also believed in me. Considering they were the three-time defending champs of the Minto Cup, that was a bold move!

4. Who are your favourite goalies?  Did you model yourself after any particular goalie? 

When I played as a youth there was a goalie a few years older than named Barry Mullback. I looked up to him for two reasons; 1) he was playing with the older guys which automatically made him good, 2) he drove a Trans Am car!

When I moved to BC in junior I played for Burnaby Cablevision, who had just won their third Minto Cup in a row. The goalie I was replacing was Rod Banister who had graduated to senior. There was no way I was going to be able to become a goalie like that, so I decided the only way I could compete was to out work all the other goalies.

Another goalie I really respected is Dallas Eliuk. He followed me in Burnaby after I graduated to senior. He ended up playing senior lacrosse for the Richmond Outlaws. This was a new expansion team and as a result he just got pummelled with shots every night. He and I played against and together for the better part of 15 years. I would rate him as the best goalie of my time playing.

5. How would you describe or assess Dwight Maetche the lacrosse goalie?What were his strengths? What were his weaknesses? 

I would say my strengths are my willingness to prepare, both physically and mentally. I would like to think of myself as a good teammate but I don’t really know about that one?

I would judge myself as average talent wise, but I tried to make up for that with work ethic. From pure goaltending criteria I think I was probably too jumpy and reacted too quickly to fakes. I also think I was probably too up and down emotionally. I was pretty intense and I think sometimes that got the better of me.

6. How do you think your teammates would describe Dwight Maetche as a goalie? 

That’s a tough one. My desire was to earn the respect of my teammates by demonstrating my commitment to them and the team. I wanted but also needed them to want to play hard in front of me.  I think there were times when they would look at me as a good goalie, but I also think there were times when they probably would have liked me to just settle down and remain calm. That was difficult for me.

7. How do you think opposition players would assess Dwight Maetche as a goalie? 

For me I didn’t care what the opposition players thought of me. I wanted them to know I was prepared do whatever it takes to win. AKA, stay away from my crease or you risk getting a whack from me!

8. Who were the most skilled team(s) you played with? 

Victoria Shamrocks 2003. I was fortunate enough to get traded to Victoria part way through the season. They brought me in as a backup to Matt Roik. Our roster had John Tavares, Jim Veltman, Andy Turner, Lewis Ratcliff, Darren Reisig, Blaine Manning etc., where do I stop? The whole team was loaded. I was just along for the ride.

9. Who were the best player(s) you ever played with? 

John Tavares. He came to the Vancouver Burrards as a first-year senior player. I remember when he first came out to practice. He did stuff that just amazed me. He had such incredible control of his stick. But what made him the best was he made everybody around him better. He deflected the attention away from himself. He was just such an unassuming teammate.

No 2 is Dan Dawson. I played with him in 2005 Victoria Shamrocks. That year we were a skilled team that didn’t have the toughest lineup (except for Chris Kinnear). The other teams, particularly Peterborough in the Mann Cup, tried to take Dan out of the game physically. I was amazed at the pounding he took for the sake of the team. He’s a pretty tough guy and could have answered the bell but he just took it, which allowed us to win the Mann Cup. His leadership during that series made a lasting impression of me. He’s not only a great player, but a great person too.

10. Who is the teammate player(s) you respected the most? 

I played senior twenty-some years. That’s a lot of players. In the early part of my adult career would be Doug Hayes, Dan Perreault, midway through my career (90’s) I became the senior player on my teams, so it’s kind of difficult, but later in my career (2000’s) I would say the young guys who seemed to have a real grasp on what it’s all about, Dan Dawson, although I really respected Darren Reisig too.

11. The one player you would definitely want on your team? 

John Tavares

12. Who were the most skilled team(s) you played against? 

Victoria Shamrocks, late 90’s. Except for a year or two when we (North Shore Indians) had Paul Gait, they had both Gaits (I think?) plus all the home-grown talent as well. The 80’s and early 90’s were the Salmonbellies, but they were more tough than skilled in my books.

13. Who were the best player(s) you ever played against? 

Kevin Alexander was by far the most skilled player I faced. His hands were so quick and his shot so accurate. When he had the ball, I just hoped it would hit me. I couldn’t react fast enough to stop his shot.

14. Who is the opposition player(s) you respected the most? 

Most of my attention would have been directed at the goal scorers. The guys that took a beating but yet still kept coming. Danny Stroup was one of those guys. I played with him as a rookie and against him for a number of years.

15. The one player you hated playing against? 

Kevin Alexander. But I also loved playing against him because he was such a great player. He’s a guy that deserved more recognition for actually how great he was.

16. The toughest series – win or lose – you ever experienced? 

Funny but I don’t remember much about my long-ago series. Perhaps that’s because I didn’t win until I was 42. I would say the 2005 Mann Cup was tough, just because Peterborough wanted to engage us in a battle that we weren’t willing to take part in.

17. Name Dwight Maetche’s personal All-Star team? (from your era) 

Dallas Eliuk

John Tavares

Dan Dawson

Kevin Alexander

Geordie Dean

Brodie Merrill

18. Are there any particular lacrosse memories (fond or not so fond) you want to share?

When I started playing lacrosse in Edmonton, lacrosse really was a non-existent sport in the public eye. As a result, very little attention was given to the sport by most parents except my mother (hockey was the big thing). I was able to have fun with my friends without the pressure to be a high-level player in the sport. We were just a bunch of kids having fun. Even though we were not “A” level caliber teams, we bonded as kids and had fun. That sparked my love for the sport. Every year we would travel to BC to play against better quality teams. Those road trips were always so much fun.

19. Your thoughts when you were inducted into the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame – Class of 2013?

It’s funny because coming from Alberta to play lacrosse in British Columbia I always felt that I didn’t quite belong. All these guys in BC had so much more going for them, top level competition, better skills, better natural ability, better coaching. And yet here I am getting recognized for something that I loved to do but yet never really felt I was good enough to be a part of that group. To this day I’m not really sure I belong to that group. There are so many players that are more deserving than me. I never played for the recognition and so I’m a little uncomfortable talking about it.

20.  If you could wave a magic wand, are there any aspects of the current game you would change?

I would like to see a way to get the goalies into smaller equipment. I totally respect the goalies who are successful playing a blocker style, because the rules allow for that. But I would also like to see more athleticism in the position. I think we have lost that.

21. How did you end up playing as long as you did?

When I arrived from Edmonton to Burnaby in the spring of 1980, I was put up with one of the players on the team named Steve Lelune. The first thing he did was say let’s go for a run. Well, it didn’t go so well for me and I realized that if I wanted to play at this level, I am going to need to find a way to compete. Because I didn’t have the pedigree of all the other goalies in British Columbia, I decided that I was going to need to be the fittest goalie and my plan was to outwork them all. That ending up being the reason I played as long as I did. Because if I had been naturally good, I would never have been physically able to play that long. 

Dwight Maetche – Vancouver Ravens – Another GREAT Save!

BY DENNIS MILES /Dennis Miles Photography

DWIGHT MAETCHE

WESTERN LACROSSE ASSOCIATION CAREER

       BORN: PORTLAND, OREGON, DECEMBER 16, 1960

       HT. 6'0"      WT. 195 LB.             THROWS - RIGHT

                         REGULAR SEASON                        PLAYOFFS

                         --------------                        --------

    YEAR     TEAM     LEAGUE     GP  GO  ASS  PTS  PIM  -  GP GO ASS PTS PIM

    ---- ------------ ------     --  --  ---  ---  ---  -  -- -- --- --- ---

    1978 SHERWOOD PK  ALB SR B & STATS UNAVAILABLE      -  STATS UNAVAILABLE

    1980 BURNABY      BCLA JR A  24   0   11   11    0  -  STATS UNAVAILABLE

    1981 BURNABY      BCLA JR A  23   0   17   17    6  -  11  0  11  11   0

    1981 COQUITLAM    WLA SR A    1   0    0    0    0  -     DID NOT PLAY

    1982 VANCOUVER    WLA SR A    9   0    8    8    0  -   3  0   3   3   2

    1983 VANCOUVER    WLA SR A   16   0   13   13    4  -  12  0  12  12  17

    1984 VANCOUVER    WLA SR A   19   0   25   25    4  -     DID NOT PLAY

    1985 VANCOUVER    WLA SR A   21   0   17   17    9  -     DID NOT PLAY

    1986 VANCOUVER    WLA SR A   17   0   17   17    6  -   7  0   6   6   4

    1988 VANCOUVER    WLA SR A   22   0   19   19   14  -   5  0   1   1   0

    1989 VANCOUVER    WLA SR A   19   0   14   14   14  -   5  0   7   7   0

    1990 VANCOUVER    WLA SR A    5   0    4    4   15  -   8  0  13  13   6

    1991 VANCOUVER    WLA SR A    7   0    6    6   13  -   4  0   4   4   0

    1992 VANCOUVER    WLA SR A   16   0   22   22   14  -     DID NOT PLAY

    1993 NORTH SHORE  WCLL SRB & STATS UNAVAILABLE      -  STATS UNAVAILABLE

    1994 NORTH SHORE  WLA SR A   16   0   12   12   23  -     DID NOT PLAY

    1995 NORTH SHORE  WLA SR A   24   0   12   12   19  -     DID NOT PLAY

    1996 NORTH SHORE  WLA SR A   18   0   19   19    6  -   9  0   9   9  24

    1997 NORTH SHORE  WLA SR A   12   0   16   16    2  -  10  0   8   8   9

    1998 NORTH SHORE  WLA SR A    3   0    1    1    2  -   2  0   2   2   0

    1999 NORTH SHORE  WLA SR A   18   0   11   11   15  -   4  0   4   4   0

    2000 OKANAGAN     WLA SR A    2   0    1    1    0  -     DID NOT PLAY

    2001 OKANAGAN     WLA SR A   14   0   14   14    7  -     DID NOT PLAY

    2002 NORTH SHORE  WLA SR A   11   0    5    5   32  -     DID NOT PLAY

    2003 NORTH SHORE  WLA SR A    3   1    1    2    0  -     DID NOT PLAY

    2003 VICTORIA     WLA SR A    2   0    2    2    0  -   7  0   5   5   0

    2005 VICTORIA     WLA SR A    8   0    1    1    2  -   5  0   0   0   0

    2006 VICTORIA     WLA SR A    7   0    2    2    0  -     DID NOT PLAY

    2007 MAPLE RIDGE  WLA SR A    5   0    0    0    0  -     DID NOT PLAY

    ---- ------------ ---------- -- ---  ---  ---  ---  -  -- -- --- --- ---

      PRO/MAJOR/SENIOR TOTALS   295   1  242  243  201  -  81  0  74  74  62

              JUNIOR A TOTALS     0   0    0    0    0  -  11  0  11  11   0

    1978 - STATS ACCUMULATED WITH SHERWOOD PARK CAPITALS OF ALBERTA

             SENIOR B LACROSSE LEAGUE NOT INCLUDED IN FINAL TOTALS

    1980 - VOTED TO 1ST ALL-STAR TEAM IN B.C.L.A. JUNIOR A SERIES

    1981 - VOTED TO 1ST ALL-STAR TEAM IN B.C.L.A. JUNIOR A SERIES

    1983 - WINNER OF W.L.A. SENIOR A THREE STAR AWARD

    1988 - WINNER OF COMMISSION TROPHY AS MOST VALUEABLE PLAYER IN

              W.L.A. SENIOR A REGULAR SEASON

    1986, 1988, 1989, 1995 AND 1996 - WINNER OF LEO NICHOLSON MEMORIAL

       TROPHY AS MOST VALUABLE GOALKEEPER AWARD IN W.L.A. SENIOR A SERIES

    1986, 1988, 1989, 1995 AND 1996 - VOTED TO 1ST ALL-STAR TEAM IN

             W.L.A. SENIOR A SERIES

    1983 AND 1992 - VOTED TO 2ND ALL-STAR TEAM IN W.L.A. SENIOR A SERIES

    1993 - VOTED TO 1ST ALL-STAR TEAM IN WEST COAST SENIOR B LACROSSE    LEAGUE

    1993 - TOP GOALTENDER IN WEST COAST SENIOR B LACROSSE LEAGUE

    2003 - MEMBER OF CANADIAN MANN CUP CHAMPION VICTORIA SHAMROCKS TEAM

    2005 - MEMBER OF CANADIAN MANN CUP CHAMPION VICTORIA SHAMROCKS TEAM

DWIGHT MAETCHE

NATIONAL LACROSSE LEAGUE CAREER