Warman’s Laine Hruska “on cloud nine” after going in first round of NLL Draft

Laine Hruska is still buzzing after realizing a lifelong dream on Thursday.

“Truly a surreal moment,” Hruska said. “Me and my family have made a lot of sacrifices to get to the point of where I’m at today. Just knowing that all those sacrifices made paid off is just really cool.”

Hruska, a lacrosse goalie from Warman, was selected 13th overall by the Georgia Swarm in the first round of the National Lacrosse League (NLL) Draft Thursday evening.

Hruska is still having trouble comprehending his next lacrosse steps two days after hearing his name called surrounded by family and friends in his backyard.

“It still seems not real almost,” he said. “I’m still kind of on cloud nine about it,”

Originally from Regina, the then hockey and baseball player decided to add lacrosse to the repertoire after seeing an advertisement come across his computer screen as a youngster. Hruska played one season as a player in the peewee ranks before volunteering to switch to goalie after his team’s goalie quit the team. One appearance was all he needed to impress his coach, who told his father that Hruska wouldn’t play another game as a player as long as he was behind the bench.

Jon Paul had a similar reaction the first time he saw Hruska take the net during his two year’s coaching the then 16-year-old with the junior Saskatchewan Swat.

“Laine is one of those generational-type players that has everything from talent to the right attitude towards the game that’s going to help take him to the professional level,” he said. “For a guy his age to have that mindset… it’s pretty impressive as a coach to see that.”

Paul said Hruska’s determination to constantly improve and key in on his weaknesses is something to behold considering he’s 19-year-old. Good positioning, grabbing loose balls and quick lateral movements help, but so do some jaw-dropping performances.

During Hruska’s rookie season, he shutout the Edmonton Blues, a rare feat in a league used to 20 or more goals per game.

“Oh my, it’s going to be tough to beat this kid,” Paul said with a chuckle remembering the performance vividly. “If nobody knows who he is yet, they’re going to know pretty soon.”

Laine Hruska watches the NLL Draft online waiting for his name to be selected on Sept. 17, 2020. (Submitted/Laine Hruska)

Hruska is now the second-highest drafted player from Saskatchewan after Regina-born Casey Zaph was taken seventh overall by Buffalo in 1997.

Hruska left Saskatchewan this past winter to play for the Whitby Steelhawks and get an up-close look at a faster-paced, Ontario-style brand of lacrosse. He ended taking home the rookie of the year award and was named a second-team all-star.

Paul thinks that experience helped Hruska climb draft boards and bring extra attention to lacrosse in Saskatchewan.

“If he didn’t go out to the Arena Lacrosse League maybe he falls a couple of rounds,” Paul said. “But he went out there and he was the best goalie in the league.”

Paul remembers lacrosse’s small beginnings in Saskatchewan when he and a few other friends found it as a way to keep in shape after hockey season. Being involved in the sport all the way from obscurity to seeing a former player be selected in the first round makes him ecstatic for the future.

“It means that Saskatchewan is producing high-level talent and it’s finally starting to get noticed,” Paul said.

“We’re doing things right here. When I first started playing nobody had ever played lacrosse, so the idea of one of us getting drafted in the first round of the NLL was pretty far-fetched. It really makes me proud that we’re able to achieve these things.”

Hruska doesn’t think of himself as a pure, homegrown trailblazer, but he’s happy to do his part to grow his favourite sport in his favourite place.

“I’d really like the kids that are from Saskatchewan to look at what happened and think to themselves that it’s not over, and if they put the work in and push themselves that they can make their dreams come true as well,” Hruska said.