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BORRELLI: A TRIBUTE TO JIM VELTMAN

One of the game's greats to play final game on Sunday

04/21/2008

The numbers are astounding but they're not nearly as impressive as the man inside jersey No. 32 for the Toronto Rock.

Captain Jim Veltman will pull on that uniform for the final time at 1 p.m. Sunday when his team concludes its National Lacrosse League season against the Philadelphia Wings in the Air Canada Centre.

That's a fact, but it is hard for me to come to grips with it.

The 42-year-old transition man will be a part of the Rock coaching staff next season following 16 seasons on the floor that can never be duplicated.

"A lot of guys can look at him as an example of how to do it the right way," said Buffalo captain Rich Kilgour, who was Veltman's teammate for three Bandits championships from 1992-96. "He's that type of guy. You don't play until you're 42 without putting in a lot of work. He's one of the icons of the league and the league is really going to miss him."

Nicknamed "Scoop" for his domination in the loose ball category, "Champ" might be a better moniker.

Veltman will retire with eight championship rings - the last five as a member of his hometown Rock.

"I'm a bit worn down physically and mentally," said Veltman, who grew up in Brampton and is a physical education teacher at Toronto's Agincourt Collegiate Institute. "I have a bit more aches and pains and it takes longer for me to recover than it did before. The guys' interests after the game and the music they listen to are a little different now but the connection on the floor is still there."

Veltman will be playing in the 194th game of his career. He goes into it with 156 goals, 489 assists, 645 points and exactly 2,400 loose balls. That's 624 more than Buffalo's John Tavares, a 17-year veteran who is the NLL career scoring leader and second on the loose ball list.

"Anytime I played against him it was a special night," said Tavares, who has called Veltman his favorite player of all-time to watch. "If I was going to start up a team, I'd have started it with Jimmy Veltman."

The Rock has struggled the past three seasons, compiling a 21-26 record. That makes Veltman's career won-lost record even more remarkable. Teams he's been a member of are 130-73 (64%) during the regular season and 19-6 (76%) in the postseason.

He's been involved in 10 Champion's Cup finals, only twice failing to emerge with a ring.

"I want to be remembered as a guy who was honest in his play and really did leave it all out on the floor," said Veltman. "Not just to the home fans but to fans all over the league. I want them to know I gave my heart and soul to the game to make it better, to make it something we can all be proud of."

Veltman is that way off the floor as well. He's a man of deep faith who put both his teaching and lacrosse careers on hold to help his fellow man.

After five seasons with the Bandits, he and his wife Therese left family and friends and spent a year and a half in Uganda on a humanitarian mission as aids in establishing schools.

Long before the Internet became a way of life, the Veltmans were cut off from North American civilization. They slept behind mosquito nets and often operated without electric power. Jim received updates about his old team through the mail. How he and his wife sacrificed to help people they'd never met before is what I'll long remember.

Even more than his infectious smile in the winning locker room of three Buffalo title teams, how he once scored an overtime goal off the opening faceoff to beat the Bandits in HSBC Arena, how he put his Rock teammates on his back and said "follow me" during a championship game victory in 2003 at Rochester, or the tears he shed for a dying friend following his last title game triumph.

When Veltman returned to Canada, he found himself without a teaching job but part of a new organization. The Ontario Raiders, who were based in Hamilton, had become the first NLL team in Canada. They held his territorial rights and alongside longtime friend and head coach Les Bartley, Veltman set out to make that team a winner.

Coming back home didn't stop the Veltmans from making a difference in the community. Their next endeavor was six months of helping street people get back on their feet in the toughest and most crime-riddled part of downtown Vancouver.

In 1999, the Raiders moved down the Queen Elizabeth Way to Maple Leaf Gardens. Five championships in seven years followed for the Toronto Rock, the last coming in 2005, on the day before Bartley died of colon cancer after a courageous battle.

Seldom did the Hall of Fame coach's face fail to light up when one of his favorite subjects - his captain - was approached. Veltman still gets emotional speaking of his mentor, both in lacrosse and life. I'm sure the coach will be in Jim's thoughts and his heart on Sunday afternoon.

"The game has done a lot for me," said Veltman. "I hope it's reciprocal."

He need not worry.

Veltman's career has touched players, fans and coaches.

"I had the opportunity to coach Jim in 1998 with the Canadian National Team," said Wings coach Dave Huntley. "It was the first chance I had to get to know him on a personal level. I'm excited he'll be on the floor Sunday and that I'll be on the bench. He's really just saying goodbye to one part of his career and hello to another."

Portland LumberJax coach and general manager Derek Keenan was the leading scorer on Buffalo's 1992 championship team.

"I think he has been an ambassador for the game," said Keenan, who spent his final two seasons as a player alongside Veltman. "He was such a great teammate. He is a special player who has a gift that I don't think a lot of guys have in this game. He can figure things out before they happen, which puts him in the right place at the right time. His leadership has gone unmatched."

Veltman - who has traveled to Brazil, Egypt, Japan, Australia, Thailand and Holland, and speaks Dutch, French as well as a bit of Swahili he learned while in Uganda - is looking forward to the opportunity to spend more time with his wife, son Kristopher and daughter Sara.

He's also already looking forward to his next lacrosse challenge.

"I want to develop properly as a coach," he said. "It probably takes a year or two behind the bench and I'm excited."

It will be hard for Veltman the coach to outdo Veltman the player.

But I've learned over the past 17 years to never say never when it comes to Jim Veltman.

"He's a sure first-ballot Hall of Famer," said Kilgour. "He's a nice guy who isn't dirty and he doesn't ever do anything to make you mad at him. But he plays hard and you know he's going to be coming all night, every night. That's what makes him great."

That and so much more.

--Tom Borrelli/Special to NLL.com