When Joe Tsai, owner of the San Diego Seals, tweets that a game-winning play is the “biggest – and the prettiest – assist/goal in franchise history” it’s hard to ignore.
Not only did the play, that featured forwards Wesley Berg and Tre Leclaire, give the Seals the win, but it ended the Buffalo Bandits’ undefeated streak.
We’ve come to expect plays like that from Berg, captain of the Seals, but it’s time for NLL fans to be aware of Leclaire.
“[Leclaire’s] fast, strong, he can score, he can play defense and stop transition,” said Seals’ defender Cam Holding. “He has such a well-rounded, versatile game and I try to tell him that all the time. I think that he’s going to have some big breakout at some point where he’s definitely on the radar now.”
That big breakout came in the Seals’ second matchup with the Bandits in Week 13. Although the Seals lost, Leclaire had a career game with four goals and one assist.
“Sometimes your shots hit and you start to get… confidence to keep shooting,” Leclaire said. “I was just on the end of some of these goals that night instead of the other night. I think a lot of the attention was kind of towards Wes with the career game he had in Buffalo the week before. A lot of defenders, I think, paid less attention to the other righties in that game and we had some great opportunities to shoot the ball and score.”
(Photo: Alexis Goeller)
The former first-round draft pick of the Seals is now in his fourth active season in the NLL and with 13 points in just five games, he feels like he’s hitting his stride after overcoming some injury adversity early in the season.
“I never really planned to come into the season and play the first game and then be injured for a couple months but I think it’s good to be back in,” he said. “I’m finally starting to grow a little chemistry with some of the newer guys and it’s great to be around the guys again. [It was] a little bit of a bumpy start that you never really expect, but that’s how sports go.”
Leclaire said the toughest part of the injury was sitting at home and being away from his team. He learned not to take anything for granted and his focus remains on “taking advantage of every moment we have this season.”
It’s not a total coincidence that his emergence comes at a time when the Seals have turned over parts of their roster. Despite adding numerous veterans this past offseason, Holding believes some of the roster shakeups have allowed Leclaire to finally get an opportunity to shine as an offensive threat.
January 27, 2024: The San Diego Seals vs the Philadelphia Wings at Wells Fargo Center. (Photo: Heather Barry)
“The last few years, we’ve had so many household names like Dane Dobbie, Curtis Dickson and Wes [Berg],” Holding mentioned. “You’ve got all these big-time players that [Leclaire’s] kind of just operating under and he’s distributing the ball. Now he’s a ball carrier, now he’s shooting more, and we’re really starting to see that he is that guy and he can be a very impactful player for a roster. It was great to see him pop off like that.”
With seven games left this season and the Seals sitting at 5-6, Leclaire said he’s looking forward to contributing any way he can to help his team win.
That starts this week against the Vancouver Warriors (5-6), a team that bested the Seals earlier in the season.
“It’s the season series on the line,” Leclaire said. “We dropped one to them at their home [arena], so I feel like for us, this is a really big one. Going towards the end of the season, we’re going to be away for quite a few games so to build up and get a win here will give us that confidence for the rest of the year.
“They’re a team that’s physical, their defensive side of it. They have a lot of big guys back there and they have a lot of good scoring threats, so I think it’s going to be a pretty competitive game, similar to what Buffalo brought to us last weekend. I think every game from here on out is going to be at that pace because teams are trying to make playoffs right now and it’s so close in the middle of the pack with records. Every game is kind of do-or-die for everyone.”
