In lacrosse, the difference between good and great is often in subtle adjustments, and for over a decade, Mike Chanenchuk made a living by capitalizing on those minor details. With a unique shooting windup — hiding his hands behind his head or body — his release froze even the league's best goalies. He didn't just score; he deceived. 

Now, as the Maryland Whipsnakes midfielder hangs up his cleats after an 11-year career, goalies around the league can finally breathe a sigh of relief. Chanenchuk ends his career with 298 points (178G, 32T, 88A), leaving him tied for fifth all-time in two-point goals scored. 

Yet those stats only tell part of his story because, for opposing goalies, what mattered most about Chanenchuk was how the shot got there. 

"I hope he misses the cage,” former Whipsnakes goalie Brian Phipps joked when asked how to anticipate Chanenchuk’s windup. “There was no rhyme or reason to where he would put the ball; he would mix it up, which made him not a scoutable shooter, and you would see that with his highlight goals. … 

"He can go near, far, high and low, and his form looks exactly the same every time on his release point. I was happy to play with him more so than against him.”

What makes @PLLWhipsnakes midfielder Mike Chanenchuk so dangerous? He can shoot it high or low from the exact same release pic.twitter.com/m8J8P7mxGE

— Adam Lamberti (@atlamberti) June 3, 2024

What set Chanenchuk apart from other great scorers was not his power but his timing and precision. He figured out how to disguise his hands in his windup to manipulate goalies and defenders alike, and no one knows this better than Chanenchuk's former Whipsnakes teammate and goalie, Kyle Bernlohr, who saw more of Chanenchuk's shots than anyone in his professional and collegiate career. 

"He doesn't twist the way normal shooters do," Bernlohr said. "Even his down-the-alley shot, as well, [with] a lot of guys, you can anticipate when it's coming just because their bodies and their heads turn to the outside. But with him, his chest, and his body, everything stays kind of downhill, which is really weird?"

Without the body torque typically seen in strong shooters, Chanenchuk relied on his powerful forearm strength, combined with a whippy stick, to conceal the head of his stick and the ball before seemingly ripping a shot out of thin air. 

“It is super hard to explain,” Bernlohr said. “I think if anyone stood behind a cage and saw a couple of midfielders run down the alley and shoot, they would be shocked at how different Channy’s shot looks.”

Bernlohr even had a leg up on many other goalies around the league since the two were teammates at the University of Maryland for two years (2013-14). 

"He's been identical since college. His same release has been identical,” Bernlohr said. “If anything, he's gotten stronger, and he's able to just flip his wrist a little more. When he was an upperclassman, I was an underclassman, so I was a scout team goalie and stayed after practice any time those older guys wanted shots. So I got to see his shot a million times in college, and I feel like over college and pro, it's still impossible to track."

“He had great wrists, like a hockey player,” Maryland Whipsnakes head coach Jim Stagnitta marveled when recalling Chanenchuk’s unique shot. “The reason his shooting technique was like that was because he had major back issues in college, so in order to shoot, he had to change his stroke.” 

No matter how many extra shots Bernlohr saw, there was seemingly nothing he could do to stop the ball from ripping into the back of the net. And when Chanenchuk turned pro in 2014, other goalies around the league began to encounter the same issues. 

“His snap is so quick that it is so hard to track if you don’t guess when [the ball] is coming out,” Phipps said. “You just trust your teaching and instincts to try to find that ball at the last second and get a good read on it, but honestly, just hope that he misses.”

Chanenchuk had his breakout year in 2016 with the Charlotte Hounds. He set career highs in points (53), goals (34) and assists (17) as his deceptive shooting form consistently fooled opposing goalies. 

“If you look at the numbers, it illustrates what he was able to do on the field,” said Stagnitta, who coached Charlotte in 2016. “He drew so much attention that it opened up so many other people. He was automatic. He was just that dangerous.”

In 2019, Chanenchuk joined the Whipsnakes with Stagnitta in the PLL’s inaugural season and wasted no time making his mark on Stagnitta’s newest roster. He ranked second on the team with 26 points (15G, 7T, 4A), earning him first-team All-Pro recognition and his first championship ring, all built behind a release that goalies could not figure out. 

“He was able to help me make that transition because we came into a new team, but I still had a handful of guys who played for me in Charlotte, and they were able to help in the transition,” Stagnitta said. “Their message was that ‘Coach Stags is going to push you and have high expectations, and it will be different than what you are used to in pro lacrosse, but I promise if you do the things he asks you to do, we will be successful.’”

Even Bernlohr, who was more familiar with Chanenchuk’s shot than any goalie, still took the time before every game to have Chanenchuk whip five to 10 more from two-point range to build his confidence and feel more comfortable in the cage.  

“I wanted to see the most difficult release point right before the game when you are going to see some hard shots,” Bernlohr said. “If you can see the ball with Channy, you can see the ball with anybody.”

Phipps echoed Bernlohr’s statement while reminiscing about Chanenchuk and Bernlohr’s pregame warmup routine.

“If you can save Channy’s shot in pregame, then you are going to be on and have a good day,” Phipps said. 

Chanenchuk made a name for himself as one of the league's most consistent and dangerous midfield shooters, and in 2023, after an already dominant 10-year career, Chanenchuk showed he still had more in the tank. He totaled 27 points (14G, 3T, 7A) on the way to a second-team All-Pro selection. 

Chanenchuk exits the game as a back-to-back league champion (2019, 2020), two-time All-Pro, five-time All-Star and one of the PLL’s most deceptive shooters. But ask any goalie, and they will tell you his real value was psychological. 

He didn't just shoot. He made you guess wrong. 

“I think he catches a lot of goalies off guard because it comes out a second or two earlier than you would think,” Bernlohr said. “When you combine that with a really strong shot and a really whippy stick, it is impossible to track.” 

He leaves behind a highlight reel and a blueprint of misdirection that the next generation of shooters can only hope to duplicate.

While the Whipsnakes will miss their veteran leader, goalies around the league will rest a little easier at night, knowing they won’t have to face Chanenchuk’s windup any longer.