There were Canadian skeptics when word made its way north that ESPN analyst Paul Carcaterra was referring to Tom Schreiber as the best lacrosse player in the world.

After all, lacrosse is Canada’s official national summer sport, eh. More than a few star players have and still do grace the country’s fields and arenas. The indoor version, box lacrosse, is a Canadian specialty and national teams have never lost a game in winning gold medals in the four world championships that have been contested.

So, a Yank is the best lacrosse player in the world? Really?

Well, even Canadians might start describing Captain America, as he’s referred to each time he scores a goal in Toronto’s Air Canada Centre, as the best lacrosse player in the world if he keeps wowing audiences with performances like his 12-point binge in a 21-9 Rock victory Saturday over New England. Coach Matt Sawyer is confident there are equally impressive nights to come.

“Tom is getting better each and every game,” Sawyer said. “You have to realize, and I’m just thinking off the top of my head, he’s played about 30 box lacrosse games in his life. I don’t know what his ceiling is as far as points go, but I know that Tom Schreiber is going to be a better box lacrosse player than he is right now, and that’s good for the Toronto Rock.”

Toronto has reeled off four straight wins to draw even at 4-2 with New England atop the NLL East. Rock lefty Adam Jones leads the league scoring race with 45 points, Schreiber is second with 43, and teammate Rob Hellyer is fourth with 38.

“We’re not about individual statistics,” Sawyer said of Schreiber’s ascendency in the scoring race. “We’re about team success, and he’d be the first one to tell you that.”

It’s not just that Schreiber is piling up the points, but it’s the way he’s getting them. Quick footwork and sudden bursts of speed are confounding opposing defensemen. He enters traffic fearlessly. His passes are usually in the exact spot needed. When he shoots, he rarely misses the net. A lot of his goals are spectacular efforts worthy of being repeated in video highlight packages.

Schreiber shrugs off the hype directed towards him. Asked if he could produce even more points, he replied, “I don’t know. I haven’t really thought about it.’’

Schreiber analyzes moves used by star forwards on other teams and tries to incorporate them into his style of play.

“My whole approach since I started playing last year is kind of going week by week and watching different guys play and trying to pick up new things here and there,” he said. “I just take a slow approach and try to steal moves from different guys every week and try to get better. It’s gone pretty well the last few weeks with our team. We’re getting more and more comfortable. We know we have the right guys, and we’ll figure this thing out.”

Getting Jones in a trade with Saskatchewan and reinserting Hellyer, who missed the 2017 season rehabbing from knee surgery, added some high octane to the Rock offense, which has been unstoppable during the winning streak that followed a 0-2 start.

“We just got more comfortable with each other,” Schreiber said. “The effort was never an issue. Guys were always prepared, but things just weren’t going our way. That’s sports. That’s lacrosse. Sometimes bounces don’t go your way.”

Achieving team success “is about keeping an even-keeled attitude and remaining confident,” Schreiber added. “With Robbie coming back and Adam Jones with us now, it’s a whole new outlook. Hopefully, we can keep it rolling. Our whole approach is, it doesn’t matter who’s scoring. However the ball goes into the back of the net, we’ll take it.”

Former Rock star Blaine Manning coaches the offense and deserves some of the credit for the explosion of goals.

“We like our mix right now,” Manning said. “It’s a good mix of athleticism and lacrosse smarts.”

Jones has been the catalyst, and what Schreiber is doing, well, his teammates and coaches have all come to the same conclusion.

“He’s a special player,” Manning said. “He just keeps getting better and better. He’s a super-talented kid. He does everything well. There’s not too many guys you can say that about. He literally does everything well. He’s a great passer. He’s a phenomenal athlete, phenomenal shooter, unselfish, one of our hardest workers. He’s the real deal.”

The best-player tag takes into account Schreiber’s two straight MVP awards in the MLL field loop, his 2017 NLL award as rookie of the year and his dynamic play this season. So, claiming he is the best lacrosse player in the world today is a legitimate observation, but let’s just call Schreiber one of the best players in the world today, because singling out one player does him no favors.

The upswing in Rock fortunes is not, after all, the result of just one player’s contribution. Goaltender Nick Rose has been outstanding and the defensemen have jelled into a formidable unit.

“We always challenge the defense to be our best unit,” Sawyer said. “That’s how you win championships.”

“We on the offensive end have got a lot of press, but those guys have been incredible,” Schreiber said. “The transition game has as well. We have a lot of confidence in Rosie and the guys we have on the defensive end. An underrated story line is the play of Sheldon Burns and Challen Rogers. Those guys have really sparked us. They’ve been amazing.”

Sandy Chapman, a four-time NLL champion playing in his 16th season, loves watching from the bench as Jones, Schreiber, Hellyer, Brett Hickey, Kieran McArdle and the rest of the forwards work.

“There’s so many weapons,” he said. “Any night it could be somebody different up there who is going to pot you four or five. It’s so tough to key on anybody in our offense. It’s pretty impressive to watch. And our defense, when we get going out there, we can really push other teams into bad decisions.”

Speaking of decisions, Rock owner and general manager Jamie Dawick’s decision to sign Schreiber when he was an unrestricted free agent with zero box lacrosse experience is making him look like a genius. He wound up with a player whom Paul Carcaterra and a growing legion of Schreiber’s fans call the best lacrosse player in the world.