NLL Insider is reporting that the dispersal draft of the Arizona Sting players is set for Monday. The Boston Blazers will have the first pick in the draft and is looking to take Dangerous Dan Dawson. The draft order is the same order as the NLL Draft. Both Edmonton and Toronto are also looking to move up in the draft to try and take Dawson.
The Insider is also reporting that there will only be one expansion team in 2009 and that will be the Boston Blazers. There were rumors that there would be a team in Vancouver coming. It may still happen but will not happen this year. Unfortunately, we here at Dueling Sabres will not be able to tell you who goes where in the dispersal draft but stay tuned to NLL Insider for all of your information.
The biggest week of the year in the NLL was week 16 which had a matchup between the two hottest teams in the Eastern Conference and also saw records being broken. Here are the reviews from the games:
Friday
Philadelphia vs. Portland The Wings started their crazy weekend by flying to Portland to take on the Lumberjax. With Athan Iannucci needing only 8 goals to break Gait's single season goal scoring record, he put the exclamation point on it by scoring 6 in the Wings defeat of the Lumberjax 13-10. Scoring has been a thing for Iannucci this year in that with those 6 goals he had scored 60 goals on the season. That basically was the story of the game with Brandon Miller in net for the Wings stopping 45 on 55 shots while Matt Disher took the loss stopping 51 on 63 shots. The special teams was not a factor with both teams going a combined 1-7.
Top Performer: Do I really need to rewrite that second sentence?
Saturday
Philadelphia vs. Minnesota After making the trip to Portland, the Wings traveled to Minnesota to take on the second place Swarm in the Xcel Center. This game had everything that a fan could want, close finishes, records breaking, and an overall well played game. Iannucci broke the scoring record by scoring 3 goals on the night, he only needed 2 to break it. The Swarm went on a 9-0 run in first and second quarters to take a 10-3 lead. The Wings came back on a 7-1 run in the third to bring the game back to being competitive. With the Wings leading 14-13, the Swarm tied the game up in the final second on a goal by Dan Marohl. In overtime, the Swarm scored the winner on a shot by Sean Pollock. Brandon Miller ended up taking the loss after replacing starting goaltender Rob Blasdell while Nick Patterson played the whole game and ended up getting the win.
Top Performer: There are so many to choose from here with the crucial shots on both sides but the ultimate choice is going to Andy Secore who scored 3 goals and had another 3 assists to be the top point getter on the Swarm.
Chicago vs. Toronto The struggling Rock just cannot seem to get any bounces going their way. After firing their offensive coach this past week, the offense seemed to click better but the absence of league leading goaltender Bob Watson ended up costing the Rock the game, losing 13-12 in overtime. Mike Poulin played in the game, playing well but not well enough to help the Rock win the game. He saved 36 on 49 shots while Matt Roik for the Shamrox saved 50 on 62 shots. The Rock totally dominated on offense, outshooting their opponent 62-49 but just could not seem to crack Matt Roik for the final goal. Matt Giles scored on the second shot of overtime for the Shamrox to give them their fourth straight win. The Shamrox are a game and a half out of the final playoff spot which was fueled by this four game winning streak.
Top Performer: Matt Roik gets this honor by saving 50 on 62 shots and giving his team the chance to win it in overtime. Calgary vs. Edmonton The Roughnecks got a much needed return this week of their starting goaltender, Steve Dietrich. Dietrich playing in his first game since suffering a concussion against the Stealth on January 25th. He did not need to do much, stopping 28 on 35 shots while the Roughnecks blasted their foes from Alberta 18-7. Led by Kaleb Toth, the Roughnecks just pounded starting goaltender Curtis Palidwor who allowed 13 goals on 25 shots after finally being replaced by Matt King. Toth scored 4 goals on 5 shots and had another helper for a total of 5 points.
Colorado vs. New York The Titans continued their playoff push by beating the Mammoth at MSG 14-10. Matt Vinc took the win by saving 35 on 45 shots while the Titans chased Gee Nash after going on a five-goal run in the second quarter. Led by Mike McClellan, the Titans rattled off the first five in the second quarter to jump out to a 7-3 lead and never gave the lead back. McClellan ended up with four goals total on the night while the Mammoth were led by Chris Gill who scored 4 goals himself.
Sunday
Edmonton vs. San Jose After losing to the Roughnecks in Calgary, the Rush had to make the trip down to San Jose to subsequently get beaten by the Stealth 14-6. This loss places the Rush at the bottom of the Western Conference while the win for the Stealth guaranteed them a playoff spot. The Stealth spread the offense around in this game with 10 different players scoring at least a goal. Curtis Palidwor started this game as well, taking another loss while it was Anthony Cosmo in net for the Stealth.
Standings for the NLL Eastern Conference 1. Minnesota (9-4) 2. Philadelphia (9-5, .5 GB) 3. Buffalo (8-6, 1.5 GB) 4. New York (7-6, 2 GB) 5. Rochester (7-7, 2.5 GB) 6. Toronto (7-7, 2.5 GB) 7. Chicago (5-7, 3.5 GB)
Western Conference 1. San Jose (8-6) x 2. Colorado (7-6, .5 GB) x 3. Calgary (5-9, 3 GB) 4. Portland (5-9, 3 GB) 5. Edmonton (4-9 3.5 GB) x- already clinched playoff spot
A busy week in the NLL made the Eastern Conference even more jumbled then it was before the week started. Knowing that, here are the recaps from the weekend games:
Saturday
Rochester vs. Toronto The Knighthawks went into the Air Canada Center knowing that their playoff lives were even more in the balance after their 11-8 loss to the Mammoth on Thursday night. They took it to the Rock, winning 9-6 in a defensive battle which always seem to plague Rock games. Watson took the loss allowing only 9 goals on 47 shots while O'Toole took the win allowing 6 goals on 40 shots. While the defensive nature of the Rock is the way they play the game, it is also their downfall because of their lack of scoring. Blaine Manning and Lewis Ratcliff seemed to be the only ones that showed up for this one with Manning scoring 2 and Ratcliff scoring 3.
Top Performer: Scott Evans really put the Knighthawks on his back and carried them with this performance scoring 4 goals and adding another assist.
New York vs. Minnesota The Swarm got into a tie for first place with their win against the New York Titans, 12-9 at the Xcel Energy Arena. The Swarm are undefeated at home this season which could prove trouble come playoff time. Nick Patterson started the game for the Swarm allowing 9 goals on 42 shots while Matt Vinc takes the loss allowing 11 goals on 39 shots. The leading scorer for the Titans here was Pat Maddalena scoring 3 goals and adding an assist.
Top Performer: Ryan Ward wins this honor scoring 3 goals and adding 4 more assists.
Philadelphia vs. Chicago The suddenly hot Chicago Shamrox beat the Wings in overtime 15-14 in front of 5,427 at the Sears Center. The Shamrox are winners of their last three pulling them within two games of the last playoff spot. Much of this success comes from the addition of Matt Roik from the Wings. Roik has played 4 games for the Shamrox having a SV% of .797 which is good for second in the league. In net for the Wings was Brandon Miller who came over from the Shamrox in the Roik trade. He took the loss allowing the overtime goal in the first 7 seconds.
Top Performer: Bobby McBride from the Shamrox with 2 goals including the game winner takes this but an honorable mention can go to Matt Roik with his 48 saves on 62 shots. Calgary vs. Edmonton The Edmonton Rush have been about as hot as the Shamrox have been. Since starting the season 0-7, the Rush have won 4 of their last 5 pulling themselves into the third spot in the Western Conference. Most of this success can be attributed to the introduction of Bob Hamley as coach and many of the moves he has made at the trade deadline. Hamley basically restarted this team and brought in a lot of young players to play for the Rush along with a lot of draft picks. The Rush will have 4 first round draft picks for the 2009 draft which means they could be the team to beat next season. Going to this game, Curtis Palidwor put in another valiant effort between the pipes for the Rush making 32 saves on 41 shots. The loss for the Roughriders put them in last place in the Western Conference, a game back of the final playoff spot.
Top Performer: Jimmy Quinlan from the Rush takes this with 4 goals and assist. San Jose vs. Portland The Stealth keep the second spot in the Western Conference after beating the Lumberjax 12-9 in the Rose Garden. After the dismal performance against the Wings last week, the Stealth came out flat allowing the Lumberjax to have an early 4-2 lead after the first quarter. From there, the Stealth rattled off 9 straight to take a 10-4 lead halfway into the third and held off the late charge by the Lumberjax. Anthony Cosmo takes the win for the Stealth making 54 saves on 63 shots while Matt Disher takes the loss.
Top Performer: Jeff Zywicki had a pretty good game scoring 5 goals on 12 shots and adding 2 more assists.
Sunday
Portland vs. San Jose Portland gets its payback and wins the back end of the home and home series against the Stealth winning 12-10. Both Disher and Cosmo played in this game as well. Disher made 42 saves on 52 shots while Cosmo made 43 saves on 54 shots. Zywicki played like he was the top point scorer on the Stealth netting 2 goals with 5 helpers.
Top Performer: Ryan Powell gets this with 3 goals and 4 helpers. Philadelphia vs. Toronto After losing the overtime game in Chicago, the Wings went home where they have been undefeated all season and won another 11-9 against the Rock. League leading Bob Watson took another loss having 50 saves on 61 shots while Rob Blasdell took the win making 51 saves on 60 shots. The major problem was the power outage of the Rock who only scored 15 goals in their two losses this weekend. This led to the firing of offensive coach Greg VanSickle today.
Top Performer: MVP leading candidate Athan Iannucci builds his case even more with 4 goals and another assist for a total of 76 points which is good for third in the league and second in the Eastern Conference.
Week 14 in the NLL as I said before was very kind to the Buffalo Bandits. We will look at the standings a little later. But first, here are the recaps from the games last week.
Saturday
Minnesota vs. Chicago In a weekend of shockers, this game started it off. The Shamrox beat the Swarm 15-10 in front of their home crowd to start a small two-game winning streak. The Shamrox were down early ending the first quarter down 5-1 but came back and scored 9 unanswered goals to take the lead 9-5 heading into the fourth and hanging on for the 15-10 win. Matt Roik played the whole game for the Shamrox allowing his 10 goals on 55 shots. For the Swarm, Patterson played most of the game and was pulled after allowing 11 goals. Kevin Croswell took the loss in allowing 3 goals. The Swarm have lost 4 of their last 5 after starting the season 6-0 while the Shamrox are currently at 3-7.
Top Performer: Cody Jacobs wins this title with his 6 goal performance, 5 of those coming during the 9 goal streak in the 2nd and 3rd quarters. Jacobs now has 11 goals on the season.
Philadelphia vs Rochester With the Knighthawks season on life support, they salvage their playoff chances with a big win against the Eastern Conference leading Philadelphia Wings 20-12. Rochester started with their foot on the gas pedal, rushing out to a 13-7 lead by halftime and never looked back. The Knighthawks garnered most of their success by limiting the chances that Iannucci could get on them. While he scored 3 times, he only got 11 shots off. Pat O'Toole played most of the game before it got chippy and he got run by Geoff Snider. The video of this sequence is here.
Top Performer: According to the Boxscore, this honor goes to Ken Millen with 3 goals and 4 assists. This may go to other things that you cant see from a box score, but from the box score perspective, I will give it to John Grant with 4 goals and 4 assists.
San Jose vs. Edmonton The final shocker of the weekend was the egg laid by the San Jose Stealth, losing on the road to the Rush 12-5. The Stealth never really got their scoring going, only scoring 1 goal in each of the first three quarters. The Rush have looked good since Bob Hartley took over as coach/GM winning 3 of their last 4, giving them a shot in the last spot in the Western Conference playoffs. Curtis Palidwor takes the win here only facing 40 shots. This loss puts the Stealth into the second spot in the Western Conference, only a half game back from the Mammoth.
Top Performer: Chris McKay gets this with 1 goal and 3 assists and 12 loose balls.
There is only one game during the week in Week 15 and that is Rochester vs. Colorado. Colorado can secure a playoff spot with a win against either Rochester or Buffalo this week. The Mammoth have fallen as of late winning only 1 of their last 5. But because of the smaller Western Conference and the lack of good teams there, Colorado still holds the top spot there. The Knighthawks on the other hand are playing for their playoff lives. They are 5-6 which puts them at 6th spot in the Eastern Conference, a game and a half back from the 4th place Bandits. The schedule does not look all that good for the Knighthawks either because in their 5 games left they face the top team in the West and in the East it is Toronto, Buffalo, New York, and Minnesota, all teams trying to jockey for position in the playoff race as well. The Knighthawks do have a chance and now is a good time to start because they are .500 on the road.
Here are the Standings for the Eastern and Western Conferences. The Mammoth and Stealth can clinch playoff spots with wins this week.
Eastern Conference 1. Philadelphia (7-3) 2. Minnesota (7-4, .5 game back) 3. Toronto (7-4, .5 game back) 4. Buffalo (7-5, 1 games back) 5. New York (6-5, 1.5 games back) 6. Rochester (5-6, 2.5 games back) 7. Chicago (3-7, 4 games back)
Western Conference 1. Colorado (6-4) 2. San Jose (6-5, .5 game back) 3. Portland (4-7, 2.5 games back) 4. Calgary (4-8, 3 games back) 5. Edmonton (3-7, 4 games back)
At least the rest of the league helped out the Buffalo Bandits pursue of the playoffs last week as well. Here is the recap of the rest of the games that happened last weekend.
Thursday
Portland vs. Colorado
The Lumberjax went into Colorado on Thursday and absolutely stunned the Mammoth crowd walking away with a 16-15 win on the shot of Pete Jacobs. The Mammoth have been struggling as of late, losing 4 of their last 5 games while the Lumberjax had broken a two game losing streak with this win. This win brought the Lumberjax within 2.5 games of the top spot in the Western Conference and seperates themselves from the Rush to stablize their playoff chances. Gee Nash took the loss in the game allowing 16 goals on 63 shots while Matt King took the win stepping in for Dallas Eliuk allowing 6 goals on 21 shots.
Top Performer: Brian Langtry gets the nod in the loss scoring 9 goals and added 4 more assists for a 13 point night.
Friday Night
Toronto vs. Edmonton
Before the Rock came to Buffalo to thrash the Bandits on Saturday night, they did the same thing to the Edmonton Rush at home, beating the Rush 14-9. The Rock did what they do well, having a lockdown defense that allows few good shots and then having a goalie that can stand on his head if need be. Bob Watson took the win here, only allowing 9 goals on 52 shots. The Rush have been struggling all season, only winning 2 games on the season. With the smaller Western Conference though, they are only a .5 game out of the playoff race.
Top Performer: Here it was Aaron Wilson who had 4 goals and added an assist for a 5 point night.
Saturday
San Jose vs. Calgary
San Jose enters in a tie for the top spot in the Western Conference with a 13-12 win over the Calgary Roughriders. The Stealth have looked good as of late winning 4 of their last 5, with their only loss coming against the Philadelphia Wings in Philly. The Roughriders on the other hand have struggled over this season losing some key components this season including their top goalie Steve Dietrich. The Roughriders are 3 games out of the top spot and only a .5 game in front of the Rush for the final spot.
Top Performer: Colin Doyle takes this nod here with the game winner and a total of 4 goals and 5 helpers.
Philadelphia vs. New York
The Titans take the first shocker of the weekend beating the Philadelphia Wings 20-13 at MSG. Matt Vinc carries the defense allowing 12 goals on 50 shots. Rob Blasdell takes the loss allowing 20 goals on 41 shots. This win places the Titans a half game back of the 4th position in the Eastern Conference. The 4th place is held by the Bandits. The Wings hold the top spot by a half game over the Swarm.
Top Performer: In this game it is Casey Powell with 4 goals and 7 assists for an 11 point night.
Chicago vs. Rochester
The final shocker of the weekend is the Shamrox pulling out the win against the Knighthawks 12-11 in Rochester. The Shamrox have only won 2 games on the season while the Knighthawks have had their fair share of struggles this season going 4-6 on the season and 2 games out of the playoffs.
Top Performer: Jonas Derks takes the player of the game honors with 4 goals on the day including the game winner.
Here is the lineup for Week 14
Minnesota vs. Chicago
In the second of four matchups this season, the Swarm will take on the Shamrox. In their last matchup, Minnesota beat the Shamrox 13-9 in the Xcel Center. Craig Point had 4 goals on the game while Nick Patterson allowed only those 9 goals on 38 shots. The Swarm have had the last two weeks off while the Shamrox have gotten some confidence back by beating the Knighthawks on the road. This should be a close game in the Sears Center where I think that the Shamrox could pull off the upset.
Philadelphia vs. Rochester
The reeling Knighthawks need to take their season by the reins if they are going to make the playoffs and their next opponent is not going to be easy. Both the Wings and Knighthawks are both coming off losses and both need wins to keep their spots in the jumbled Eastern Conference. In the last matchup in Philadelphia, the Wings took a 15-14 win holding onto the game from a 7-2 final run by Rochester. I think that the Wings are just going to be too powerful for the Knighthawks and the Wings should disappoint the Rochester fans again. Besides, Rochester is 1-5 against divisional opponents at home.
San Jose vs. Edmonton
The surging Stealth travel to Edmonton this weekend to try and keep their streak along against the Rush. The Stealth are tied atop the Western Conference standings with the Mammoth and look to beat the worst team in the Western Conference. This game should be pretty easy for the Stealth because the Rush have just traded one of their leading scorers in Mike Accursi to the Bandits. The Stealth have also looked good on the road going 4-2.
Friday Night Philadelphia wins 16-12 over New York. New York hung with the Wings all night but just couldn't handle the Wings who took control of the game heading into the 4th quarter. With a couple lead changes and back and forth action, the Wings took control of the game heading into the 4th quarter finishing off the Titans by outscoring them 6-4. The Titans were helped by their power play which went 3 for 8 on the night while holding the Wings to only 1 for 5 on the man advantage.
Top Performer: Easily this had to be AthanIannucci who scored 6 goals and had a total of 8 points. Iannucci is on pace to break both Gary Gait's single season goal scoring record and John Tavares's single season point record. Heading into Saturday's game he had scored 31 goals in 6 games.
Saturday Night
Toronto beat Calgary 9-7 in a defensive battle that was suited for the Rock. With only 9 total players able to put in goals on both teams the spotlight went towards the two goaltenders. Neither team was all that impressive on the power play with Toronto going 1-5 and Calgary going 1-4.
Top Performer: Since this was a battle of the goaltenders, this has to go to Toronto's Bob Watson. Watson allowed 7 goals on 48 shots including stopping 22 of 25 in the second half. Watson kept his team in the game enough to lead them to victory.
Rochester handed the Shamrox their sixth loss of the season by defeating them 18-8. Nothing seemed to go right for the Shamrox between their lack of scoring, their bad penalty kill (Rochester went 3-6), and their inept man advantage (going 1-8). Rochester capitalized on that by outscoring the Shamrox 14-4 through the first three quarters.
Top Performer: This duel title goes to John Grant who netted 5 goals and had a total of 10 points and Shawn Evans who had 4 goals and a total of 11 points. These two have been consistent all season long with Grant being the leading scorer on the team with 53 points and Evans fourth on the team with 37 points.
Third time is the charm for the Rush who get their first win of the season against the Lumberjax 9-7. The Rush were helped in most part by their man advantage by going 3-5 on the night and holding the league's best powerplay to only 1 for 3. AJ Shannon led the Rush in scoring by netting a hat trick while the Lumberjax were led by Brodie Merrill and Matt Holman who netted two each.
Top Performer: This honor goes to Curtis Palidwor who was fairly impressive in net allowing 7 goals on 54 shots. Having a 12.14 goals against average, Palidwor has struggled all season but tonight looked solid and was able to keep his team in the game to be able to hand them their first win.
There are three other games on the docket tonight in the NLL besides the big matchup in Buffalo. Let's run through them real quick.
Calgary vs. Toronto
The Toronto Rock have not played all that much in the last couple of weeks, playing 3 games in 39 days. They should be rested and ready to go against a fairly competitive Calgary Roughnecks who are coming off a road win against the Colordao Mammoth. The Rock are among the bottom of the league in goals scored at 74. What makes them so competitive is their defense which gives up 10.71 goals per game. The Roughnecks have been struggling as of late winning only 2 of their last five. It doesn't help when your star goaltender Steve Dietrich has been out the last five games as well. I really think that Toronto is going to start getting on a streak and it helps more that they are playing at the ACC.
Rochester vs. Chicago
The defending champs have been struggling as of late. Sitting at 3-4 on the season, the Knighthawks have been inconsistent all season, putting up good efforts against teams like Calgary and Toronto, but then have just crapped the bed again last week against the Titans. They head to Chicago this week to face a Shamrox team that just does not seem to have all cylinders firing. The Shamrox just cannot seem to find the back of the net only scoring 65 goals and their defense gives up 14.17 goals per game. This should be a pretty easy game for the Knighthawks.
Edmonton vs. Portland
The Rush just cannot seem to catch a break this season. They fired their coach and general manager Paul Day and the rest of his coaching staff and replaced them with Bob Hamley. And the Rush still can't seem to get a win. They are heading to a difficult place in Portland where they face the always dangerous Lumberjax. Dan Dawson and Ryan Powell lead this team in scoring with 37 and 31 points respectively. They lead the league in powerplay percentage while the Rush are the league worst in penalty kill. I still cannot see the Rush getting a win out of this.
So I haven't written to this blog in now 11 days due to life. Pretty simple as that. There has been a lot of things that have gone on that I just haven't had a chance to write about.
- The last blog post I wrote was the Sabres/Sens preview for the 12th. Since then, the Sabres took the game against the Sens, who looked extremely flat and just wanted the game to end. Then the Sabres stole a game against the Leafs looking extremely worn out from playing 6 games in 9 days. That lack of energy really transfered over to the weekend, where the Sabres looked flat and flatter, losing to the Rangers and Penguins by a combined score of 9-2. Lets just say that the weekend wasn't pretty. After a break, the Sabres finally found their mojo in beating the Lightning and the Leafs Wednesday and Thursday night.
- The next game that the Sabres play would be the first homecoming of Chris Drury and the Rangers to Buffalo. More on this topic tommorrow.
- Thomas Vanek has become the leader that his contract should suggest and has shown that on the scoreboard scoring 11 goals in the last 8 games. And he has also guaranteed that this team will make a playoff spot. This is the Thomas Vanek that we have been waiting to see all season. He finally looks like he has confidence in his shot and that he is not gripping the stick too hard. He is starting to show leadership for this team.
- Brian Campbell on the other hand has shown that the contract negotiations have really affected his game. Either the pressure of the contract and the possibility of being traded, or something else has just festered into his brain and told him that he can't play. If he cannot handle this pressure, what is saying that he can handle the pressure of being the top defenseman on a team and that every glaring mistake is being analyzed because he is making $6 million a year. The Sabres just recently offered a contract in the $6 million dollar range, but has been refused by Campbell because it only was for three years. If this is not a sign that come the trade deadline, he won't be on this team anymore, I don't know what will.
- Speaking of the trade deadline, we are 4 days away from it and the biggest trade that we have seen is the Sens/Hurricanes trade with Corvo and Stillman. Because most teams feel that they are still in the playoff hunt and others are struggling with the salary cap, we probably won't see a lot of big trades this season. We here at Dueling Sabres will still update on any trades that occur, no matter how big or small. Thank god for the NHL Network here in the states running the TSN coverage of trade deadline day.
- Heading over to the Bandits, they dropped a possibly crucial game against the Toronto Rock on Friday 11-8. Ken Montour really kept this team in the game when the offense and defense just really fell apart. Montour has looked good in replacement for Mike Thompson who suffered a concussion against the Titans two weeks ago. Riding off that loss, the Bandits played what most likely will be the game of the season against the Swarm. Winning the game 16-14, Montour was the stud for the team only allowing 14 on 52 shots. After killing a 5 minute major, the Bandits rattled off 5 unanswered goals to take the lead on the Swarm and never really looked back. The was the Swarm's first loss on the season. The Bandits will take on the Shamrox this Sunday, with a preview coming later.
There is the stuff that I missed lately and I will commit that I will write more to this blog as both the Sabres and Bandits season wind down. During the offseason, I will be keeping updates on any news within the leagues and baseball. I should let you know that I am a Cubs fan and will follow them here and the other local teams. So, lets raise a glass to the rest of the season.
My apologies for not posting during this week and putting up a preview for Week 6. So here is the review of the three games from Week 6.
Thursday
San Jose vs. New York
The Stealth took the win in New York on Thursday night winning 12-7. The Stealth were led in the win by Jeff Zywicki and Luke Wiles each scoring 3. Matt Vinc was really hung out to dry in this game giving up 12 goals on 45 shots and the Titans leading scorer was Brendan Mundorf who scored 3 as well. Aaron Bold took the win for the Stealth playing well between the pipes letting in only 7 on 53 shots.
Saturday
Minnesota vs. San Jose
The Stealth turned around and came home for their Saturday night showdown against the undefeated Swarm and consequently lost 14 -12. The Swarm look like another team to beat in the Eastern Conference led by the play of their goaltender Nick Patterson. He has played well enough to keep his team in the game and let his offense win it for the team. He let in 12 goals on 37 shots. The high flying offense of the Swarm was led by Andy Secore who scored the hat trick. The Stealth were led by Jeff Zywicki basically carrying the team on his shoulders scoring 5 goals and assisting on another 4. From the five minutes of this game I ended up watching I noticed one thing. This Swarm team can move the ball really well up and down the field, transition well, and create a good number of odd man rushes.
Portland vs. Edmonton
Curtis Palidwor had another bad game in net for the Rush letting in 6 goals on 17 shots in the first 17 minutes. This put the Rush in a hole that they really couldn't dig out of eventually losing the game 11-10. Matt Disher came in again playing the clean up role and officially getting the loss. The Lumberjax were led by Derek Malawsky scoring 3 while the Rush's top scorer were Mike Accursi and Jimmy Quinlan each scoring 3. Matt King had a solid game in net for the Jax only yielding 10 on 38.
Here are the standings after Week 6:
Eastern Conference 1. Minnesota (4-0) 2. Philadelphia (3-0) .5 GB 3. Toronto (3-2) 1.5 GB 4. Buffalo (2-2) 2 GB 5. Chicago (1-2) 2.5 GB 6. Rochester (1-3) 3 GB 7. New York (1-3) 3 GB
Western Conference 1. Colorado (4-0) 2. Calgary (2-2) 2 GB 3. San Jose (2-3) 2.5 GB 4. Portland (1-3) 3 GB 5. Edmonton (0-4) 4 GB
Colorado 12-11 over Portland in overtime. Colorado was led in scoring by Brian Langtry and Dan Carey who each scored 3 and Jason Wulder scored the game winning goal 3:14 into overtime. Portland was led in scoring by Dan Dawson and Brodie Merill who each scored 2. Chris Levis was in net for the win while Matt King takes the loss.
Friday
Calgary 16-13 over San Jose. Jeff Shatler led the Roughnecks by scoring 4 while Colin Doyle, Jeff Zywicki, and Gary Rosyski each scored 3 for the Stealth. Steve Dietrich took the win while Anthony Cosmo took the loss.
Saturday
Toronto 14-10 over New York. Ryan Benesch led the Rock in scoring with 4 while rookie Jordan Hall scored 3 for the Titans. Bob Watson was in net for the win while Matt Vinc took the loss for the Titans.
Chicago 17-11 over Edmonton. Callum Crawford scored 4 for the Shamrox while Chris Gill scored 4 for the Rush. Brandon Miller took the win for the Shamrox while Curtis Palidwor took the loss for the Rush letting in 4 goals on the first 9 shots he faced. He was pulled 12:03 into the game.
Colorado 11-6 over San Jose. Dan Carey scored 3 for the Mammoth while Tom Johnson, Jeff Zywicki, Luke Wiles, Gary Rosyski, and Cam Sedgwick each only scored 1 for the Stealth. Gee Nash took the win letting in only 6 on 35 shots while Anthony Cosmo took the loss for the Stealth.
Calgary 13-6 over Portland. Kelly Hall, Lewis Ratcliff, and Scott Ranger each scored 3 for the Roughnecks while Dan Dawson and Derek Malawski scored 2 for the Lumberjax. Ryan Avery took the win while Matt King took the loss letting in 7 goals from 21 shots. He was pulled at the 3:06 mark in the second quarter.
Minnesota 18-17 over Rochester in overtime. Craig Point and Sean Pollock led the Swarm with 3 goals a piece while Scott Evans scored 6 for the Knighthawks. Sean Pollock scored the game winning goal 6:30 into overtime. Nick Patterson got the win for the Swarm playing all 66:07 while Pat Wetherup got the loss for the Knighthawks. He was pulled at the 4:56 mark of the third period in favor of Pat O'Toole.
The standings thus far are: Eastern Conference 1. Philadelphia 3-0 2. Minnesota 3-0 3. Toronto 3-2 1 GB 4. Buffalo 2-2 1.5 GB 5. Chicago 1-2 2 GB 6. New York 1-2 2 GB 7. Rochester 1-3 2.5 GB
Western Conference 1. Colorado 4-0 2. Calgary 2-2 2 GB 3. San Jose 1-2 2.5 GB 4. Portland 0-3 3.5 GB 5. Edmonton 0-3 3.5 GB
A whole slate of games in week 5 of the NLL which showcases all 12 teams. Here is the rundown of the games minus the Buffalo/Philly game.
Thursday January 24th
Colorado vs. Portland The Colorado Mammoth come into this weekday game winning their first two games against the Roughnecks and the Rush. They really do look like the team to beat in the Western Conference. The Lumberjax lost their only game to the suprising New York Titans. The Mammoth really have all the pieces starting with their starting goalie Gee Nash. He has a 10 GAA second only to Nick Patterson from Minnesota. Their leading point getter, Dan Carey, has 13 points with 5 goals and 8 assists which puts him 13th in the the league. While there aren't big numbers being put up in Colorado, there are a lot of them. In two games, there are 16 players with at least one point. The Portland Lumberjax have issues when it comes to goaltending. The Titans racked up 14 goals in their only game with Matt King letting in 8 over roughly 47 minutes with Dallas Eliuk letting in 5 more. While Eliuk is getting the start, he may be in trouble again with the high powered offense that the Mammoth propose. Looking at the numbers, the Mammoth should really take this game.
Friday January 25th Calgary vs. San Jose These two teams matched up two weeks ago with the Stealth coming away with the win 13-12 in OT. What it really comes down to for Calgary is the play of Steve Dietrich. With a 11.05 GAA, his play has been alright but not good enough for this defense to hold the games. They have lost both of their games this season letting in 23 goals. For the Roughnecks to win, Dietrich really needs to take the team and put it on his back. The leading scorer in Calgary is Lewis Ratcliff with 16 points (6-10). After that, there isnt much on the scoresheet with only 10 others recording points. The Stealth have only played the one game against the Roughnecks and they played well enough to win. The Roughnecks get back Tracy Kelusky which should help their offense. I think that Calgary takes this one.
Saturday January 26th New York vs. Toronto The Titans have become the surprise of the NLL this season with beating Portland and keeping it real close with the Bandits. The one thing that has fueled this team is the play of their power play. The power play has gone 15 for 27 overall and 9 for 12 against Portland. Other than that though, the Titans cannot score well on 5 on 5. They have scored 13 of their goals 5 on 5. The Titans have firepower, but no depth when it comes to that. 4 players have more than 10 points, but only 10 players have recorded a point. For this team to beat a sound defense in Toronto, they need to not rely so much on the power play. Toronto has had their fair share of difficulty this season with all of the off the field stuff surrounding the team. They ended up beating the Rush last week and Blaine Manning looks poised to score a lot. He has 23 points in 4 games (10-13) and is leading the league in everything. If the Toronto defense can shut down the heavy hitters, I think that Toronto can start turning their season around. I don't see it happen though.
Edmonton vs. Chicago The Rush haven't looked all that spectacular in their first two games but who can blame them when you look at their opponents, the Mammoth and the Rock playing a must win game. The Shamrox didn't look all that good in their games either losing to Toronto and high flying Philly. For both of these teams, a win is needed to start to right the season. Both teams have scored 20 goals in their 2 games so their offenses are pretty evenly matched. Basically this game is going to come down to the defenses and goalies. There the Rush have the advantage. They have given up 28 goals to Chicago's 30 and have a better goalie between the pipes in Curtis Palidwor. It seems to be a toss up for the Shamrox in who is going to be between the pipes between Brandon Miller and Derek Collins. I think that the Rush take this one pretty easily.
Minnesota vs. Rochester Its the lock tight goalkeeping of the Swarm against the high flying offense of the Knighthawks. The Knighthawks looked good in their two games against the Rock, taking both. The main reason for that is the play of goaltender Nick Patterson. He leads the league in goals against average with a 9.8. He let in 20 goals on 101 shots. He was the main reason that the Swarm were able to sweep the weekend against Toronto. He is going to have to be as good against the Knighthawks which haven't been able to win since their first game in Buffalo. John Grant is looking as good as he did in his MVP season of last year. He has 17 points in 3 games (9-8) and has a fairly potent supporting cast in Shawn Williams and the Evans brothers. This game will come down to which is going to give first and I think that Rochester will have enough firepower to break out of their funk.
San Jose vs. Colorado A matchup of two teams that already play a game earlier in the week. San Jose has to travel to Colorado after facing Calgary, while the Mammoth get to rest a day before they have to play. I think that fatigue is going to play a factor in this game and that obviously gives the Mammoth an advantage. I'll make this one short in saying that the Mammoth are going to be too good in goal to lose in this game. The Stealth offense is alright and I can't see it beating Nash too many times especially coming off of a game the night before. The Mammoth should not have a problem in this one.
Portland vs. Calgary Again, another matchup of two teams that already play in the week. I would say that Portland has an advantage here but I think that if Calgary can beat the Stealth, then their goaltending should carry them into this game as well. Dietrich has been playing well and the Portland offense isn't all that good. So this one should be fairly simple for the Roughnecks.
Philly looked really strong against the Knighthawks, taking a 13-7 lead into the 4th quarter and eventually holding onto the win 15-14. Link
Toronto vs. Edmonton
Toronto overcame all of the distractions and issues that surrounded the team after coach Glenn Clark's indefinite suspension to beat the Rush 14-9. Link
There are two other games in the NLL besides the Buffalo/New York matchup that we will preview later.
Rochester vs. Philly Rochester is coming off a split weekend with the Bandits while Philly is riding their 19-11 win over the Shamrox. Peter O'Toole looked sharp for the Knighthawks while the scoring crew of Crosbie, Iannucci, and Thomson led the Wings. So this should come down to that matchup. But do not discard the fire power that the Knighthawks have in John Grant Jr. and Shawn Williams. The Knighthawks are a well rounded team that can hurt you in many different ways as they showed against the Bandits on Friday. Therefore, the Knighthawks should take this game 14-11.
Toronto vs. Edmonton The main question from this game is whether the Glenn Clark situation is going to distract this team and whether they will be focused enough to handle the Rush. Toronto dropped the weekend in a fairly rough series with the Minnesota Swarm and Edmonton lost to the Mammoth 14-11. The Rock looked good on Friday but fell apart under the guidance of assistant coach Terry Bullen who maybe behind the bench again for this game as well. The highly touted defense got destroyed against the Swarm on Saturday 11-4. The Rush are coming off a loss against what is billed as the best team in the Western Conference. I just think that the distractions and the possible loss of their head coach is just going to be too much for the Rock and they drop another one here 14-9.
Minnesota vs. Toronto Friday: Minnesota 17-16 Link ; Saturday: Minnesota 11-4 Link
Saturday Night Games Colorado 14 vs Edmonton 11 Link New York 14 vs. Portland 11 Link San Jose 13 vs. Calgary 12 Link Philadelphia 19 vs. Chicago 11 Link
