A number of player and team milestones can be reached this year. Here’s a list of the most likely:
Teams
Wins & losses
Calgary needs 11 wins for 150, while Rochester needs 8 for 200.
Buffalo needs six away wins to give them 100 in franchise history.
Toronto needs five home wins to give them 100.
Goals
Buffalo is 36 away from 2500 goals at home.
Rochester needs 14 goals on the road to give them 2000, and needs to allow 55 on the road to have allowed 2000.
Players
Goals
| Player… | Needs… | To reach… |
| John Grant | 34 | 700 |
| Kasey Beirnes | 31 | 400 |
| Dane Dobbie | 4 | 300 |
| Cody Jamieson | 1 | 200 |
| Zack Greer | 1 | 200 |
| Adam Jones | 6 | 200 |
| Jordan Hall | 15 | 200 |
| Robert Church | 7 | 100 |
| Tyler Digby | 8 | 100 |
| Logan Schuss | 13 | 100 |
| Cory Conway | 14 | 100 |
John Grant needs 34 goals to reach 700 in his career, a figure only ever attained by one other player. And after those 34, he’d need another 115 to reach the lofty heights of Mr. John Tavares.
Interesting that Greer and Jones, who were traded for each other this past off-season, can both reach 200 career goals. Greer only needs one while Jones needs six, but both could do it in game 1.
Another interesting fact: James Earl Jones played Admiral Greer in The Hunt for Red October, Patriot Games, and Clear and Present Danger.
Assists
| Player… | Needs… | To reach… |
| John Grant | 25 | 800 |
| Dan Dawson | 34 | 800 |
| Shawn Evans | 23 | 600 |
| Callum Crawford | 49 | 500 |
| Garrett Billings | 7 | 400 |
| Jeff Shattler | 33 | 400 |
| Stephan Leblanc | 2 | 300 |
| Kasey Beirnes | 7 | 300 |
| Chad Culp | 9 | 300 |
| Daryl Veltman | 12 | 300 |
| Kevin Ross | 5 | 200 |
| Dhane Smith | 8 | 200 |
| Kevin Buchanan | 13 | 200 |
| Cliff Smith | 1 | 100 |
| Bill Greer | 1 | 100 |
Points
| Player… | Needs… | To reach… |
| Dan Dawson | 83 | 1300 |
| Mark Steenhuis | 66 | 1000 |
| Shawn Evans | 92 | 1000 |
| Ryan Benesch | 31 | 800 |
| Rhys Duch | 66 | 800 |
| Callum Crawford | 9 | 700 |
| Dane Dobbie | 23 | 600 |
| Garrett Billings | 31 | 600 |
| Chad Culp | 30 | 500 |
| Curtis Dickson | 56 | 500 |
| Brodie Merrill | 2 | 400 |
| Adam Jones | 36 | 400 |
| Corey Small | 36 | 400 |
Note that Evans hasn’t scored less than 105 points in a season since 2012.
For me, it’s hard to think of Ryan Benesch as being all that high on the career points milestone list, since I still think of him as a young kid. Well, maybe not that young, he’s been around for a while. OK, more than a while. Turns out the 31-year-old Benesch is entering his eleventh NLL season. Only 15 players have scored more career points than Beni, and he’ll likely pass four of them in 2017.
In the “not bloody likely” category, Derek Keenan needs six points to reach 100 for his career. He’s actually needed those six points for a number of years now.
Loose Balls
| Player… | Needs… | To reach… |
| Scott Self | 6 | 1100 |
| Ian Hawksbee | 50 | 1000 |
| Sandy Chapman | 2 | 900 |
| Kasey Beirnes | 16 | 900 |
| Dan Dawson | 40 | 900 |
PIM
| Player… | Needs… | To reach… |
| Billy Dee Smith | 13 | 600 |
| Patrick Merrill | 36 | 600 |
| Brodie Merrill | 13 | 400 |
Games
| Player… | Needs… | To reach… |
| Curtis Hodgson | 3 | 200 |
| Chad Culp | 7 | 200 |
| Patrick Merrill | 8 | 200 |
| Bill Greer | 10 | 200 |
| Dean Hill | 2 | 100 |
| Garrett Billings | 3 | 100 |
| Corey Small | 3 | 100 |
| Ryan Dilks | 3 | 100 |
| Jarrett Davis | 5 | 100 |
| Andrew Watt | 5 | 100 |
| Pete McFetridge | 5 | 100 |
Goalie Minutes
| Player… | Needs… | To reach… |
| Brandon Miller | 263 | 8000 |
| Aaron Bold | 337 | 6000 |
Goals against
| Player… | Needs… | To reach… |
| Brandon Miller | 36 | 1600 |
| Aaron Bold | 44 | 1000 |
Saves
| Player… | Needs… | To reach… |
| Matt Vinc | 25 | 5900 |
| 125 | 6000 | |
| Tyler Richards | 13 | 3500 |
Leaders
This section is for players who are close to passing a retired player on the career list in a particular category. First overall in goals, assists, and points is likely safe for another year.
| Player… | Needs… | To tie… | For… |
| John Grant | 149 goals | John Tavares | 1st |
| Mark Steenhuis | 9 goals | Jeff Ratcliff | 8th |
| 13 goals | Shawn Williams | 7th | |
| 18 goals | Josh Sanderson | 6th | |
| Kasey Beirnes | 14 goals | Tracey Kelusky | 13th |
| 22 goals | Mike Accursi | 12th | |
| 30 goals | Tom Marechek | 11th | |
| Shawn Evans | 4 goals | Ted Dowling | 16th |
| 7 goals | Chris Gill | 15th | |
| Shawn Evans | 44 assists | Gavin Prout | 7th |
| Callum Crawford | 42 assists | Jim Veltman | 13th |
| John Grant | 308 points | John Tavares | 1st |
| Mark Steenhuis | 25 points | Jeff Ratcliff | 8th |
| Ryan Benesch | 4 points | Tom Marechek | 15th |
| 54 points | Tracey Kelusky | 14th | |
| 58 points | Mike Accursi | 13th | |
| 64 points | Blaine Manning | 12th | |
| Anthony Cosmo | 71 goals against | Dallas Eliuk | 1st |
| Billy Dee Smith | 40 PIM | Kyle Laverty | 1st |
| Patrick Merrill | 18 PIM | Geoff Snider | 3rd |
| Shawn Evans | 15 PIM | Pat McCready | 5th |
| Brodie Merrill | 51 LB | John Tavares | 2nd |
| 210 LB | Jim Veltman | 1st | |
| Mark Steenhuis | 50 LB | Steve Toll | 6th |
It’s possible the targets for Mr. Grant are a little optimistic for 2017.
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