Monthly Archives: March 2025

2025 NLL Week 18

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We’re a little closer to knowing the playoff picture but incredibly, the only thing that was decided this past weekend was that the Rush have clinched a home playoff game. Buffalo and Saskatchewan are now tied for first, with Buffalo holding the tiebreaker, but there are still six other teams (COL, GEO, HFX, ROC, SD, VAN) that could still finish first overall. Four more (ALB, CAL, OTT, TOR) could finish as high as third, and the Wings could finish as high as sixth. Alternatively, any of those teams except Buffalo and Saskatchewan could finish tenth or lower. For example, with only three weeks left in the regular season, the Rock could finish 3rd or 14th.

Just like last year, the playoff race could come down to the very last weekend, or even the very last game, of the season. Once again, unified standings FTW.

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2025 NLL Week 17

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The March to May continues and the playoff races got a little tighter this past weekend. Buffalo and Saskatchewan have clinched playoff spots and Las Vegas has been eliminated, but everyone else is still in the mix. Obviously some teams are in better shape than others, so it’s unlikely that Halifax will miss, and unlikely that Toronto or Philly will make it. But there are still seven or eight teams that have a decent chance of doing either one.

My Awesomes this week include three teams that are at the bottom end of the standings, but don’t take that as any kind of prediction. They were just awesome last weekend.

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Game report: Philadelphia @ Toronto

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On Saturday night, Toronto and Philadelphia could have switched team names. The Rock were flying while the Wings dropped like a stone.

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Attendance draw: who are the most popular visiting teams?

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I’ve written about attendance in the NLL a number of times over the years but one aspect that I have looked into but never written about is what I call “draw”. This has nothing to do with face-offs, we’re talking about how different teams affect attendance at the opposing arenas.

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2025 NLL Week 16

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Another busy weekend in the NLL with seven games. Blowouts were the name of the game this weekend, as four of the seven games featured a team that led by at least nine goals and three of them led by eleven. To balance things out, we had a one-goal game and a two-goal game, but most of the games were decided well before the fourth quarter even started.

I have more Not Awesomes than Awesomes this week, which is unusual, but even the Not Awesomes aren’t really that bad.

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Trade frenzy on deadline day

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Trade deadline day in the NLL was pretty uneventful and boring… until it wasn’t. And then it really really wasn’t. First, former MVP and Goaltender of the Year Christian Del Bianco was sent to the Vancouver Warriors for defender Brayden Laity and some pretty high draft picks. Del Bianco had been holding out this entire season, asking for a trade closer to his home in Vancouver, and since Calgary is the closest team to Vancouver that isn’t Vancouver, there was really nowhere else for him to go.

There were a few other deals made that day as well which I’ll touch on too.

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2025 NLL Week 15

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It’s hard to believe we’re talking playoff positioning already. It seems like the season just started a few weeks ago but we’re at week 15 now. Nobody has clinched a playoff spot or has been eliminated, but we’re getting close. Lots of awesome stuff happened this week, and there was a few things that were not, so let’s get into it.

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2025 NLL Week 14

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The battle for first place was won by the Bandits… for now. There were low-scoring games all over the place in week 14 – only one of the five games featured more than 21 goals, and two of them had both teams held under 10. Unsurprisingly, goaltending is featured in a number of my Awesome entries this week.

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Trades: Rose, de Snoo, Corbeil, Cattoni, Simpson, Jackson

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We saw a few significant trades this past week, notably two huge ones involving the Toronto Rock as well as another significant one involving the Wings and Desert Dogs. Then on Saturday, the Seals and FireWolves made a deal. The Toronto trades look like they’ve given up on the season and have begun the rebuild, but it may not be as bad as that. The Wings have massively improved their defense, the Seals and Rock get picks for the future, and the Desert Dogs and FireWolves both get some more firepower up front.

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NLL Tiebreakers

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One of the more confusing parts of watching the standings during the March to May is dealing with tiebreakers. If two or more teams are tied, how do we break that tie and decide on the position of each team in the standings? During the season, it doesn’t really matter much, but if teams are tied at the end of the season, it matters very much. The tiebreakers can decide everything from who a team plays to where a team plays to if a team plays.

Here’s a summary of the NLL’s tiebreakers and how they are applied.

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