Author Archives: Graeme

Game review: Toronto @ Las Vegas

Posted on by

This past weekend, I added one to the list of NLL arenas I have visited, though I have to say that number is still pretty small (Toronto, Hamilton, Buffalo, Rochester, and now Vegas) compared to other people I know. My family and I (and a bunch of friends – 17 total) travelled to Las Vegas last Wednesday night and went to the Rock / Desert Dogs game on Friday. As I’ve mentioned before, my friend Mike is Shawn Williams’ uncle, and so when we found that the Rock were going to Vegas, Mike asked Shawn if he could get tickets for us, which he did. Thanks Shawn!

We also saw a show at Sphere, did a virtual flyover of Iceland, did a hike through the incredible Valley of Fire, and according to my phone, walked about 52 km (32 miles) in three days. But you’re not here to read about my travel adventures, so let’s get to the actual game report.

Continue reading →

2024 NLL Week 13

Posted on by

Games were all over the place this past weekend. A couple of one goal games, one in overtime, and also an eight-goal game and a thirteen-goal blowout. One game with 28 goals, two with 25, and one with 14. The first place teams (Toronto and Albany) won and the last place team (Vancouver) lost, but Colorado and Las Vegas also won and Georgia and Buffalo lost. Calgary and Panther City are moving up, while Philadelphia and Rochester are dropping. Man, this season is fun, isn’t it?

Continue reading →

Game Report: Vancouver @ Toronto

Posted on by

If you didn’t know anything about the NLL and I told you before this game that one of the teams was 7-2 and tied for first overall and the other was 2-7 and in dead last, I doubt you could have told me during this game which was which. Both teams had offense that just wasn’t quite clicking, very strong defense, and great goaltending.

Continue reading →

2024 NLL Week 12

Posted on by

We still have two teams tied atop the standings, as the Rock and FireWolves both won this past weekend. Oddly, we have two teams tied at .500: New York, with a goal differential of -10 and Panther City, with a goal differential of +9. Lots to talk about this week, and I didn’t even mention half of the games. I didn’t see any of the Wings/Desert Dogs, Bandits/Thunderbirds, or Mammoth/FireWolves games. But the UnBoxed series began this week, and we even have some rare mid-season non-NLL news: the PLL Championship Series concluded on Monday.

Continue reading →

2024 NLL Week 11

Posted on by

Six games this past week, and only one that was won by more than two goals. And other than the last eight minutes or so, that one was one of the closest games of the season. Lots of awesome to go around this week, starting with one of the most awesome stories of the year.

Continue reading →

2024 NLL Week 10

Posted on by

The parity in the NLL gave us a bunch of exciting games this weekend and few games you might call upsets. But if you bet on lacrosse, you might be more inclined to phrase it as “parity reared its ugly head this weekend”. The old cliche of “any team can beat any other team on any given night” continues to hold true. In addition to some great games, we had a few milestones reached, and in the Not Awesome category, I make a suggestion that the NLL should implement, and it would likely only require them to upgrade many or all of the NLL arenas and cost them an insane amount of money!

Continue reading →

Vinc vs. Rose II – the GSAA statistic and what it means

Posted on by

Recently, I wrote about Matt Vinc and Nick Rose and how their career stat lines are quite similar, other than the Goaltender of the Year awards they’ve won, where Vinc is ahead 8-0. My initial thesis was that their stat lines were very similar but Vinc has had more post-season success, which implies that the teams he’s been on have been better than Rose’s. So can we conclude that Rose, with similar stats on worse teams, is actually the better goalie? The conclusion, based on the GSAA (Goals Saved Above Average) stat, was that no, Vinc has been the better goalie.

But how does the GSAA stat tell us this? Specifically, if Nick Rose’s save percentage is very close to Matt Vinc’s, why is Vinc’s GSAA so much higher than Rose’s? Today, we’re going to see if we can answer that question by looking at this stat, how it’s calculated, and what it really means.

For the examples below, we’re using numbers from the 2023 NLL season. In 2023, Rose had a save percentage of 80.47% and a GSAA of 23.50. Vinc had a save percentage of 80.30% and a GSAA of 25.16. We can see that Rose’s save percentage was actually higher than Vinc’s, but he had a lower GSAA. Let’s find out why.

Continue reading →

2024 NLL Week 9

Posted on by

Wow, what a week! Exciting games, a couple of upsets, a loss by a previously-undefeated team, and some record-setting performances. Let’s get right into it.

Continue reading →

Game report: Buffalo @ Toronto

Posted on by

I haven’t done one of these in a while. I usually fold my thoughts about games I attend into the Awesome or Not Awesome section of my weekly report, but there was so much to say about this one that I split it out into its own report.

Continue reading →

Vinc vs. Rose

Posted on by

I happened to notice a while ago that Matt Vinc and Nick Rose had very similar stats lines over their careers. Vinc’s career GAA is 10.73, Rose’s is 10.53. Vinc’s save percentage is 78.8%, Rose’s is 78.6%. Each was ahead of the other in these stats in some seasons. But Vinc has won an amazing eight Goaltender of the Year awards and is widely considered the GOAT, while Rose has been a finalist four times but hasn’t won any. Does it make sense that Vinc’s stats were that similar to Rose’s but Vinc has received far more accolades?

Continue reading →