Author Archives: Graeme

Help wanted!

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I bought this NLL jersey on eBay last week:

IMAG1143

 

It’s obviously from the All-Star game in Portland in 2007, and it’s been signed by no less than eighteen NLL players. (At least, I’m assuming they’re NLL players.) Problem is, I can’t read most of them. Can you help? If you recognize any of them, please let me know in the comments!

If it helps, the players who played in the 2007 All-Star game are listed here.

 

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First name could be Ryan. Ward, Cousins, Boyle, and Powell were all on the 2007 All-Star teams. Roy Colsey wasn’t but his last season was 2007.

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Going out on a limb here. Gonna say Dallas Eliuk.

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John Grant? Just going by the #24 here.

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Kaleb Toth?

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Kinda looks like Buck Martinez but I doubt it.

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Peter Morgan?

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Another John Grant?

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Casey Powell?

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Kind of looks like a heart-shaped balloon (more obvious in the picture above), which would seem odd for a lacrosse player’s signature.

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Week 14 picks

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I went 2-2 last weekend, getting the west games right (Edmonton, Calgary) and the east games wrong (Toronto, Buffalo). Since Tyler only went 1-3, we’re now tied at 39-16, one game better than the top IL Indoor prognosticator, Bob Chavez.

Record: 39-16 (.709)

Game
Comments
Pick
EDM @ ROC Toughest test yet for the Rush. Of course, I thought the Bandits would be a tough test for the Rush and they handled them like they were the 2013 Bandits. Looking forward to this one. Rush4333
MIN @ CAL Last week’s Swarm victory over the Bandits (and their OT loss to the Rock the week before) gave the Swarm some confidence but it’ll take more than confidence to get past Mike Poulin and keep from getting swamped by the Calgary powerhouse offense. Imagine how good they’d be with Scott Ranger in the lineup every day. Roughnecks5
PHI @ COL Adam Jones returns alongside Casey Powell, John Grant, and Drew Westervelt. Oh and Sean Pollock, Athan Iannucci, and Joel Dalgarno. Obviously Jones’ injury hurt and Powell and Iannucci have only played 5 games each, but this team should really be in the top few in goals scored per game rather than 8th. Still, they have the firepower to get by Philly as long as Mr. Crowley doesn’t have another one of those outbursts like last weekend. Mammoth
BUF @ VAN Buffalo’s street cred took a bit of a beating last weekend, getting blown out by the best team in the league and then losing to the worst team in the league. But I think they’re still a good enough team to beat the floundering Stealth. Bandits433
EDM @ TOR I’m bringing my dad to this game so hopefully the Rock puts on a good show. If the Rock from the early part of the season – who lost to the Rush by 1, beat the Roughnecks handily, and demolished the Wings – shows up we’re in good shape. At least they’ll put up a good fight. If the more recent Rock, losers of four of the last five, show up, we’re in trouble. Either way, I think the Rush take this one. Rush4333

The NLL Pronunciation Guide 2014

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There I am, just sitting at my computer watching the Swarm play the Bandits… when it happens. I’m not shocked, but a little startled. A week later, the Rock are playing the Swarm and it happens again, more than once. Again, not shocking but my anxiety level starts to rise. Then it happens again this past weekend (I was so distraught I don’t even remember which game it was), and I lose it. I snap. I resolve right then and there to write yet another name pronunciation guide (here’s last year’s and the original from 2011) in the hopes that the NLL announcers will read it and start pronouncing the players’ names right, even if only for a change of pace. I may have to start doing one of these every year to cover the rookies.

A couple of times recently I’ve even heard announcers getting names entirely wrong. If you see “Aaron Wilson” and decide “Aaron” is pronounced “COLL-in”, well I can’t help you. I’m doing my best by writing this article but I’m no miracle worker.

Note that not all NLL announcers are in need of this list. Guys like Dave Walls and Jake Elliott know the league and the players and while they might get a rookie’s name wrong in his first game, they’re not going to mess up Kelusky or Steenhuis. But not all of the announcers are as familiar with the players, so this article is for them.

I’ve organized the names alphabetically within their teams starting with the East division.

 

Buffalo

Ryan Benesch – buh-NESH

Kevin Brownell – brow-NELL

Steve Priolo – pree-O-lo

Joe Resetarits – res-uh-TARE-its

Dhane Smith – DANE

Mark Steenhuis – STAIN-house

John Tavares – tuh-VAR-es

Jay Thorimbert – THOR-im-burt

Kurtis Wagar – WAY-ger

 

Minnesota

Callum Crawford – CAL-um. Not CAY-lum.

Alex Crepinsek – CREP-in-seck

Kiel Matisz – KYLE muh-TEEZ

Logan Schuss – SHUSS (rhymes with BUS). Confirmed by Logan himself.

Corbyn Tao – COR-bin TOW (TOW rhymes with COW)

Philadelphia

CJ Costabile – COST-a-bull

Kevin Crowley – CROW-lee where CROW also rhymes with COW, not like the bird CROW

Tracey Kelusky – kuh-LUH-skee. Not kuh-LOO-skee

Garrett Thul – THOOL

Chad Wiedmaier – WEED-myer

 

Rochester

Mike Accursi – uh-KER-see

Stephen Keogh – KEY-o

Matt Vinc – like the name VINCE. Not VINK

Cory Vitarelli – vit-uh-REL-ee

 

Toronto

Kasey Beirnes – BEERns. Not BEER-ness

Nick Diachenko – dya-CHENG-ko.

Billy Hostrawser – HO-straw-zer. I got this wrong last year.

Stephen Leblanc – STEFF-in luh-BLONK. Not luh-BLANK.

 

Calgary

Dane Dobbie – DOUGH-bee. Not like Dobby.

Karsen Leung – lee-UNG

Tor Reinholdt – RINE-holt

Frankie Scigliano – shill-ee-ANN-o

Geoff Snider – SNY-der. One of my pet peeves is when he’s called SHNY-der.

 

Colorado

Tye Belanger – buh-LON-zhay

Joey Cupido – koo-PEE-do

Athan Iannucci – eye-uh-NOOCH-ee

Chet Koneczny – kon-EZ-nee

Creighton Reid – CRAY-ton

Bob Snider – SNY-der

Drew Westervelt – WEST-er-velt

 

Edmonton

Nik Bilic – Technically BIL-ich but most people say BIL-ik

Chris Corbeil – cor-BEEL

Riley Loewen – LOW-en where LOW does not rhyme with COW.

Brett Mydske – MID-skee

Adrian Sorichetti – sore-i-KET-ee

Kyle Rubisch – ROO-bish. My Scottish relatives might say it like “rubbish” but he’s not.

 

Vancouver

Rhys Duch – REES DUTCH

Ilija Gajic – ILL-ee-ya GUY-ch

Justin Pychel – PITCH-el

Nick Weiss – WEES. I know, right? Looks like WYSS! But it’s not! The hell, man?

 

Non-players

Steve Bermel – BERM-ull. Rhymes with “thermal”. IL Indoor Bandits writer.

Melissa Dafni – DAF-nee. One of my co-hosts on Addicted to Lacrosse.

Jamie Dawick – DOW-ick. DOW rhymes with, you guessed it, COW. Owner of the Rock.

Tyler Fitch – TY-ler FITCH. My other co-host on Addicted to Lacrosse. Easy name to pronounce but I didn’t want to leave him out.

Marisa Ingemi – muh-RISS-a in-JEMM-ee. In Lacrosse We Trust writer.

Darris Kilgour – DARE-iss KILL-gore. Former Bandits coach/GM.

Curt Malawsky – muh-LOW-skee. Had to get another COW rhyme in there. Roughnecks head coach.

Graeme Perrow – GRAY-um PAIR-o. Yours truly.

Craig Rybczynski – rib-CHIN-skee. Knighthawks broadcaster.

Grant Spies – SPEEZ. NLL ref.

Week 13 picks

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In case you think I forgot to post this article before this week’s games started, you’re absolutely wrong. I forgot to write this article before this week’s games started. Luckily I announced my picks, as I always do, on the Addicted to Lacrosse show on Monday, so there’s no question of my making my picks after one game is over (Edmonton beat Buffalo earlier tonight) and the other is half finished (Calgary is up 8-2 on Vancouver at the half as I type this).

I went 5-0 last weekend and I’m now 11-1 in the last three weeks. Actually 12-1 since the Rush have already won this weekend.

Record: 37-14 (.725)

Game
Comments
Pick
BUF @ EDM I keep saying this. “If anyone can beat the Rush, it’s Rochester”. “If anyone can beat the Rush, it’s Calgary”. “If anyone can beat the Rush, it’s Buffalo”. Well, they’ve all tried and failed. Pretty soon it might be “If anyone can beat the Rush, it must be 2015.” Rush433
CAL @ VAN This pick was somewhat of a no-brainer for me, though both Tyler and Melissa picked Vancouver. Perhaps I’ve lost all confidence in the Stealth or have too much confidence in the Roughnecks, but I spent very little time thinking about this one. Roughnecks
TOR @ PHI This one I thought more about. The last two Rock games have featured great first halves and lousy second halves. But they’ve done a bit of a rebuild mid-way through the season, bringing in Brandon Miller, Kevin Ross, Jimmy Purves and out of retirement, Cam Woods. Meanwhile, the Wings have lost six straight. Rock5
BUF @ MIN Top team in the east vs. bottom team in the league – another no-brainer. Could the Swarm pull off the upset? Sure, but I’m not betting on it. Bandits43

Game report: Rochester 17 @ Toronto 12

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If anyone knows what John Lovell said to the Toronto Rock at halftime of Saturday night’s game, please don’t tell me. If I hear it, I might just lay down and have a nap, ignoring whatever task I’m in the middle of.

The Rock started strong, scoring six goals on their first seven shots and chasing Matt Vinc from the Knighthawks net early in the second quarter. I know, right? They chased Matt Vinc! Doyle had a hat-trick, Billings and Hellyer had a couple each, and Leblanc had one – and this is only 4½ minutes into the second quarter. Rochester had their chances as well, but Nick Rose was solid in the first half – better than solid, actually, he was really good. The Knighthawks scattered five goals throughout the first half, while the Rock scored eight on Vinc, though they only scored one after backup Angus Goodleaf was brought in. Toronto was definitely in control at the half, leading 9-5.

And then came The Speech. Maybe it was something like “Well, this game’s over boys, we don’t need to try so hard in the second half” and everybody on the Rock’s veteran-laden team bought that. Maybe it was something like “I feel sorry for those poor Knighthawks. Maybe we should let them back in the game to make them feel better!” Or perhaps it was an early April Fool’s joke and the two teams switched uniforms.

Whatever happened, it was bad. The second half of this game might have been the worst half of lacrosse the team has played all season. Rochester had scored the last goal of the second quarter and then scored the next seven goals to turn a 9-4 Rock lead into a 12-9 Knighthawks lead. Finally Garrett Billings scored, 16 minutes after the Rock’s last goal, to break the streak but the Hawks just started a new one, scoring the next five and putting the game out of reach. In the end, Rochester outscored the Rock 12-3 in the second half. The Nick Rose from the first half was nowhere to be seen, which led to a couple of goalie changes, with Steve Fryer making his Rock debut. Rose was brought back in later, but then was pulled a second time. The offense couldn’t get anything going, and they seemed to go from “Hey, we should really start scoring a few here or we’ll run out of time for the comeback” to full-on panic “Shoot as soon as you get the ball and maybe we’ll get lucky and it’ll go in!” mode in no time flat. The second half collapse wasn’t entirely the fault of goaltending though, there were a number of defensive breakdowns that resulted in some Knighthawk player by himself with the ball on the edge of the crease and a few seconds to decide where to put it. Regardless of who the goalie is or how he’s playing, the majority of those are going in.

Just two days after the @NLLFactOfTheDay was about Angus Goodleaf, he came in and played an outstanding game. When he came out to start the third and fourth quarters, I was a little surprised that they didn’t go back to Vinc, but the way Goodleaf was playing there was really no point in putting Vinc back in. When you can keep the Rock offense to four goals in forty minutes, I don’t care how many Goalie of the Year awards the other guy has, you are staying in the net. FYI Goodleaf is no longer the league’s GAA leader – that would be Brodie MacDonald with 5.37, while Goodleaf has 5.41. Goodleaf is still the league’s save % leader at 87.2%. He’s also played over 55 minutes this season, over ten times what he played last year.

Other game notes:

  • Jesse Gamble and Scott Self were in a “fight” in the first quarter. I put “fight” in quotes because it took them long enough to get each other’s helmets off so that they could fight, it looked like they were too tired to continue. I’m not sure Self actually threw any punches, and Gamble might have thrown a couple.
  • Just look at this Colin Doyle spin-o-rama goal. Just look at it. This is the last goal that Vinc allowed.
  • Cody Jamieson gets credit for this goal but just watch the play that birthday boy Johnny Powless makes to set it up. Powless has played 2½ seasons and has won two Championships and he just turned 21.
  • Near the end of the game, some clearly drunk Rock fan (in a Chicago Shamrox jersey) started chirping to the Knighthawks players in the penalty box and then started making rude gestures to them, even grabbing the plexiglass between him and them and almost pulling it down. He was thrown out but as he left, he started waving to the fans and they cheered him. Why? Why does this idiot deserve cheering? Why aren’t we embarrassed?
  • No announcement was made at the game, but Dan Dawson netted his 1000th career point in this game. Congrats to one of the best scorers in league history and a slam-dunk Hall of Famer once he retires. He’s still playing at an awfully high level though, so retirement could still be (and hopefully will be) many years away.
  • I asked on twitter whether the momentum had shifted in the second half, but got conflicting answers:

Momentum Shift

Week 12 picks

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I was 3-1 last week, only missing the Calgary-Colorado game. Some tough ones this week, and I picked a few based solely on my gut and not on anything I can explain.

Record: 32-14 (.696)

Game
Comments
Pick
EDM @ CAL If anybody can beat the Rush, it’s Calgary. But I have to play the odds and go with Edmonton. Rush43
ROC @ TOR Once again, I find it hard to pick against Matt Vinc, even when it’s the Rock facing him. Despite going 0-2 the other weekend, the Rock didn’t play all that bad other than the first quarter of the Calgary game. I imagine the week off will help get everyone healthy again, but I’m still going with the Hawks. Knighthawks533
COL @ BUF Colorado played really well against the Roughnecks last weekend, but I still think the Bandits are the best team in the East, and best in the league outside of Edmonton. Bandits4
ROC @ PHI Rochester had a little bit of trouble with the Wings last weekend, other than the fourth quarter when they pulled away. Don’t see it going any differently this week. Knighthawks533
TOR @ MIN Minnesota’s confidence is rising, even if they haven’t beaten anyone but the Wings. They played strong against the Bandits last week, but I’m still picking the Rock in this one. Rock

Week 11 picks

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The good news: 3-0 last week! The bad news: The Rock 0-2 weekend that I predicted came true. Was kinda hoping I’d be wrong on one of those.

All three members of the Addicted to Lacrosse team made the same picks for this weekend.

Record: 29-13 (.690)

Game
Comments
Pick
MIN @ BUF Buffalo hasn’t played in a couple of weeks, but their confidence is still running high, though Minnesota’s is probably not bad either after beating the Wings and a close loss to Toronto. Still gotta go with the Bandits. Bandits
PHI @ ROC Philly’s lost four in a row, and they’re facing Matt Vinc. I don’t see the upset here. Knighthawks53
CAL @ COL Calgary’s offense was clicking big-time last weekend, and against the Colorado defense (and three rookie coaches), they might just have another field day. Roughnecks5
VAN @ EDM As I said on the A2L show: Vancouver minus Sorensen against the Rush? No-brainer. (Of course I hate saying “no-brainer” with NLL picks since teams like to prove me wrong.) Rush4

Week 10 picks

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My streak of no more than one incorrect pick per week ends at 4, and my streak of .500 or better weeks ends at 7. I was 1-2 last week as Calgary and Minnesota pulled off the comeback victories. If the games ended at halftime, I’d have been 3-3.

Record: 26-13 (.667)

Game
Comments
Pick
TOR @ EDM I keep asking this question, but can anybody beat the Rush? Well sure, in this league anyone could. I doubt the Rush will finish the season 18-0, so somebody’s going to beat them. Could it be Toronto? Maybe, but I’m not betting on it. Looking forward to watching this game on TV though. Rush
TOR @ CAL If there’s one thing I hate doing, it’s picking against my favourite team. If there’s one thing I hate doing more than that, it’s picking my team to lose twice in one weekend. But if I’m going to be non-homer-ific, I have to admit that Toronto’s inconsistent play recently is not likely to get them by a surging Roughnecks team in Calgary. Roughnecks
ROC @ COL Calgary was able to come back against Matt Vinc and the Knighthawks but I don’t see Colorado pulling it off. They have the firepower up front, but they don’t have the defense and goaltending is still up in the air. Knighthawks5

Game report: Minnesota 12 @ Toronto 14

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Well, it was a better result than last week, anyway.

Last week’s Toronto Rock game sucked because the Rock started off playing strong for the first quarter and a half and then not only did they let the Knighthawks get back into it, they let the Knighthawks take complete control. In this week’s game the timing was different and the result was different, but it was similar in that the Rock should have had the game locked up but they let the Swarm get right back into it. They managed to pull off the win, but it ended up being a much closer game than it should have been. However the other big difference is that despite what was at one point a fairly lopsided score, I didn’t think the Rock were in control at all.

There were a few real weirdnesses with this game. Toronto had 13 goals and a nine goal lead in the 3rd quarter and I didn’t think they played all that well. The 1-6 Swarm were losing by 9 and had only scored 4 and weren’t playing all that bad. Nick Rose allowed only 4 goals in the first three quarters and I didn’t think he was all that strong at all, even before his collapse in the 4th.

I don’t even know how to describe the game. Despite the score, I never felt that the Rock were in control. The Minnesota defense is big and strong (Brock Sorensen had a very good game), and the Rock had some trouble getting by them, though perhaps their persistence paid off in that they’d pass around looking for a way to get through and eventually they’d find one. It reminds me of something that Tyler said on a recent Addicted to Lacrosse show about the Vancouver Stealth – they took advantage of the scoring opportunities that they were given, but they didn’t really create any.

Nick Rose was fine for most of the game, but I didn’t think he played great. He made most of the saves you expected him to make (Jordan MacIntosh’s first goal was a bit of a softie), but he still gives up too many rebounds and cannot guard against the behind-the-net Air Gait goals. He’s been burned by those more times than I can remember (thank goodness Drew Westervelt is in the west division now), and on Saturday he gave up three more in the 4th quarter alone, all by Jordan MacIntosh, including two within eleven seconds.

And then there was the comeback. The Rock managed to hold the Swarm to four goals in the first three quarters and scored eight goals in a row within 16 minutes, but then everything turned around. The Swarm held the Rock to a single goal (an empty-netter) in the final quarter, and scored seven straight in 10 minutes and six in the last five minutes of the game. A lot of the fans remembered the Knighthawks game last week and thought “here we go again”. I’m really not sure if the Rock were actually able to stop the bleeding or if Minnesota simply ran out of time, but the last half of the 4th quarter was all Swarm and from a Rock fan point of view, it was not pretty.

Yes, the Rock won the game, and I’m not going to argue that they didn’t deserve to win. But they didn’t dominate a team that was 1-6 and they almost blew it in the last quarter. If they play like that against the Rush and Roughnecks next weekend, we’ll have the makings of an 0-2 weekend.

Other game notes:

  • The first two goals of the game were fairly similar. Logan Schuss takes a shot which Rose stopped, but Brock Sorensen grabbed the rebound and deposited it over Rose who had no chance. A minute and a half later, Josh Sanderon takes a nice pass from Garrett Billings and shoots, Zach Higgins makes an excellent save, but it left him lying down to one side of the net. Stephen Leblanc grabbed the rebound and scored. Just watched the replay on the YouTube feed, and Stephen Stamp said the same thing. You know, great minds and all that.
  • Scott Johnston was in a fight in the 1st quarter, and it looked to me like he spent most of the rest of the first half trying to get in another one. I even predicted on Twitter that he’d finish the game in the dressing room – but it was Billy Hostrawser who did that after getting into his second fight of the game.
  • There are games that are “chippy” and then games that get out of hand, with fights all over the place and such. This game was right in between those – not one of those that bordered on the ridiculous, but “chippy” isn’t quite enough.
  • Andrew Suitor took an instigator penalty in the first quarter, which comes with a game misconduct. How is this a captain-like move? I like Suitor and he’s obviously a great player, but considering their 4th quarter comeback that they weren’t quite able to finish, I doubt the fight he started in the first was really worth his removal from the lineup.

Update: I went back and re-watched the video of the 3rd quarter of this game, and I felt I had to update this article since the Rock really did play well in the third. The defense was strong, Ethan O’Connor’s goal was very nice, Rob Hellyer scored a nice one as well, and Kasey Beirnes was all over the place in the offensive zone. Nick Rose made some great saves though as I’ve said before, he’s more the type to get in the way and make the stop than to make the acrobatic plays that Matt Vinc makes so you may not notice them quite as much. Anyway, I wanted to say that the general theme of the original article (the Rock won despite playing badly and Rose wasn’t great) is not completely true.

I couldn’t bring myself to watch the 4th quarter though.

Week 9 picks

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Another 4-1 week! Third in a row, and fourth week in a row with only one incorrect pick. I should be bragging about my prediction prowess, but I’m too shocked given my sub-.500 records in the last 2 years.

Record: 25-11 (.694)

Game
Comments
Pick
MIN @ TOR The Rock had their asses handed to them last weekend, and they’ll also be looking for payback against the Swarm, who knocked them out of the playoffs last season. The Rock have been dominant at home except for last week, while the Swarm haven’t been dominant anywhere. Rock533
ROC @ CAL Rochester obviously has a strong defense and goaltending, but one of their criticisms this season has been their offense. Only one team (Minnesota) has scored fewer goals. But after scoring 17 last weekend, they got that monkey off their backs. The Roughnecks have lots of offensive threats as well, but I think the Rochester defense has a better shot of shutting them down than the Calgary defense has with the Knighthawks. Knighthawks
MIN @ PHI I hate to predict an 0-2 weekend for a 1-6 team, but there it is. The Wings are the only team the Swarm have beaten so far this season and they’re also on a three-game losing streak. But at this point I have more confidence that the Wings can turn it around than the Swarm. Wings