Category Archives: Edmonton Rush

NLL 2013 team previews in haiku

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A list of my 2013 season previews of each team in haiku forum, along with links to the longer form for each.

Buffalo Bandits

Many new Bandits
Chugger’s been a busy guy
JT’s still here, natch

Philadelphia Wings

Rabil, no Dawsons
Transition – or midfielders?
This is box, not field

Rochester Knighthawks

Few changes, but big
With Powell and the Dawsons
The champs have improved

Toronto Rock

Who will protect us?
Pat Campbell retired, but
Scott Evans is here

Calgary Roughnecks

Dave Pym, Kaleb Toth
Both gone, but no one can get
Through the Poulin Wall

Colorado Mammoth

Grant is the leader
Last year was record-setting
Only one Gajic left

Edmonton Rush

Lost Williams, Wilson
But wait, help is on the way
Matthews is the man

Minnesota Swarm

Surprisingly good
Rookies did the job last year
Still getting better

Washington Stealth

Zywicki, Bloom: gone
Lots of rookies join the team
Return to glory?

2013 Preview: Edmonton Rush

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RushAt the end of the 2012 regular season, the Rush were the least likely team to make the finals (other than the Stealth). Despite a strong second half of the season, they were 6-10, had lost two in a row, and faced the 12-4 Calgary Roughnecks in the first round. But the Rush found a way to not only pull off a win against the Riggers, but they did it convincingly, winning 19-11. The next game was even more convincing, a 15-3 drubbing of the Minnesota Swarm which put them in the Championship game for the first time in franchise history. The final game started off looking like it would be more of the same for the Rush, as they led the Knighthawks 5-1 at halftime. But the ‘Hawks scored 8 of the last 9 goals, including 7 in a row, to pull off the comeback. The Rush got farther into the playoffs than they ever had before but I imagine they are still disappointed with the result.

Only one team gave up fewer goals than the Rush in 2012, but nobody scored fewer. Their top two scorers, Shawn Williams and Ryan Ward, were 16th and 28th in the league respectively.

Roster changes

So if your team is struggling offensively but sparkles defensively, what do you do? I know! Trade your top scorer and another veteran scorer who had an off year and bring in transition guys! Sounds dumb, right? Well, maybe not. Yes, losing Williams will hurt, but Wilson wasn’t the offensive threat they expected him to be. Wilson scored just over half the points he had in Minnesota in 2011 and just over a third of what he had in 2010. Scott Evans was also released, though he missed the last few games of the season and the playoffs anyway. But they did get Cory Conway from Calgary, so that will replace some of the offense.

And then there’s Mark Matthews.

The hype around this guy is unreal, and it seems that some people are expecting Matthews to look like John Grant right out of the gate. Obviously that’s a bit unrealistic, but 60+ points is almost expected, and an Adam Jones / Kevin Crowley-type rookie season (75+ points) would not be out of the question. The Rush have also added Alex Turner, who didn’t play last year but picked up 39 points for the Wings in 2011, and rookie Curtis Knight (along with Matthews) has previously played for Rush GM and head coach Derek Keenan in his role as coach of the Whitby Warriors.

The Rush lost Derek Suddons (traded) and Steve Toll (CLax) but gained Jarrett Davis and Jeremy Thompson so defense and transition still look good, and Aaron Bold and Brodie MacDonald form one of the better goalie tandems in the NLL, so no problems on that end.

The loss of Paul Rabil means nothing, since neither he nor the guy he replaced, Athan Iannucci, played a single game for the Rush last year.

Burning questions

Should we just give Mark Matthews the Rookie of the Year award now?

Also, will the Rush come back down to Earth after their rise to the Championship game, or did their strong play in the 2012 playoffs give them the confidence the team has lacked for years?

Prediction

By the numbers, Conway + Matthews could offset Williams + Wilson + 3/4 of Evans. But trying to set your offense up to be better than that of the 2012 Rush is not that lofty a goal. As good a goal-scorer as Shawn Williams is, he’s one of the best passers in the history of the league. Can Matthews or Conway or anyone else step up and be that guy?

I’m just not sure about the Rush. Anywhere from first to fifth in the west is possible, but my uncertainty keeps pushing them down. Calgary will be great, Minnesota and Colorado really good, and I don’t think Washington is as bad as last year make them look, which leaves Edmonton. I don’t really see them as a last-place team but someone has to finish last, and I’m just less unsure about the other teams. I’m going to have to say fifth in the west.

Haiku

Lost Williams, Wilson
But wait, help is on the way
Matthews is the man

NLL 2013 rosters: Who’s in, who’s out

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Here is a complete list of the changes in rosters from the end of the 2012 season to the roster lists just announced. Players on the Holdout, Physically Unable to Perform (PUP), or Injured Reserve (IR) lists may be moved to the active roster before the season begins. Note that not all teams listed players on the PIP or IR lists so some may be missing.

Names for each list are in alphabetical order.

Buffalo Bandits

In: Carter Bender, David Brock, Glen Bryan, Nick Cotter, Steve Dietrich (GM), Mike Hominuck, Mike McNamara, Jamie Rooney, Dhane Smith, Hayden Smith, Derek Suddons, Kurtis Wagar, Shawn Williams, Aaron Wilson
Out: Kevin Buchanan, Brandon Francis, Darryl Gibson, Angus Goodleaf, Travis Irving, Darris Kilgour (GM), Ian Llord, Tom Montour, Jeremy Thompson, Mike Thompson, Roger Vyse, Chris White
IR: Jordan Critch, Mat Giles, Jamie Rooney
PUP: Jimmy Purves
Holdout: Joe Smith, Scott Stewart
Practice Squad: Kevin Brownell, Craig England, Derek Hopcroft

 

Philadelphia Wings

In: Kevin Buchanan, C.J. Costabile, Kevin Croswell, Ethan Farrell, Tom Hajek (defensive coach), Will Harrington, Kyle Hartzell, Jake Lazore, Mike Manley, Paul Rabil, Kevin Ross, Brian Tueber, Joel White, Chad Weiedmaier
Out: David Brock, Dan Dawson, Paul Dawson, Dan Deckelbaum, Steve Fryer, Tom Hajek (player), Mike Hominuck, Brendan Mundorf (injured), Jordan Sealock, Joe Smith, Kurtis Wagar
IR: Matt Alrich, Jordan Hall, Dan Hardy, Eric Hoffman, Steve Grossi
PUP: John McFadyen, Brendan Mundorf
Holdout:
Practice Squad:

 

Rochester Knighthawks

In: Dan Dawson, Paul Dawson, Matt Hummel, Joel McCready, Casey Powell
Out: Ryan Cousins (injured), Jarrett Davis, Jordan Hall, Travis Hill, Pat McCready, Tim O’Brien, Joel White
IR:
PUP: Ryan Cousins
Holdout: Kyle Laverty
Practice Squad: Ian Llord, Cody McLeod, Tom Montour

 

Toronto Rock

In: Kyle Belton, Zak Boychuk, Scott Evans, Rob Hellyer, Brandon Ivey, Cody Jacobs, Chris White
Out: Glen Bryan, Pat Campbell, Dan Carey, Bruce Codd, Steve Dietrich (goalie coach), Scott Johnston, Jamie Rooney, Brendan Thenhaus
IR: Mike Lum-Walker, Phil Sanderson
PUP:
Holdout:
Practice Squad:

 

Calgary Roughnecks

In: Bruce Codd (coach), Jackson Decker, Matthew Dinsdale, Curt Malawsky (head coach), Aaron Pascas, Joe Resetarits, Brad Richardson
Out: Cory Conway, Mike Kilby, Ryan McNish, Dave Pym (head coach), Kaleb Toth
IR:
PUP:
Holdout:
Practice Squad: Barclay Hickey, Darren Kinnear

 

Colorado Mammoth

In: Colton Clark, Joey Cupido, Joel Dalgarno (did not play in 2012), Chet Koneczny, Richard Morgan, Matt Roik
Out: Alex Gajic, Ian Hawksbee, Derek Hopcroft, Jed Prossner, Jamie Shewchuk, Scott Stewart
IR:
PUP: Tye Belanger, John Orsen, Jarett Park
Holdout:
Practice Squad: Alex Demopoulos

 

Edmonton Rush

In: Mitch Banister, Mike Burke, Cory Conway, Jarrett Davis, Curtis Knight, Mark Matthews, Jeremy Thompson, Alex Turner
Out: Scott Evans, Jesse Fehr, Eric Lewthwaite, Derek Suddons, Steve Toll, Shawn Williams, Aaron Wilson
IR:
PUP:
Holdout: Tyler Codron
Practice Squad: Dave Marrese

 

Minnesota Swarm

In: Matt Gibson, Shayne Jackson, Pat Smith, Alex Crepinsek, Michael O’Brien, Kiel Matisz
Out: Todd Baxter, Joe Cinosky, Brendan Doran, Matt Kelly, John McClure, Richard Morgan, Kevin Ross
IR:
PUP: Brock Sorensen
Holdout:
Practice Squad: Zach Higgins, Ryan Masters, Tyler Tanguay

 

Washington Stealth

In: Jason Bloom (coach), Kyle Buchanan, Tyler Garrison, Tim Henderson, David Joyce, Mitch McMichael, Patrick O’Meara, Nick Patterson, Justin Pychel
Out: Jason Bloom (player), Kevin Croswell, Kyle Hartzell, Peter Jacobs, Eric Martin, Kyle Ross, Cam Sedgwick, Chris Seidel, Jeff Zywicki
IR: Billy Hostrawser, Drew Snider
PUP:
Holdout: Mitch Jones
Practice Squad: Brett Hickey, Mike Mallory, Justin Salt

Pre-season game report: Edmonton 12 Toronto 8

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The NLL is back! After seven months of NLL withdrawal, NLL fans were treated to three pre-season games on Saturday night as the teams get ready for the 2013 season. Only one of the three games actually took place in an NLL venue, as the Rochester Knighthawks held off the Minnesota Swarm 11-10 at the Blue Cross Arena in Rochester. The NLL returned to the Vancouver area for the second straight year as the Calgary Roughnecks beat the Colorado Mammoth 20-11 in a high-scoring affair, while the Toronto Rock hosted the Edmonton Rush at the new Toronto Rock Athletic Centre in Oakville. This was pretty convenient for me, as the TRAC is about halfway to the ACC from where I live.

Edmonton took an early 2-0 lead before the Rock got their first goal, but 2-1 was as close as the Rock would get as the Rush led the rest of the way, winning 12-8. Considering this was the first game of the pre-season, both teams played pretty well with a few missed or dropped passes but no obvious signs of rust. None of the goalies were spectacular but all played well. The Rush defense, unsurprisingly, was the star of the game, frustrating the Rock offense by not letting them get good looks. Blaine Manning looked really good, and Josh Sanderson got back on defense a couple of times, which surprisingly did not make me cringe. If there’s one thing that future Hall of Fame lock Sanderson is not known for, it’s his defense but he seemed to be playing with a new intensity – and even got a penalty while he and Leblanc were preventing an attempted incursion into Rock territory. Great to see.

This game was the NLL debut of Edmonton’s first-overall draft pick Mark Matthews, and he certainly did not disappoint. I don’t have any stats on the game, but Matthews picked up at least three goals and a few assists as well. Matthews looked comfortable on the floor, and seemed poised to take control of the Edmonton offense, similar to the way Cody Jamieson did with the Knighthawks a couple of years ago. The Rock were without many of their big offensive players, with Colin Doyle, Garrett Billings, Dan Carey, Kasey Biernes, and Phil Sanderson all sitting out. There were a bunch of new names (Belton, Andrews, Caravello, Ivey) as well, though a couple of notable absences were draft pick Bradley Kri and the newest Rock Scott Evans. As is frequently done in the pre-season, some of the Rock players only played the first half (Nick Inch, Cam Woods, Chris White) while others only played the second (Damon Edwards, Stephen Hoar), and both teams swapped goalies a couple of times.

Aaron Bold started against Nick Rose – at least I’m pretty sure it was Bold; Edmonton must have forgotten their Twitter handle jerseys at home and played with practice jerseys with no names. Edmonton brought out Brodie MacDonald (who didn’t even get a practice jersey – his was just plain gray with no number or logo or anything) to start the 3rd quarter while the Rock countered with rookie Zac Boychuk. Rose came back in the fourth, and another rookie, Dave Marrese, finished the game for the Rush.

Part of the reason for these pre-season games is to give the rookies time to show their skills, and both Kyle Belton and Dustin Caravello took full advantage of this. I wouldn’t be surprised if Caravello played more minutes than Leblanc. I was pretty impressed with both but especially Belton, who looked like a Josh Sanderson-type “floor general”, controlling the offense and setting up plays. Caravello, on the other hand, was more of a Kasey Biernes type, sneaking around (or through) the defense to get shots from in close. I’m pretty sure Stephan Leblanc did not score, though I think he had an assist or two. I wouldn’t say he looked lost, but I didn’t see the improvement in play that I was hoping for. He seemed to have a lack of confidence last year, and I saw that again here.

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the venue itself. This was my first visit to the Toronto Rock Athletic Centre, and it was pretty impressive. There are two rinks, one with turf and one without. The turf one has bench seating for about 700 along one side, similar to your local hockey rink. There are also offices upstairs. Make no mistake though, this is not a hockey arena where you can play lacrosse once the ice is removed – I confirmed (with a security guard who seemed to know what he was talking about) that there is no ice-making equipment – this is a lacrosse facility.

Other game notes:

  • It was very cool to see Bob Watson at the game. I heard some guys a couple of rows behind me talking shortly after Whipper walked by, and one said “I will always have time for Bob Watson. As good a goalie as Watson was, he was a better person.” I have never met the man personally, but this is consistent with everything I’ve ever heard about him.
  • My son and I were sitting right next to the Edmonton dressing room – you can see us during Derek Keenan’s interview before the game. My son (green baseball cap) waves at the camera. I noticed Chris Corbeil standing around before the game while the rest of the team was practicing, but it wasn’t until much later that I noticed the cast on his right foot. No idea how serious his injury is.
  • Watching the Calgary-Colorado game, there were five or six “illegal equipment” calls because of loose chin straps. This is apparently something they’re going to be calling more this season, but obviously nobody told the refs at the Toronto-Edmonton game. Edmonton players lost their helmets at least three times.
  • They also did stick checks during the second quarter, and I believe Jeremy Thompson was caught. The ref handed his stick to a Rush trainer, and then signaled to either Thompson or Derek Keenan that there was a problem, though this was on the other side of the floor so I couldn’t tell what he was saying. Thompson immediately left the bench, ran to the dressing room, and returned a minute later with a new stick. There was no penalty assessed.
  • The first goal of the night was scored by Edmonton, but announced as “Jesse Gamble from Mike Hobbins and Brendan Thenhaus” all of whom are Rock players. Someone was looking at the wrong list. The rest of the goals were fine, but there was no correction on the first one.
  • Phil Sanderson, Garrett Billings, and Colin Doyle were up in the “owner’s box” with Jamie Dawick, except for halftime when Billings and Sanderson were on the floor taking shots. Terry Sanderson, usually behind the bench, was also up in the box.
  • Overheard: “The Rock goalie, what’s his name? Pete Rose?”
  • While Brodie MacDonald was in net, someone near me was yelling “five hole!” every time the Rock had the ball in the offensive zone. Sure enough, MacDonald’s five hole was half the net. But I guess that’s what happens when you’re 6’7″.
  • One lesson I learned from this game is not to tweet updates constantly on my phone. More than once I was tweeting about one goal only to miss the next one. If I had had my laptop with me it would have been easier, but I feel that I missed half the game because I was tweeting about the other half.

Lacrosse’s loss is hockey’s gain once again

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It was announced today that Edmonton Rush defender Chris Corbeil had signed with the Stockton Thunder of the ECHL and so will likely not be playing the 2013 season with the Rush. Corbeil has been one of the best young defenders in the league over the last couple of years, having been named to both the All-Rookie team in 2010 and the 2012 All-Star team. Along with 2012 Defender of the Year Kyle Rubisch, Brett Mydske, and Jarrett Toll, Corbeil was part of a young group that allowed the 2nd fewest goals last season. Make no mistake, this is a big loss for the Rush.

But like any other Canadian kid who has the opportunity to play hockey at that level, Corbeil’s dream is to make the NHL, and the ECHL is the next step on his way there. Nobody can blame Corbeil for wanting to take that step. I’m sure he loves lacrosse and is (justifiably) proud of his accomplishments in the NLL, but if he has to give up either his NLL career or his chance to make the NHL, there’s no question what’s going to lose.

Chris CorbeilThere have been other lacrosse players who have done the same thing. Rochester’s Brad Self missed three full NLL seasons while playing hockey in Germany. The New York Islanders’ John Tavares excelled in lacrosse as well as hockey. NHL Hall of Famer Joe Nieuwendyk was a better lacrosse player than a hockey player. Other hockey players like Adam Foote, Gary Roberts, and even Wayne Gretzky all played lacrosse but chose a career in hockey. It’s sad that it has to come down to money, but the cold, hard truth is that nobody ever got rich playing pro lacrosse. If you want to make a decent living playing lacrosse, you’ll need another job while an NHL player can live quite comfortably on his hockey salary.

I wrote an article on In Lacrosse We Trust about a year and a half ago comparing the money that NLL players make with athletes in other sports and it was quite an eye-opener. (Unfortunately, when ILWT changed hosting providers all of their previous articles were lost, and I didn’t save mine away before that happened.) I don’t remember the numbers, but if John Tavares the lacrosse player had made the league maximum his entire career (he hasn’t) and if the maximum NLL salary had been where it is now that entire time (it hasn’t), he still would have made less money in his 20-plus-year career than his nephew the hockey player has in two years.

Of course, it’s not only about money. Many Canadian children grow up watching and playing hockey and dreaming of playing in the NHL. While I’m sure many kids grow up playing lacrosse and dream of winning a Mann Cup or an NLL Championship, it would still pale in comparison to winning the Stanley Cup.

Realistic lacrosse fans know that lacrosse is, and will likely always be, a second-tier sport. As much as we’d like to believe that someday ESPN will be give the NLL the same amount of coverage it gives the NHL or NBA, we all know deep down that that’s a pipe dream. Lacrosse will continue to lose the Corbeils and John Tavares’s to hockey, that’s just reality. We can only hope that the young lacrosse stars of today are all crappy skaters.

Offseason Report #3: Trade frenzy

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Just nine days after the NLL and the NLLPA agreed to a deal that will allow the 2013 season to go forward with the same CBA as 2012, there have been all kinds of moves involving every team in the league. The Bandits named Steve Dietrich their new GM, the Stealth re-signed head coach Chris Hall and signed a five-year lease with Comcast Arena, the Roughnecks and Mammoth announced a pre-season game in Langley BC,  the Rush re-signed GM and coach Derek Keenan, and there were no less than five trades involving seven teams in only two days.

The first trade was the Rock sending holdout Aaron Pascas to the Roughnecks for a third round draft pick. This is one of those deals that looks worse than it is – in an ideal world, Pascas is worth more than a 3rd round pick. But he’s a BC boy who has already missed an entire season due to work commitments, and so perhaps the Rock decided that getting a pick was better than the nothing they may get if he can’t play in 2013 either. The Roughnecks get a scorer for the left side who is young and yet has won a Championship. If Pascas has scheduling issues with his job as a firefighter, it’s more likely that he’ll be able to make games in Calgary than in Toronto, so it’s a good deal for him as well.

Jarrett DavisA few hours after the Pascas deal, the Swarm sent forward Kevin Ross to Philadelphia for a first round pick way off in 2015. Swarm owner John Arlotta said that Ross will “get the chance to play closer to home”. Home for Ross is London Ontario, which is nine hours from Philadelphia and fourteen from St. Paul. (Note that I am Canadian, and in Canada we measure distances not in miles or kilometres, but in driving time.) Cutting down your commute from 14 hours to 9 is not much of an advantage, really. Perhaps the flights from southern Ontario to Philly are shorter than to Minnesota, though I can’t imagine it’s much of a difference there either. Anyway, Philly is pretty happy with the trade, especially when you consider that Ross scored 9 points against them in one game and 5 in another last season. Swarm fans were less thrilled since they lose Ross’s 59 points and get nothing in return for over three years.

A day later, three trades rocked the NLL, as the Edmonton Rush finally made the trade that everyone has been waiting for since February, sending Paul Rabil to Rochester for Jarrett Davis. The Rush finally have something to show for Brodie Merrill – but the whole Merrill / Iannucci / Rabil drama has been done to death so I won’t give all the details again. Davis is a very good player even if he’s no Merrill or Rabil, so at first blush it would seem that the Knighthawks clearly win this trade. Adding someone of Rabil’s calibre makes the reigning Champions a far better team, and that’s not something that Rock, Bandits, or Wings fans want to hear. But then again, Davis may actually put on a Rush uniform at some point, which is more than Rabil ever did, so the Rush are up one transition player and down nothing. This is a pretty good deal for both teams.

Well, in that trade they’re down nothing. Associate captain Shawn Williams will not be returning to the Rush, so they are down a scorer as well. The Rush traded Williams, who was a few days away from becoming an unrestricted free agent, to the Minnesota Swarm for draft picks. But Williams’s career as a member of the Swarm was just as long in terms of games played as that of Anthony Cosmo or Josh Sanderson, as he was immediately shuffled off to Buffalo along with Brendan Doran and more draft picks for Buffalo’s first round pick this year. The Swarm now have the #2, #3, and #4 picks in this year’s entry draft. The Bandits pick up Doran, a “young gritty defenseman” says Steve Dietrich, as well as the veteran Williams. Willy is fresh off a season in which he reached the finals, scored his 1,000th NLL point, and set an NLL record for most consecutive games played (190+ and counting). The move reunites the 38-year-old Williams with 43-year-old John Tavares, who played together in Buffalo in 2000 and 2001, and gives the Bandits another legitimate scoring threat. I wouldn’t say the move immediately propels the Bandits into first place in my 2013 NLL East division rankings, but it certainly raises some eyebrows for anyone looking at how the Bandits might recover from the 2012 season, which was terrible disastrous horrific less successful than they might have liked.

So all of those trades happened in just two days. The 2013 NLL season doesn’t start for over five months. It could be a busy summer.

Team Summaries and projected changes: West division

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Last week we had a look at the teams in the East division, and where each one may look to improve in the off-season. Now we’ll look at the West division.

Calgary Roughnecks

It’s hard to look at a team like the Roughnecks and figure out where they need to get better. Offense? Second-most goals scored in the league, behind the Mammoth by one. Defense? Lowest goals against in the league by five over the Rush and twenty over the Swarm. Goaltender? 2012 NLL Goaltender of the Year should be good enough. Coaching? 2012 IL Indoor Coach of the Year and runner-up for the Les Bartley Award. As long as they can avoid playing Edmonton in the first round of the playoffs, the Roughnecks should be OK for next year even if they make no changes at all.

Colorado Mammoth

Similar to the Roughnecks, the Mammoth are strong on offense, defense, and goaltending. John Grant is unlikely to repeat his 2012 MVP performance next year, but even a pretty good Junior is better than most of the league. There were a bunch of rookies on the Mammoth this season, all of whom benefited from having Grant around. Jones and Hopcroft and Lincoln and McBride all learned a ton from Grant during his best season and will be better players next year because of it. They will likely be able to pick up the slack even if Junior’s numbers do drop. And even if they don’t, the Mammoth scored more goals than anyone else last year – if they’d scored nineteen fewer goals, they’d still be tied for third.

The Mammoth defense wasn’t as great in 2012 as it was in 2011 – in fact, they were sixth in the league in goals against, and only had two games all year where they gave up less than 10 goals. But they were without defensive stud Mac Allen for most of the season, so having him return was huge. Still, the Mammoth gave up 13 or more goals in 7 of their 16 games; if it wasn’t for their outstanding offense, they wouldn’t have ended up with 11 wins.

I don’t see the Mammoth making any goaltending changes and they certainly don’t need a defensive overhaul, but a bit of an offense-for-defense trade wouldn’t surprise me.

Edmonton Rush

Things are looking great for the Rush’s future. Not only did they make it to the finals, but they have a few first-round draft picks coming their way over the next couple of years from Philly and Washington, including first overall in the next entry draft. Welcome to Edmonton, Mark Matthews. On top of that, they have some trade bait in Paul Rabil and Scott Evans. Although according to Stephen Stamp’s article on IL Indoor, Evans is talking about working out and getting into better shape, and if he can do that and conform a little more to the Rush’s game plan, he may fit into their offense after all. That plus the addition of Matthews (I’m making an assumption here, as is everyone else, that Matthews is the guy they’ll pick) could be the offensive spark the Rush need. They seemed to find that spark in the playoffs, but could have used about a half-game more of it.

Shawn Williams is a free agent – will he want to continue travelling west next season? I’m sure he wouldn’t mind returning to his hometown Rock, but they are already kind of full on the left side with Doyle, Sanderson, and Leblanc. Could he return to the Knighthawks? They just won a Championship without him, so unless he’s part of a package that includes younger players or draft picks, I don’t see Rochester pulling the strings on that deal. The Bandits need to get younger, so that wouldn’t make sense either. If I had to guess though, I see him going back to the Rush since they got so close to a Championship, and the team is likely to be even better next year.

Minnesota Swarm

The Swarm have a young team with tremendous potential, and they also have four first round picks in this year’s entry draft. In three or four years, those guys will have a few seasons under their belts, the current group will really be just entering their prime (how scary a thought is that?), and even vets like Benesch and Crawford are young enough that they’ll still be in their prime. This could be a scary good team for a while. Remember how dominant Calgary and Colorado were in 2012? Wait a few seasons, and we might have Edmonton and Minnesota in that situation, and we’ll be talking about the “aging” Roughnecks. Unless they make big changes before then, the Bandits will be sponsored by Ensure.

The biggest issue the Swarm may face is the infamous sophomore slump – if that hits more than one player, they may have a problem. But then again, in recent years Andrew Suitor, Kyle Rubisch, Cody Jamieson, Stephen Leblanc, and Curtis Dickson have all had pretty decent second seasons. I don’t think there’s a single area of concern for the Swarm – third in goals scored, third in goals against, an outstanding goalie tandem, and two of the best transition players in the league in Suitor and MacIntosh. But if the Swarm decide they do need to make some changes, they have a ton of draft picks to fill in the holes, or they could trade one away. A high first-round draft pick will net you a better-than-decent player, and being left with “only” three first-rounders is still pretty good.

Washington Stealth

This is a tough one. On paper, the Stealth shouldn’t need to make huge changes but after missing the playoffs, they have to do something. Obviously players like Duch, Ratcliff, and Iannucci aren’t going anywhere. On the back end, Sorensen and Captain Bloom are locks, and apparently the Stealth refused to part with Jeff Moleski for Iannucci, so he’s likely staying. Tyler Richards didn’t have the greatest season ever, considering he was 3-9 with a GAA well over 12, but he was also injured for part of the year. How much of that record was his fault vs. the defense in front of him I can’t say, since I didn’t see many Stealth games (and the ones I did see were generally late at night so I was sleepy). But Richards did pick up a few IL Indoor Goaltender of the Year votes, so we’ll assume the Stealth agrees and won’t be dealing him.

The Stealth have the pieces, so I don’t see them making huge roster changes or going into rebuilding mode. There will be a few moves here and there, maybe even a blockbuster to shake things up. But it wouldn’t surprise me if the 2013 Stealth isn’t significantly different from the 2012 Stealth. Unlike the Bandits, perhaps the Stealth’s strategy will be “Hope everyone plays better”. But if they have another season like this one, nobody’s job will be safe.

2012 NLL Champions: The Rochester Knighthawks

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Congratulations to the Rochester Knighthawks, your 2012 NLL Champions. In the lowest scoring Championship game since… last year [OK, that may not have had the impact I was going for], the Knighthawks came back from a one-goal first half and a 5-1 halftime deficit to outscore the Edmonton Rush 8-1 in the second half and win 9-6. Matt Vinc was outstanding in the first half, keeping the Knighthawks in the game when it could have turned into another blowout like last week’s Western final in Minnesota. He was even better in the second half and in my opinion, deserved to be named game MVP.

Instead, that honour went to Cody Jamieson, and I can’t honestly say that Jamieson wasn’t also deserving. He had four goals and four assists, including the first and last goals of the game as well as the game-tying goal. He also had assists on the go-ahead goal and the game winning goal. Zack Greer led the way for the Rush with 2+2 but despite outshooting the Knighthawks 52-35, the Rush just couldn’t solve Vinc. Aaron Bold also had a strong night in the Edmonton net, holding the Knighthawks scoreless in the first quarter and only allowing a single goal in the first half.

There was talk on Twitter about how bad the commentary was on the CBS broadcast – Casey Powell remarking about the ten-second rule being over too quickly – but I was watching the game with friends and we were yapping far too much to hear anything from the broadcast. I thought it was really weird that Powell was a hold-out from the Knighthawks (though he wondered if he’d be getting a ring since he’s on the roster) and yet is doing the commentary on the Championship game involving the Knighthawks. Was Paul Rabil not available?

I loved the picture posted by Paul Stewart of Shawn Williams remaining on the floor to watch the Cup presentation ceremony, the only member of the Rush still there. As someone who played in Rochester for ten years, Willy knew how much this victory meant to the organization as well as the Knighthawks fans. Losing that game after looking so dominant in the first half must have been extra painful, so it was a classy move to remain to watch the ceremony.

So thus ends the 2012 NLL season. The Knighthawks took an improbable road to the Championship by losing three of their first four, and at the half-way point of the season they were 3-5 and third in the East. But they came through in the second half of the season – or did they? Not really. They lost four of their last six and ended up with a losing 7-9 record, but finishing second in the east thanks to similarly lousy seasons by Buffalo and Philadelphia. Give the Knighthawks credit where it’s due though – they came alive in the playoffs, taking out the Wings despite being outscored 7-2 in the fourth, then dominating the Rock in Toronto, and then coming back from a single-goal first half against the Rush.

The Rush had a similarly rough regular season, starting 2-7 and looking like they might be the lone team left out of the playoffs. But they finished the season 4-3, including wins over the Swarm and the Mammoth. And then came the playoffs. The offense that had been lacking all season long exploded for 19 goals against Calgary – the best defense in the league – and then 15 against Minnesota. They went into the Championship game as the hottest team in the league, and for half the game, that continued. But they seemed to run out of gas after that, and the Knighthawks took advantage. The Rush should be very proud of their playoff run, and considering their first-overall draft pick, they could be pretty good for years to come.

It was an exciting season, to be sure – the parity we expected at the beginning of the year was definitely a huge factor. The whole cliché about any team being able to beat any other team on any given night was true, and yet we didn’t have all nine teams at or near .500, especially in the west. Congrats again to the NLL Champion Knighthawks.

Championship pick

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After going 2-2 in the first round, I completely blew the division finals, going 0-2. So it comes down to yet another difficult pick – Edmonton or Rochester.

Edmonton is hot right now, winning two games they weren’t expected to win. Their goalie and defense, which have been great all year, are still great but the offense is the surprising part. It’s only been two games, but after averaging a league-low 10.4 goals per game in the regular season, the Rush are averaging 17 in the playoffs. Can they keep it up for one more game?

Rochester has the best of both worlds – lots of young players like Jamieson, Keogh, and Powless as well as veterans like Vinc (has he really played seven seasons? I still think of him as one of the new goalies on the block), Accursi, McCready, and Cousins. They had an inconsistent season, with two separate three-game losing streaks, but played very well against both Philadelphia and Toronto to earn their way to the Big Game. Can they keep it up for one more game?

Record: 2-4 (.333)

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EDM @ ROC

I have to take the hot team here. We’ve known their defense and goaltending was excellent since the beginning of the year, and I had a feeling (and I know others did as well) that their offense was better than they were showing. The Knighthawks have Matt Vinc who can certainly steal a game, and Johnny Powless is quickly turning into one of the most exciting players in the game, but Shawn Williams, Steve Toll, and Aaron Bold are all former Knighthawks, and I’m sure they’d love to win a Championship against their former team. (Scott Evans too, but he’s likely to be on the bench.) This may be Steve Toll’s last NLL season, so his teammates would love to send him off with a Championship.

 Rush

Division finals picks

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I was 2-2 in my first week of playoff picks. I felt relatively confident in my western picks, Calgary and Colorado, and not very confident on my eastern picks, Toronto and Rochester. The result: I totally nailed the east and totally pooched the west. But that said, who would have predicted both Edmonton and Minnesota upsets? I said last week that I could see Minnesota pulling off the upset in that game, but went with Colorado anyway. I thought that the chances of Edmonton pulling off such an upset were non-zero, but pretty darned small. Obviously, I did not give Edmonton the credit that they deserved. Apologies and huge kudos to the Rush, and kudos to the Swarm as well for their first-ever playoff win. One of these teams will advance to the Championship game, a place that neither has ever been before. This is fantastic not only for these two franchises and cities, but for the league as well.

Of this weeks picks, I feel relatively confident on one (Rock) and not at all confident on the other (Swarm). If last week is any indication, that means I’ll totally nail the west and totally pooch the east.

Record: 2-2 (.500)

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ROC @ TOR The Rock were 3-0 against the Knighthawks this year. They also have an eight game winning streak against Rochester, and have won ten of the last eleven games (we won’t talk about the previous nine, all of which the Knighthawks won) so that means the Rock will win, right? Sure. Just ask the Roughnecks.
The Knighthawks have the firepower, defense, goaltending, and veteran leadership to beat anyone. But the Rock have more of all of those things. Normally I’d rank Matt Vinc above a rookie starter who’s only started 7 games in his career, but Rose is on a roll and the team has a lot of confidence in him. I think the Rock will ride that wave right into their third straight Champion’s Cup game.		 Rock5_thumb
EDM @ MIN Wow, this might be one of the hardest picks all season. Both teams are brimming with confidence right now and both have hot goaltenders. Minnesota has had the better offense all season, but the Rush put up 19 against the Goaltender of the Year (though recovering from concussion) last weekend. But I can’t call a tie – I gotta pick someone. The Rush lost their last two games of the season and then beat the Roughnecks so that could be a fluke, while the Swarm have won five in a row now. I’m going to have to go with the Swarm. Swarm