Category Archives: Game Review

Game report: Georgia 13 @ Toronto 12 (OT)

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What a heartbreaker. But what a great game. The matchup for top position in the East was everything we hoped it would be – close, defensive, fast-paced, and with some beautiful passing and scoring at both ends. Goaltending was solid, there were some nice transition plays, a number of penalties but nothing crazy (though one had a fairly major impact on the outcome), and we even got some free extra lacrosse at the end, though only 46 seconds of it.

Awesome

Latrell at the draft

  • Both defenses. This seems weird since each team took over 60 shots. But there seemed to be a lot of shot clock violations and constant passing around because nobody had a decent look at the net.
  • Tom Schreiber. Does it get boring saying this guy’s name every week? As a Rock fan, I say no. One play he made in the first quarter was similar to a play from last week, where Schreiber ran at the net like he had a couple of times previously, taking a couple of defenders with him. He then casually flipped it back to a wide open Brett Hickey who buried it. This time, he actually dove towards the side of the net, looking like he was trying to tuck it in between Poulin and the left post, but instead flipped it back to Dan Lintner who buried it while Schreiber was still in the air over the crease. Very slick.
  • Thompson brothers. Again, we mention these guys week as being awesome after week on Addicted to Lacrosse but it continues to be true. Each just knows where the others are going to be and I’m kind of surprised that the Miles-from-Lyle-and-Jerome goal in the third quarter was the first goal this year featuring all three of them. Actually, I checked and this is the only goal since 2005 featuring three players with the same last name, which means that neither the Gajic nor the Morgan brothers ever did it. The Kilgours (Travis, Darris, Richie) all played together on Buffalo from 1995-1999 but I don’t have goal stats going back that far.
  • Kieran McArdle – he scored the same goal three times: a laser from about 20 feet out and a little to the goalie’s left.
  • Latrell Harris. He played a solid game and then topped it off by giving the Rock a one-goal lead (finally! Harris scores on a breakaway) with 1:01 left in the fourth quarter. The elation lasted twelve seconds (see below).
  • Overtime! Who doesn’t love overtime! Well, I know a couple of people who get very stressed during OT and don’t like it. But I do!
  • Chad Tutton shot while on the run and then was hit into the crease, landing at Nick Rose’s feet. This tripped Rose up and he landed on Tutton, but not before making the save. Rose, as you may know, is a big guy. After Rose got up, Tutton got up, patted Rose on the shoulder, and headed to the bench. Not sure if he was saying “nice save” or if Rose apologized and Tutton was saying “don’t worry, I’m fine” but either way, it was nice to see that kind of sportsmanship. It was also nice to see the defenders not lose their minds because an opposing player hit their goalie accidentally.

Not awesome

  • Mike Poulin. Poulin was not terrible by any stretch, but he seemed to get fooled a lot. There were a number of shots where he’d make the save, and then look around frantically because he didn’t know where the ball was. At least twice it dropped behind him and he stopped it from going in the net or it rolled just wide. In one case, he saved most of it, but then danced around a little to try and get control of it, and it actually did bounce into the net. The ref had already whistled play dead so it didn’t count. But seeing as Poulin never really had control of the ball, play probably should not have been stopped and the goal should have counted.
  • Latrell Harris – The very next play after his tie-breaking goal, the Swarm win the faceoff and Harris chases down the player with the ball, and is called for interference. Not quite the worst time to take a penalty, but… actually that might have been the worst time to take a penalty. So the Swarm are down by one but are now on the power play with a minute left in the fourth quarter. Of course they pull their goalie to go 6-on-4. Shayne Jackson scores the tying goal with 3.9 seconds left.

Other game notes

  • Teddy Jenner made a great point on twitter after the game:

    Powless comes off the IR from concussion symptoms and scores the game winner in over-time; teammates immediately smack him on the head
    — Teddy Jenner (@OffTheCrossebar)

  • For the upcoming Star Wars night, they played some ads featuring Rock players. One was wearing a Darth Vader mask and “force-choked” another, still another did his best Chewbacca impersonation. The ads were just terrible. And great. Or possibly great because they were terrible.
  • Two different people asked me whether women’s lacrosse features a “too many men” penalty. Is it “too many players”? Or “too many women”? I have no idea. Anyone out there know?

Game report: Buffalo 10 at Toronto 18

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I kind of liked the awesome / not awesome thing I did for last week’s Rock game report, so here we go again:

Awesome

  • Dominant performance by the Rock. Nick Rose was… well, awesome. The defense was excellent, limiting the Bandits to only 48 shots. The transition was strong, and the offense looked great. Just a great performance all around.
  • Back during the Rock’s early-2000’s dynasty, critics talked about their power play as nigh-unstoppable but they really didn’t score a lot of goals 5-on-5. On Friday, the Rock scored 18 goals and 16 of them were 5-on-5. Of course, that means that only two were on the power play. Hmmm… (see below)
  • Tom Schreiber. Three goals, seven assists, tons of hustle, and he looks like he’s been playing box lacrosse all his life. As I read on twitter, imagine how good he’d be if he had been. Props also to Stephen Leblanc with two goals and seven assists, and I thought Dan Lintner had a great game as well.
  • I watched Brodie Merrill a lot during this game for some reason, and re-discovered why he’s considered one of the best in the game. Nothing flashy but he seems to see the floor so well and makes an awful lot of very smart plays. (Note that the picture below is not from last Friday’s game. Fighting Steve Priolo isn’t what I’d call a smart play, but props for having the cojones to take him on.)
  • Mark Steenhuis is still a beast on the PK. Give him the ball and he’ll just run around for 30 seconds, regardless of how many people are hanging on him.

Photo credit: Bill Whippert

Not Awesome

  • Rock power play. Only two PP goals when it seemed the Bandits spent half the game in the box. They had a full two minute 5-on-3 and couldn’t score.
  • Bandits offense just couldn’t get it going. No Bandit had more than three points, and the Rock kept Dhane Smith to 2/0 and Ryan Benesch to 1/2.
  • Lots of penalties, mostly by the Bandits. Brett Hickey got a penalty for something (though I missed what) and Billy Dee Smith got one for punching Hickey on his way back to the bench. Thing is, at least two other Bandits punched Hickey while he ran by their bench. That’s also “intentional contact – dead ball”.
  • Not all of the penalties were warranted. Kedoh Hill got one for goalie interference that looked entirely unintentional to me. Mitch de Snoo got a five-minute major for a high hit but I didn’t think it was worth 5 minutes.
  • Attendance. Only 8319 at this game. Games against the Bandits (located close, long rivalry) should draw more, shouldn’t they? Read last night that this was the 6th lowest attendance in Rock history and something like five of the lowest eight were against the Bandits. I don’t get it.

 

Other game notes:

  • Dhane Smith got called for “Delay of game: checking through the crease”. This is rule 67.4: “Attacking player in crease to gain advantage on defender”. I have a blog post coming up soon describing rule 67 in detail, but I think this is the first time I’ve ever seen this one called.
  • The Bandits did not line up on the restraining line for the national anthems; they stood in a group around the net. I actually thought this was kind of cool.
  • My friend Jeff told me to call my buddy Jamie (Rock owner Dawick) and tell him to tell the video guy not to show replays of Buffalo goals, or close Rock goals. Sorry Jeff, it’s a new league rule: replays of all goals must be shown. I can only assume that the league read this article from last year and acted accordingly.

Game report: Rochester 9 @ Toronto 8

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I’m afraid I’m short on time today but I wanted to get a report done for last night’s Rock/Knighthawks game. So I’ll do this report in the same format that we’re using for Addicted to Lacrosse this season: rather than describe the game in detail, I’ll list a few awesome things and a few not-awesome things.

Awesome

Jesse Gamble

  • Close game. The Rock never led but were never out of it, and almost came back to tie it. When you’re on the edge of your seat in the final seconds of the game, that’s awesome.
  • As a Rock fan, it was good to see Stephan Leblanc back. As an NLL fan, it was good to see Dan Dawson, Andrew Suitor, and Cody Jamieson back. The game is better when all of the great players are healthy.
  • Great games: Billy Hostrawser, Latrell Harris, Jesse Gamble. Would have been great to see Harris score on his breakaway against his teacher, Mr. Vinc. I tried to find a picture of Hostrawser to put in this article but couldn’t find a good one of him not fighting. Sorry Billy.
  • Gamble got away from FOUR Knighthawks defenders at once and managed to keep the ball, and was even able to pass it to someone else who got a decent shot on net.
  • Schreiber and McArdle really seem to have figured out the box game. McArdle made a great play to prevent an over-and-back and both he and Schreiber were involved in some nifty quick passing plays that don’t happen in field lacrosse.
  • 10000+ attendance at two straight home games. That hasn’t happened in almost two years: March 21 / April 3, 2015.

Not awesome

  • An awful lot of shots hit Vinc square in the chest. You’re unlikely to score when you do this. This could have been bad shot selection by the Rock but is more likely due to a strong Knighthawk defense limiting the shots.
  • Nick Rose was shaky in the first half, allowing a couple of goals that he wouldn’t normally allow. He was better in the second half but never really looked comfortable. I thought the fact that Rochester only scored twice in the second half was more due to the Rock defense than Rose. That said, Rose did come up with some strong saves in the last couple of minutes to keep the Rock in the game.
  • Cody Jamieson picked up a couple of assists but left the game in the first quarter. Hopefully he hasn’t re-injured his knee.
  • The ACC lighting was weird. As the game started, we noticed it seemed a little darker than usual and after the second Knighthawk goal (which Rose obviously couldn’t see because of the lighting and so the goals should have been disallowed), there was a five minute pause as the ACC people played with light switches for a while. Lights went on and off and light covers opened and closed but eventually they rebooted the arena and got things sorted out.

Two additional comments:

  1. When a player on the defending side takes a penalty, play continues until the defending team gets possession. If a goal is scored, the penalty is cancelled. But the penalized player still committed the infraction. If I cross-check someone illegally four times but a goal is scored before I get to the box each time, it shows up as 0 PIM on the score sheet. Shouldn’t the player still be charged with the penalty? Maybe the power play could be negated (with the logic being that the goal is punishment enough) but I think the player should still be given the minutes on the stat sheet.
  2. A couple of us talked about the fact that Jim Veltman still has not been honoured by the Rock. His number should be retired along with Watson’s, and soon Doyle’s and Sanderson’s. Then we wondered how many current Rock players ever played with Veltman. We came up with three: Beirnes, Marshall, and Chapman. But there are actually four: we missed Patrick Merrill.

Game report: Saskatchewan 11 @ Toronto 13

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The weird 2017 season continues. As Bob Chavez pointed out on IL Indoor, last year’s Champions Cup finalists are a combined 0-4 while the teams that missed the playoffs are 5-2. One thing that has continued from last season is the injury bug plaguing the Toronto Rock. Stephen Leblanc has missed both games so far and then Brett Hickey was injured during practice and is now on the IR. But rather than make their absence the story of the game, the Rock’s new guys stepped up to make sure that didn’t happen. And since there are a lot of Rock new guys, this was significant.

One question was directed at the Rock by many fans throughout this game: Who are these guys? Ten players in the lineup weren’t on the team last year (eight (!!) first-year players, Damon Edwards, and Steve Fryer who was on the practice roster), while five of last year’s top six offensive players (Doyle, Sanderson, Hickey, Hellyer, Leblanc) weren’t there. Every Rock goal except one unassisted goal from Brad Kri involved at least one player who was not on the team last year. Kieran McArdle and Tom Schreiber continue their strong rookie campaigns; neither one looks like they had never played box lacrosse a couple of months ago.

Damon Edwards (not on Saturday)But even bigger additions to the Rock are the transition guys. Brodie Merrill is having a bit of a resurgence at the age of 35. Damon Edwards (dumb penalty in the third quarter notwithstanding) is looking great in his return from missing all of last year, Jesse Gamble is Jesse Gamble (which is a very good thing), and I’m liking the addition of Challen Rogers more and more every game. I said after the first Rock game that if the Rock score ten transition goals a game, it doesn’t matter much how their actual offensive players do, and that seemed true after this one as well.

The same “Who are these guys?” question was directed at the Rush during the first half, though it was less literal. The guy wearing the Bold jersey wasn’t making stops that the real Aaron Bold generally would, the best defense in the league (and one of the best ever) was allowing all kinds of shots on the aforementioned Bold, and the offense couldn’t score to save their life. The Rush we were all expecting showed up in the second half. Mark Matthews looked as dominant as ever, and Robert Church also had a great game. I honestly didn’t notice Adam Jones or Ryan Keenan much but Mike Messenger scored a beautiful diving cross-crease goal. This reappearance of the real Rush almost had them pulling off the comeback that Rock fans knew was possible. For one eighteen minute span, the Rush outscored the Rock 8-1, turning a 10-2 blowout into an 11-10 nailbiter. Fortunately for the Rock, that’s as close as it got.

As a Rock fan I’m glad the Rush never tied it up although I have to say as a guy who writes a weekly column on clutch goals, it wouldn’t have been so bad.

Considering the Rock missed the playoffs last year, lost Doyle and Sanderson to retirement, and lost Hellyer, Leblanc, Sorensen, PMerrill, Marshall, and Miller to injury (and Hickey for game 2), it’s hard to believe they’re 2-0 and looking as strong as they are. I’m sure they’ll fall back to earth soon – nobody is expecting 18-0 – but I for one am going to enjoy this ride as long as it lasts.

Other game notes:

  • My thoughts are with Rock PA announcer Bruce Barker as he recovers from a stroke. I don’t know who the guy was doing the PA but he did a pretty good job with one exception – when replacing someone who’s been doing a job like this for years, don’t try to be him. He used a number of Barker catch-phrases that he probably shouldn’t have, IMHO.
  • In previous years, the team was always announced in numerical order but Colin Doyle was always last and prominently announced as the captain. (“Your captain, my captain, our captain”). Brodie Merrill was listed in numerical order and his captaincy was mentioned almost in passing. One wonders if Merrill himself asked for this lack of special treatment.
  • Connor Buczek was included the player announcements although he’s on the practice roster. He wasn’t at the game. Brodie Tutton, also on the practice roster, was not listed.
  • Ryan Dilks was ejected for instigating a fight with Kieran McArdle after McArdle crashed into Aaron Bold. I’m one of the most outspoken anti-fight people around, but I didn’t think Dilks deserved to be tossed for that. Five each would have been fine with me. Of course as a Rock fan, removing the reigning Defender of the Year from the game in the 2nd quarter was also just fine.
  • Nice of the Rock to recognize Josh Sanderson, though doing it between quarters rather halfway through a TV timeout would have allowed for a longer ovation.
  • Not a single challenge was issued by either coach.

Game report: Colorado 9 @ Toronto 15 (pre-season)

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The NLL is back! Actually, I’m a week late with that since almost every team played at least one pre-season game last weekend, but this is the first one I was able to see. Saturday night’s tilt at the TRAC involved the Mammoth taking on the Rock, and it was interesting to see a couple of different coaching decisions on who plays.

For the Rock, pretty much everyone in the lineup played the whole game. There were a couple of people who I think only played the second half, like Kyle Aquin and Brodie Tutton, and one or two who I didn’t see at all, like Reid Reinholdt and Damon Edwards (who I was looking forward to seeing again), but I think most who played at all played the whole thing. Starting goaltender Nick Rose played the first three quarters while Steve Fryer played the fourth. Brandon Miller wasn’t even listed on the roster. There were a couple of major Rock retirement announcements this summer, but I don’t think I missed any…

The Mammoth had a slightly different approach, as Zack Greer, Ilija Gajic, and Callum Crawford didn’t play at all (though I saw Crawford at the rink), and John Grant only played the first half. Starting goaltender Dillon Ward was also in the building but didn’t play at all; Zak Boychuk and Alexis Buque split the goaltending duties.

It was an entertaining game – back and forth in the first half and then the Rock pulled away and the Mammoth never really got back into it. But as we all know, it’s the preseason so coaches care less about whether they win or lose the game and more about what they see from their players. The game was intense enough to look like a regular season game. There were no fights and few penalties, but the players were playing hard.

Challen RogersSorry Mammoth fans, but I did pay a little more attention to the Rock, as I tend to do. Toronto’s offense looked good, even without Josh, Colin, and Rob Hellyer. It was great to Brett Hickey back in form, and Kasey Beirnes continues to be one of the hardest-working forwards in the game. Stephen Leblanc played, but I didn’t really notice him all that much. That may be unfair though, since I was mainly concentrating on the new guys, Mikey MacDonald, Tom Schreiber and Kieran McArdle. MacDonald had a cup of coffee with the Black Wolves last year, only picking up one assist in two games, but has had a great preseason with the Rock. Not sure he’ll be another Brett Hickey, scoring 50 goals out of nowhere, but should be a welcome addition to the front end.

Schreiber looked good, a big bull-in-a-china-shop kind of guy. He wasn’t worried about going around defenders or finding an open lane, he’d just push through and make an open lane for himself. He was working hard but that said, he couldn’t hit the net. He must have had 10-12 shots but most missed the net entirely and I don’t think he scored any.

I was really impressed with McArdle. He scored a couple, at least two on passes from Schreiber, but had a mittful of assists as well. He really looked comfortable in the offensive end and made some really dynamic plays, impressive for someone so new to the box game. (Not that field lacrosse players don’t make dynamic plays, but they’re different.) At one point in the second, he took a shot which missed the net, grabbed the rebound and shot again, and then grabbed that rebound and shot again. Three shots in about five seconds.

Another new face I was watching was draft pick Challen Rogers. Rogers is a big, solid defender but also has some speed up the floor on transition. I liked what I saw from Rogers, which was a lot since he was everywhere and seemed to get a lot of floor time. With Rogers, Gamble, Edwards, and Brodie Merrill (who, at 35, still has some serious speed), Toronto’s transition could match up against anybody’s.

For the Mammoth, I did notice Greg Downing a lot, and Jeremy Noble played a lot as well. Noble made an outstanding interception of a Nick Rose outlet pass, jumping and stretching his 5’9″ frame as far as it would go. Don’t remember if it led to a goal, but was a great play nonetheless. John Grant only played the first half, but scored three including a patented over-the shoulder shot. There are times every now and again when Grant seems to be able to simply score at will, or almost force plays to happen the way he wants them to. There was a 3-4 minute span in the second quarter where he seemed in total control. He’s the oldest player in the league, three years older than the next oldest and ten years older than his next oldest teammate, but after all this time, he’s still John Grant.

Other notes:

  • At one point Challen Rogers was defending John Grant, and Grant spun away from him and scored. Rogers looked frustrated for losing him but as I tweeted to him at the time, don’t worry about it. He beats everybody.
  • Jordan Magnusson seemed to get a lot of floor time, and I thought he played hard and looked pretty good. Latrell Harris made some good plays but at other times looked lost, as if he wasn’t sure who to defend or what to do.
  • Dan Lintner’s second goal was a beautiful reverse backhand sort of thing. Lintner also looked good though now that I think about it, I don’t remember seeing him in the second half.
  • Nick Rose must have been working on outlet passes in the offseason. He’s really becoming a master. He’s no Bob Watson yet, but was pretty accurate on passes to teammates up near centre.
  • You know how you see players chewing on their mouth guards while on the bench or between plays? Rogers was chewing on his during play. Doesn’t that defeat the purpose of the thing in the first place?
  • Alexis Buque played really well in the second half, making a few outstanding saves. He didn’t look like someone trying to make the team as a backup goalie, he looked like he wanted that starter’s job.

Game report: Mann Cup game 3 – Maple Ridge 7 @ Six Nations 9

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It seems a little silly to post my game 3 report after game 4 is finished, but damn that was a great game, so I need to post something about it.

The biggest surprise of this game was the announcement of the scratches for the Chiefs. Stephen Keogh? Really? Who the hell are they bringing in that’s so damn good they decided to sit Keogh?! Oh, Cody Jamieson? OK, well, I guess that’s acceptable. Still, there are a bunch of other people I’d have sat before Keogh.

After being pulled early in the third period of game 2, Dillon Ward looked sharp early in game 3, but Frankie Scigliano also looked good. The goals alternated almost all night – Six Nations scored, then Maple Ridge, then Six Nations, then Maple Ridge, … until the Burrards scored with less than four minutes left, giving them the lead. They held the lead for all of 2:11 before the Chiefs tied it. The game was tied at 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7.

The Chiefs took a lot of shots (they led the game 55-29 including outshooting the Burrards 20-9 in the second period and 19-9 in the third. But they didn’t really test Scigliano much in the first two periods; an awful lot of those shots hit him square in the chest. The Burrards did the opposite – they didn’t hit Dillon Ward much at all, they kept shooting high and wide and a lot of their shots hit the boards instead. Their shooting got better in the third quarter but so did Ward.

DillonWard

I didn’t take any pictures at this game, so this is a picture of Dillon Ward a couple of years ago as a Hamilton National, signing an autograph for my son (green hat). I’m wearing the red hat. I believe the woman in blue on the right is Mrs. Jeremy Thompson.

Like I said, this was just an excellent game. End-to-end action in both directions and not a lot of play stoppages. At one point in the second, I’m sure play went on for five minutes with not a single whistle. Part of this was due to a non-NLL rule I’m really starting to like – the shot clock does not run when a shorthanded team has possession. This means that if you’re good enough, you can grab the ball early in the penalty you’re trying to kill, and just run around for two minutes. Maple Ridge did this twice, and it was awesome.

In one case, the Burrards were killing a penalty and early in the penalty, the Chiefs got called for one, but the call was delayed because Maple Ridge had possession. Frankie Scigliano left the net and headed to the Burrards bench, but didn’t leave the floor. He stopped just short of the white line-change box, even pointing out to the ref that he was not in the box. The Burrards did not send an extra attacker out, presumably because the shot clock would have started. Instead, Frankie stood next to the bench for the full two minutes while the team killed the penalty (though he did grab a drink of water). With only a few seconds left in the penalty, the Burrards scored to negate the Chiefs delayed penalty. It seems weird that while killing a penalty, the Burrards seemed to have the advantage.

Game four just ended a short while ago, with the Chiefs winning by the same 9-7 score, though not in OT. That one was also tied five times. Clearly Maple Ridge is not the pushover many thought they’d be.

Other game notes:

  • I much preferred the Burrards white jerseys to the dark blue ones they wore in Game 2.
  • In overtime, Dan Dawson was being covered by two defenders when someone sent him a pass. It appeared that he didn’t even see the pass coming until it was halfway there, and then nonchalantly caught it with one hand on the stick.
  • Travis Irving took a tripping penalty in overtime which didn’t look like tripping to me. He and whoever he “tripped” just got their feet tangled up together and they both fell. Then Kevin Reid took a holding penalty that was pretty cheap as well. (“cheap” meaning it might have been technically holding since he grabbed Cody Jamieson’s jersey, but just for a second and it didn’t slow Jamieson down one iota.) IMHO, neither of these should have been called penalties, especially in overtime of a game where they weren’t calling much. Putting the Burrards on the PK for half of overtime for these kind of penalties was kind of unfair.
  • I sat across from the Maple Ridge bench rather than down in the end like game 2, and actually had phone and internet service… at least sometimes. For most of the game, the internet didn’t work while the phone was in my hand but once I put it in my pocket, it updated.

Game report: Mann Cup game 2 – Maple Ridge 13 @ Six Nations 9

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My mini game report (mini-report on a game, not a report on a mini-game) covers most of what I saw in game 2:

Perhaps I can expand on that a little.

I don’t follow the MSL or WLA all that closely, but close enough to know that (a) the Six Nations Chiefs were expected to challenge for the right to represent their league in the Mann Cup, and (b) the Maple Ridge Burrards were not. They even got into… um… penalty trouble earlier this year, but not only pulled through that but made everyone forget about it.

While watching the warmups before the game, I was once again floored at the number of familiar names on the Chiefs. The Dawsons. Dillon Ward. Stephen Keogh. Ryan Benesch. Dhane Smith. Jeremy Thompson. Sid Smith. Brodie Merrill. Randy Staats. David Brock. Dan Coates. Ethan O’Connor (which is spelled wrong on his jersey). That’s a pretty impressive lineup of NLL stars right there – and that’s with Cody Jamieson, Billy Dee Smith, Jordan Durston, and Craig Point out of the lineup. Include a number of non-NLL players (including Randy Staats’s little brother Austin) and you have a pretty powerful team.

On the other hand, you have the Maple Ridge Burrards, who aren’t nearly the stacked team the Chiefs are. No disrespect to a guy like Ben McIntosh, who I’d take on my team in a heartbeat, or goalie Frankie Scigliano, or other solid NLL guys like Creighton Reid, Jarrett Davis, and Riley Loewen, but the Chiefs have five players who were the in the top 2 in scoring on their NLL team last year and Dillon Ward is up for Goalie of the Year and Jeremy Thompson is up for Transition Player of the Year. No Burrards were in the top 2 on any NLL teams last year and none are up for any NLL awards. In addition, the Chiefs seem to be the strong favourites to win the series. Some predicted that the Burrards wouldn’t win a single period, let alone a game.

But the Burrards don’t care about any of that. They won the WLA because they played well as a team, and they won game 2 for the same reason. They moved the ball around well and took well-timed and accurate shots, while it seemed that the Chiefs fired anything and everything at Frankie Scigliano.

Frankie!

From the buzz on Twitter, Frankie has been stellar for the Burrards over the playoffs and Saturday night was no exception. He allowed one goal on 19 shots in the first period and three on 22 shots in the second. Other than a five-minute lapse in the third, Frankie was in control all night. Dillon Ward wasn’t seeing the ball so well, though he was far from terrible. He was pulled a couple of minutes into the third for Doug Jamieson, who I assume is related to Cody. Jamieson played OK and along with the 4-goal run in the third, helped to give the Six Nations faithful some hope for a big comeback. But the Chiefs got into some penalty trouble of their own late in the third which allowed the Burrards to kill time and end the comeback bid.

It seemed to me that the Chiefs, other than Ryan Benesch, were all really big and the Burrards were not. Looking over the roster on the Burrards web site, most of their players are in the 5’11” – 6’2″ range, with a couple of 6’4″s and a 6’5″, so pretty much what you’d expect from a lacrosse team. There are a couple of guys named Porter who are Josh Sanderson-sized, but gritty and quick. It seemed that those guys were everywhere. On the other hand, the Chiefs seemed to have Beni and a bunch of guys 6’3″ and bigger. I’m sure most of that is seeing Dan Dawson, Paul Dawson, Brodie Merrill, and Dhane Smith together – those guys look like they belong on a basketball team, not a lacrosse team. I’m sure in reality it’s not as uneven as it seemed. Not that it mattered.

I’m heading back to the ILA for game three on Monday night, but I won’t be able to make games four, five, or six. I don’t have a particular rooting interest, so I’m rooting for a seven game series. If it goes to game seven, I’m there.

Other game notes:

  • I need a CLA rule book. It seemed that sometimes the team had to get the ball out of their end in 10 seconds, other times they didn’t. Over and back wasn’t called most of the time, but I think it was once or twice.
  • In the third, the Burrards got a tripping penalty, and then got a bench minor which was served by DJ Saari. The Chiefs scored on the 5-on-3, which ended the tripping penalty, but Saari came out of the box.
  • The ILA is weird. There are places that I’ve sat in the arena and had internet service on my phone, though kind of spotty. In other areas of the arena, I don’t even have phone service, let alone internet.
  • After his 2nd intermission interview, Dan Dawson left the floor and walked through a bunch of kids, then turned around and came back to give them all fist bumps. Classy.
  • The shot clock whistle is really loud.
  • All three media timeouts took place at 9:45 of the period.

Liveblog: Calgary @ Colorado

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I tried a “liveblog” last weekend and it was kinda fun, so I’ll try it again. I guess it’s similar to twitter in that I basically enter my thoughts as I have them, but this gets recorded all together.

This will be a little different though since I can’t actually watch the game. I’m at my parents’ cottage for the weekend and not only do they not get TSN2, their internet connection is maxed out for the month so I can’t watch the game online without serious overage charges. I set my phone up as a hotspot so I can get internet but I’m almost over on my phone’s data plan as well so I can’t stream the game that way either.

So I’m “watching” the game through twitter and Pointstreak. This might make the liveblog a little different since there are sometimes long pauses between updates. I also didn’t start until halftime so this will only be the second half.

Halftime

  • The Georgia / New England game yesterday (which I also didn’t see) was close throughout and ended in OT. Could we see another OT game tonight? That would be pretty awesome, at least for those watching it. And not bad for those of us who write weekly Money Ballers columns.
  • Raptors won tonight! Up 2 games to 1 over the Heat. I will freely admit that I’m on the Raptors bandwagon now that they’re in the playoffs. I’ve watched more Raptors games on TV (and listened on the radio) more times in their 10 playoff games this years than in the entire regular season.
  • Game on yet? Nope.
  • The PVR is on but the TV is off. I think my mom is recording something.
  • Looks like the game is starting again.

 

Third Quarter

  • Cam Holding got a holding penalty. I made a joke about this on @NLLFactOfTheDay a couple of years ago.
  • Shorthanded goal for Calgary! Curtis Dickson. I should do an article about the players in the league who are the most fun to watch. He’s near the top of that list. Tyler Richards would likely be there too. Not only is he a great goaltender who makes some outstanding acrobatic saves, but when he gets ticked off he’s very entertaining.
  • I need a snack. There are some peanuts in the kitchen, maybe I’ll have those.
  • It’s Mother’s Day tomorrow. Must remember to pick up a hanging basket for my wife on the way home tomorrow. I always get her a fuchsia for Mother’s Day.
  • Seems to have been a long time since the last update.
  • The Roughnecks just tweeted that they are on a power play. I refreshed the Pointstreak page to find that the Roughnecks took three penalties at the same time a couple of minutes later and avoided giving up a penalty shot because the Mammoth took one too.
  • Adam Jones scored on the PP. Tie game again!
  • And then Dickson scores again. Roughnecks lead
  • Is that a bug on the wall over there? Oh no, it’s a screw where a picture used to hang. Maybe we’ll get my folks another picture to hang there for their anniversary in July.
  • End of the third, 7-6 for the Roughnecks. Low scoring close game. Probably amazing to watch, but following along on Twitter is fine. Just fine.

fine

Fourth Quarter

  • I love the banter we’ve seen recently between the team accounts on Twitter. Even the Knighthawks got into it despite the fact that they’re out of the playoffs.
  • Jeremy Noble scores for the Mammoth, and we’re tied again.
  • Jones again and the Mammoth have the lead!
  • Haven’t heard John Grant’s name much. Checked Pointstreak – he has TWELVE shots and no goals. Noble has four goals on only seven shots.
  • Dickson again for Calgary. He’s the only Roughneck who’s scored in this half. Tied again.
  • My four-year-old niece has finally stopped calling me “Aunty Graeme”. It was cute for a while but kinda got old. My sister thought it was pretty darn funny though.
  • Digby scores for Calgary but it’s being challenged. Andrew McBride tweeted that it’s inconclusive and the call on the floor stands but I don’t know if that’s his opinion or the actual call.
  • Good goal. Then Cupido scores right away and it’s tied at 9.
  • Before I finished typing that, Jones scored again to give Colorado the lead.
  • No updates for a while. Those peanuts were pretty good. Might have a few more. #protein
  • Oh wait, hashtags aren’t used in a blog.
  • McBride just tweeted that it’s “Been a well refereed game so far!” I think I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve seen anyone talk positively about refs during a game.
  • I think it’s raining again.
  • Only a handful of minutes left. No updates. <whistles>
  • <more whistling>
  • Under a minute left now… Calgary needs a last minute goal. If only they had a clutch goal scorer on their team.
  • Guess who. Dickson scores with 25 seconds left to tie it up. I swear I wrote that bit about “if only they had a clutch goal scorer” before the goal was scored.
  • This is fine. <sigh>

 

Overtime

  • OT goal-scorer predictions: Gotta go with Rosey and say Jones for Colorado and Dickson for Calgary. Though part of me thinks John Grant will step up and finish it like we’ve seen so many times before…
  • John Grant has twice as many OT goals (9) since 2005 as anyone else (Duch, Evans, Tavares, Pollock have 4 each).
  • F5 F5 F5 <more whistling> F5 F5 F5
  • So if I’m reading this correctly, the Roughnecks won.
  • Dane Dobbie with the winner and the Roughnecks are off to face the Rush. The Mammoth are now 1-8 all-time against the Roughnecks in the playoffs, but 0-7 in their last 7 meetings. The Roughnecks have knocked the Mammoth out of the playoffs in each of the last four years.

So that’s it for the first round. I didn’t get to see either game, but on the upside, I’m 2-0 in my picks so far. I also found that the new NLLTV.com thing does seem to let you watch games on replay, so maybe when I get home tomorrow I’ll watch the 4th quarter and OT of both games. Sure I’ll know the outcome but from the sounds of things, it’ll be pretty exciting anyway.

Liveblog: Vancouver @ Colorado

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I was out at my kids’ soccer games (my older son’s team won the consolation final while my younger son’s team won the Championship, though on penalty kicks. A sucky way to decide a championship in any sport) so I couldn’t watch the Vancouver @ Colorado game live. I did set the DVR to record it, so I started the game once I got home. I like to watch the game while chatting about it with other fans on Twitter, but that obviously wasn’t an option in this case, so I decided to do a “liveblog” just for fun.

First quarter

  • No Adam Jones for the Mammoth
  • Only a minute in and the Mammoth have already had a 30 second possession with no shots. Solid Stealth D
  • 10:55 – Ward has been solid so far, making a few saves. Richards hasn’t really had to make any yet
  • 8:36 – How many times have the Mammoth missed the net or missed passes so far? Looks like the first game of the season
  • 7:28 – Goal by Duch. Very nice pick by Billings to clear the lane. 1-0 Stealth
  • 6:30 – Beautiful goal by Mallory, top corner. Tied 1-1
  • There are taller players out there, but Callum Crawford just looks huge, like he’s towering over everyone
  • Duch had a wide-open lane but opted to pass, and almost threw it away. Ended up getting a shot off but nice save by Ward
  • Goal by Schuss, another laser into the top corner. 2-1 Stealth
  • 1:03 – Grant with a behind the back pass that was picked off by a Stealth defender. Grant loves him some behind the back action, doesn’t he? When it works (which, I admit, is most of the time) it’s a smart play but when it doesn’t, it looks showboaty.
  • Mammoth got away with it and regained possession
  • When under a minute is left, the game clock on the broadcast has “.0” at the end of it but never shows tenths of seconds. So why have the “.0”?
  • Noble scores to tie it up with a second left. Once again, top corner.
  • Wow, I’m bigger than Jeremy Noble. He’s 5’9″ 170 pounds, I’m 5’10” 180 pounds. Of course his 170 is very likely distributed a little differently than my 180…

Game is tied 2-2 after one quarter. This is a must-win game for the Stealth but they are not looking panicked at all. They seem confident and are playing with purpose. The Mammoth haven’t looked bad either but a little more sloppy than the Stealth. One wonders if the Mammoth didn’t think “Ah, it’s just the Stealth” coming into this one.

Second quarter

  • Nasty goal by Duch. Off the boards, hit Ward’s leg and deflected into the net. Just like in practice. 3-2 Stealth
  • 13:21 – Delay of game penalty against McCready. Don’t agree with that one. If a change of possession is signaled by the ref, you can’t drop the ball and then check the guy who picks it up, but that’s not what happened here. The change of possession was because of a shot on net and rebound, so the check should be totally legal IMHO.
  • Nice defense by the Stealth on the PK, keeping the Mammoth from getting any decent shots off
  • Man, these All Star RV bigfoot commercials are terrible.
  • Goal by Small. Standing on the doorstep and picked up a lucky bounce. 4-2 Stealth
  • Beautiful passing play resulting in a goal by Grant. Honestly, the passing was nicer than the goal itself but congrats to Grant for becoming the all-time Mammoth goal-scoring leader
  • Duch scores again – hit Dillon Ward who saved most of it but it still trickled across the line. 5-3 Stealth
  • Tyler Richards makes a dumb play, coming out of his crease and Dan Coates capitalizes. Not sure it should count because it looked like he batted it in rather than shooting it. I may be misremembering the rule though – I know you can’t reach into the crease and “poke” the ball into the net, but perhaps it’s OK out of the crease. 5-4 Stealth
  • Nobody mentioning this rule and no challenge flag, so I must have gotten the rule wrong.
  • Another behind the back pass, this time by Billings, that backfires.
  • Goal… or not. The shot clock expired before the ball went in. Surprisingly, no challenge
  • Loving the analysis from Shewchuk and Gallant. Obviously these guys know the game very well, and lots of other announcers do too, but hearing these guys discuss the pros and cons of the diamond vs. box defense on the PK was great.
  • Grant tries another behind the back pass and this time drops it
  • Rory Smith’s stick has a very cool black shaft.
  • 1:57 – Noble ties it up with – guess what? – a top corner shot. Tied at 5
  • Beautiful pass from Crawford who looked like he was going to shoot. Instead he passed it over to McLaughlin who had an open cage. That’s why Crawford is leading the league in assists. 6-5 Mammoth
  • Shewchuk nailed it – in a do-or-die game, you can’t be taking too many men or unsportsmanlike conduct penalties.
  • Is there a harder-working offensive guy than Joel McCready? Well, Shawn Evans is up there in that category too.

I’d be surprised if any thoughts of underestimating the Stealth remain on the Mammoth bench. The Mammoth have a 6-5 lead but this is anybody’s game.

Third quarter

  • Remember when Tyler Richards announced his return to the NLL and the Stealth said that Eric Penney was still their number one goalie? I wonder if anyone believed them
  • Stealth with a sloppy play giving the Mammoth the ball again, and they almost drop it themselves
  • Some more sloppy defense by Vancouver, giving Colorado a one-on-one chance. Richards bailed them out
  • Corey Small with a goal that, amazingly, did not go top shelf. Tied at 6. MOAR MONEY BALLER GOALS PLZ
  • Nice transition play by Ilija Gajic. That was at least the third pass interception by the Mammoth tonight and Gajic took off down the floor. Didn’t even have to run all that fast. 7-6 Mammoth
  • A couple of names I haven’t heard much in this game: Cupido & Billings
  • Of course, just after I typed that, Billings took a shot at one end and then Cupido took one at the other end
  • Excellent save by Dillon Ward with McCready right on the edge of the crease
  • Rhys Duch takes a huge hit, which knocks him to the floor but he keeps the ball, gets up, and puts the ball in the net though he went through the crease. Great play
  • Challenge flag is out. Looked to me like Duch stepped on the line before shooting. I’m not even sure that the ball went in the net at all
  • OK, the ball did go in but he stepped on the line. Here’s the call – no goal
  • Beers gets hurt, rolls around on the floor in pain for a while. Trainer tries to help him off, looks like Beers tries to wave him off then realizes his knee/ankle/something hurts more than he thought
  • News flash: Rhys Duch is a good player. Sweet goal to tie it up again
  • That was weird – Small picked up a rebound and all the Mammoth defenders seem to run away. Luckily for them he didn’t score but he was given a great opportunity
  • Nice spin-o-rama by Cupido, but great save by Richards
  • Corey Small with another one on a great pass by Billings. GB looked like he was going to fire it at the net but passed instead
  • Vancouver has 8 goals, Duch has 8 points (4+4)

Vancouver leads 8-7 but I’ll fearlessly predict this game will be tied at least once more.

Fourth quarter

  • Duch with another pretty one to give the Stealth a two-goal lead
  • Grant tries the Dane Dobbie style goal, coming off the bench straight to the net, doesn’t work
  • That one worked. Nice bounce shot from Grant through a defender gets by Richards. 9-8 Stealth
  • Now a pass interception for the Stealth. Doesn’t lead to a transition chance but they get a possession. No shots though
  • Almost the same shot again, Grant ties it up at 9. My fearless prediction came true.
  • What an effort from Callum Crawford. Fights off a bunch of Stealth defenders, picks up the ball, shovels it back to Gilles who’s wide open. Mammoth have the lead again, 10-9
  • McLaughlin scores, Crawford ties the single-season assist record. Mammoth lead 11-9
  • Hopefully the Stealth can kill this penalty off soon and then they might be able to get possession again. Oh wait, they’re not on the PK.
  • I’ve talked in the past (both on this blog and on the Addicted to Lacrosse show) about some dumb trades the Swarm franchise has made over the years. I think letting Crawford walk as a free agent tops them all.
  • Ward has been great in this game. Richards has been pretty good too, though with one or two shots that snuck by him.
  • It ain’t over yet… Corey Small gets the Stealth back to within one with 90 seconds left
  • Ward makes a save, then gets in the way of a Stealth player and gets knocked over… while standing in his crease. No call. Dangerous play by the Stealth given that there’s less than 30 seconds left in their playoff hopes but they got away with it

And that will do it. The Mammoth regular season is over and the Stealth are out of the playoffs. After winning twice in the past two weeks when they really needed to, they just couldn’t get it done tonight. A few defensive breakdowns here and there but I thought they put forth a solid effort. Rhys Duch came to play, and picked up 9 points in an outstanding game.

The Stealth have had a pretty lousy season but the last few games should give them hope for next year. Once they can get all the pieces together and stay healthy, they could do some damage.

Game report: Toronto 8 @ Buffalo 12

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OK, so now it’s over.

To keep their playoff hopes alive, the Rock had to win both games this weekend (and keep winning after that). To their credit, they played a great game on Friday night but the Bandits didn’t play up to their standards. Anyone who’s watched the Bandits this season had to know that it wasn’t likely to happen twice. And it didn’t.

But early in the game, I thought it might. The Bandits started the first quarter missing the net a lot, just like Friday, and I wondered if we might see more of the same. But it was only an illusion. The Bandits did miss the net a few more times, but when they did get it on net, Brandon Miller just wasn’t up to the task. Miller allowed eight goals before being puller for Nick Rose, who was really good the rest of the game. Of course it raises the question of how the game might have gone if the Rock had started Rose instead, but (a) it’s all academic now and (b) going with Miller was the logical choice when you’re playing two games in two days.

Dhane Smith was kept to only two points on Friday night, but returned to normal on Saturday with five goals. No assists though, so the Rock defenders kind of kept him in check. Ryan Benesch made up for that with eight points. But who thought to keep an eye on Nick Weiss, who had only two shots and scored on both of them?

DiRuscio played a great game

As the game went on and it was clear that the Bandits were likely to win, the Rock, and particularly Brodie Merrill, got more and more frustrated and started taking unnecessary penalties. The Rock were called for two major penalties only forty seconds apart in the second quarter. They both happened at the far end of the floor from where I was so I didn’t get a good look at whether five minutes was really justified.  But Merrill took four penalties in the game – slashing in the first, a high-sticking major in the second, roughing in the third, and then he fought Steve Priolo in the fourth. He was then given a free bonus game misconduct because he got two majors in the game. Sort of a frequent-flyer thing. For a veteran like Merrill to spend so much time in the penalty box and then take himself out of the game entirely in a do-or-die game was inexcusable, especially when you consider how many players the Rock are already down.

But let’s get back to the two major penalties. To the Rock’s credit, they managed to kill off both of them while only allowing two PP goals, which isn’t bad for a 4½ minute 5-on-3. Then again it wasn’t actually a 4½ minute 5-on-3 because Dhane Smith got a slashing call early in the second penalty, making the next two minutes 4-on-3. During that PK though, huge props to Turner Evans who grabbed the ball in the Buffalo end and despite being triple-teamed, held the ball for most of the thirty seconds, looking like a young Blaine Manning or Mark Steenhuis.

The refs were all over this game, calling almost everything. Speaking of veteran players taking unnecessary penalties, the goalies aren’t immune either. In the second, Jesse Gamble managed to get around Alex Kedoh Hill, who swung his stick one-handed as we see players do all the time. But he hit Gamble square in the head and play continued, presumably because Gamble had the ball. A few seconds later Gamble passed the ball and then retaliated against Hill, and both players were sent to the box for roughing. Nick Rose tried to leave his crease to say something to the ref, who immediately pointed to him, saying “Stay in your crease”. Rose said something else and was immediately given an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. Not smart, Nick. Luckily Mark Steenhuis was also feeling particularly mouthy and was given an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty (his second in five minutes) at the same time.

The Bandits got great goaltending performances from all three of their goalies this weekend. As I mentioned about Friday’s game, Cosmo and Steve Priolo made saves at crucial times, and in Saturday’s game it was Davide DiRuscio. The Big Fish was great on Saturday, frustrating the Rock offense all night. I’ve said it before this season – when Anthony Cosmo decides to retire, Bandits fans have good reason to be optimistic about their goaltending future with DiRuscio. And Priolo, of course. 

So the Rock are out of the playoffs, the only team currently eliminated. They can still play spoiler though – if Vancouver wins their remaining games AND Toronto beats Calgary, the Stealth are in the playoffs. So say it with me Stealth fans: Go Rock Go!

Other game notes:

  • Brandon Miller started and allowed 8 goals in 23 minutes. Nick Rose took over and allowed 6 goals in 36 minutes. The Rock were already losing when Rose was brought in and never regained the lead or even tied it, and yet Rose was credited with the loss. I’m not sure how they decide who to give the loss to, but it’s wrong.
  • Billy Dee Smith is one intimidating dude. While defending against a Rock forward, I saw that he was yelling constantly and the look on his face was terrifying. There was an eight-foot wall of glass between me and him and I was still nervous.
  • Leading 12-5 in the fourth quarter, the Bandits music guy ironically (and quite intentionally) played We Will Rock You. I imagine that song wouldn’t have been played if the Rock were winning, or even if it was a close game.
  • After the Priolo-Merrill fight in the fourth, Bandits fans started chanting “Steve Pri-o-lo <clap> <clap> <clap>-<clap>-<clap>” (i.e. in the same rhythm as “Let’s go Bandits”).
  • When Nick Rose got his unsportsmanlike penalty, Kevin Ross took his place in the box. I told my son it’s because of their names: Ross and Rose are only different by one letter. He didn’t believe me.
  • I read later that Josh Sanderson left the game in the second after a hit to the head. I did wonder where he was at one point but didn’t make actually look for him so I figured I just didn’t see him. It just wouldn’t be a Rock game in 2016 if someone didn’t leave the game early because of an injury.

Other Banditland environment notes:

  • I think this every time I go to a game there but damn, it’s loud in Buffalo. I think all Toronto fans should be required to take in a game in Buffalo now and again to see how it’s really done. Sometimes chants and cheers start by themselves without the announcer’s help, which is exceedingly rare in Toronto.
  • It being Tucker out Lymphona night in Buffalo, Shawn Williams made a nice little speech thanking the fans for their unwavering support. Obviously the crowd’s applause was thunderous but it was also great to see applause from the Bandits & Rock players on the floor and even the refs.
  • The guy sitting a couple of seats down from my older son wore sunglasses the whole game. Public service announcement: if you think wearing sunglasses indoors makes you look cool, you are mistaken. You look silly.
  • Front row people: what is the point of pounding on the glass when there’s a play going on in front of you? We were in the second row and the people in front of us would stand up and pound on the glass whenever there was something happening close to them. Why?
  • FYI when Dhane Smith scores in Buffalo, the announcer yells that the goal was scored by “#92, great Dhane Smith!” after which the crowd barks. Like a Great Dane, in case you missed the reference there.
  • Several times, a Rock player was hit to the ground and stayed down for a few seconds (at least twice for Kri and once for Merrill – and that was just in our end), getting a whistle and play stoppage. Every time, the Bandits fans around us booed and accused the player of diving and/or faking injury. This is idiotic. How the hell can you possibly know if he’s faking an injury? Some serious injuries come from innocent-looking hits or just missteps on a slightly bumpy carpet. You simply can’t tell how hurt someone is by the force (or legality) of the hit. Luckily for the Rock, none of these players had to be removed from the game or carried off the floor like we saw on Friday night. These kind of boos and accusations are absolutely classless.
  • Buffalo fans also don’t know physics. The Bandits scored what looked like a goal but Nick Rose kicked it off of the goal line. During the review, they played a replay of it on the Jumbotron. You could see that the ball was bouncing on the line (only a few inches in the air) but never crossed it. Easy call for the ref. But many of the fans around us (and all around the arena) were shouting because it looked like the ball crossed the line. This is due to a thing called perspective. When the ball is bouncing straight up in the air, it looks like it’s actually behind things that are directly underneath it. This is very simple physics that the refs understood but many Bandits fans did not. An overhead camera shot would have made this obvious but we never saw one.
  • Yes, I’m aware that I’m generalizing. I’m sure there were plenty of Bandits fans who understood the perspective thing and didn’t think the Rock were faking injuries. But none of those Bandits fans were sitting near me at this game.