On Saturday night, the Toronto Rock returned home to Hamilton (man, that’s a weird sentence) and the Rock faithful were finally able to see the extent of the renovations that forced the team to play in Mississauga last season. I had been looking forward to this for a while. The First Ontario Centre (formerly Copps Coliseum) was opened in the 80’s and was looking a little worn, so having a brand new state-of-the-art facility in downtown Hamilton was going to be exciting. But I have to say that the results were… underwhelming.
Category Archives: Misc
NLL+ revisited
I wrote a bit about the new NLL+ service a little while ago. Most of the information came straight from the NLL press release and a Sports Business Journal article, and there was a bit of speculation on my part. Since then, I was fortunate enough to speak to a couple of people from the NLL to get some more inside information on this new service and how it came about.
NLL+: Worth the Hype?
This week, the NLL announced their latest attempt at a streaming platform. It’s called NLL+ (similar to Paramount+ and Disney+) and it is a new free service that will provide lots of video content including game replays, highlights, and other video features like interviews and such. Live games will be also available in some areas though significantly, not in the US. Let’s have a look at this new service and what it might be used for. Is this really a big deal?
He played where? Players and their forgotten teams
Every now and again, I see a stat or an old NLL boxscore that surprises me, because it shows a player playing for a team that I’d forgotten he ever played for. What, Jimmy Quinlan wasn’t always with the Rush? Mark Steenhuis wasn’t a Bandit his whole career? Callum Crawford has played in lots of places but… Calgary?
Then recently, someone on an NLL podcast (I think it was Pat Gregoire but if it wasn’t, my apologies to whoever it was) said something about this very thing. He even called me out by name, suggesting that I write about it. All right then. Challenge accepted.
Here are a bunch of players who had long stints for one or two teams (or many, if you’re Callum Crawford or Ryan Benesch), and potentially forgotten shorter stints for other teams. We’ll start with active players and while there are dozens of inactive players I could list, I’ll only list the inactive ones that surprised me the most.
2022 Off-season summary, Part I
Man, you take one little summer off from writing about lacrosse and what happens? THINGS. Things happen. Lots of things.
We have new winners for NLL awards, we have a new team that has players now, we have a new commissioner, we have a new CBA, we have trades, we have free agent signings, we have retirements, and we have coaching changes. And we still have over three months until the season actually begins!
There have been enough off-season changes that I’ve broken this article into two parts. Let’s get started.
Lacrosse and the Dunning-Kruger effect
From 2011 to 2019, I wrote roughly an article a week for NLL Chatter. This past season, I posted a couple of prediction articles before the season, a couple after, and only a handful of articles during the season itself. It was related to a lack of confidence on my part though until recently, I couldn’t explain why. It came down to “I won’t bother writing about last night’s game because nobody will care what I think about it”.
I have since decided that the cause is what’s known as the Dunning-Kruger effect.
The NLL Pronunciation Guide 2020
It’s back again! The complete list of verified (as much as possible, anyway) pronunciations for difficult-to-pronounce names in the NLL including players, coaches, executives, and media.
Thanks as always to Stephen Stamp for his help in verifying the pronunciations. Please let me know (in the comments, or hit me up on Twitter) if I got any wrong!
Names are organized alphabetically within teams.
Buffalo
Kevin Brownell – brow-NELL. brow rhymes with “cow”. Not BROWN-ull.
Doug Buchan – BUCK-in
Josh Byrne – BURN
Chris Cloutier – CLOO-chay
Chase Fraser – FRAY-zer, not FRAY-zher
Matt Gilray – GILL-ray
Jon Harnett – har-NET
Marcus Minichiello – MIN-ih-kee-EL-o
Chukwuemeka Okaeme – CHOO-kuh-o-MEE-kuh o-KAY-me
Steve Priolo – pree-O-lo
Dhane Smith – DANE
Matt Spanger – SPANG-er. Like hanger but with an SP instead
Matt Vinc – like the name “Vince”. Not VINK.
Nick Weiss – WEES
Calgary
Reece Callies – REES CAL-ees
Christian del Bianco – dell bee-AN-ko
Dane Dobbie – DOUGH-bee. Not like Dobby.
Rhys Duch – REES DUTCH
Greg Harnett – har-NET
Zach Herreweyers – HAIR-wires (not HAY-wires as many say and as I had in previous years)
Anthony Kalinich – KAL-in-itch
Ryan Martel – mar-TELL
Eli Salama – sa-LA-ma
Colorado
Scott Carnegie – CAR-nuh-gee (hard g)
Joey Cupido – koo-PEE-doe. Not KYOO-pid-o or KOO-pid-o.
Jordan Gilles – GILL-ess. Not the same as Brad Gillies on Halifax.
Dylan Kinnear – kih-NEER
Eli McLaughlin – E-lie muh-GLOCK-lin
Jacob Ruest – His mom says roo-EH where EH is pronounced like the e in “best”. Jacob says roo-AY is fine.
Georgia
Alex Crepinsek – CREP-in-seck
Ryan MacSpadyen – mick-SPADGE-en
Kevin Orleman – OR-luh-min
Mike Poulin – POO-lin
Randy Staats – STOTS. Rhymes with “slots”. Not STATS.
Leo Stouros – STIR-us. According to Leo, it “rhymes with thermos”.
Kasen Tarbell – KAY-sen. Like Jason, but with a K.
Adam Wiedemann – WEED-uh-min
Halifax
James Barclay – BAR-klay
Ryan Benesch – buh-NESH
Chris Boushy – BOO-shee
Pete Dubenski – doo-BEN-skee
Eric Fannell – fuh-NELL
Brad Gillies – GILL-ees. Not the same as Jordan Gilles on Colorado.
Graeme Hossack – GRAY-um HOSS-ick
Stephen Keogh – KEY-o. Not KEY-ho
Luc Magnan – LUKE MAG-nun
Clarke Petterson – PETE-er-sin
Trevor Smyth – like SMITH
Nonkon Thompson – NUN-go
Luke Van Schepen – van SHEP-en
New England
Mike Byrne – BURN
Nick Chaykowsky – chay-KOW-skee
Callum Crawford – CAL-um. Not CAY-lum.
Jordan Durston – DER-stun
Dave Emala – EM-a-la
Andrew Kew – Q
John LaFontaine – LA-fon-tane
Stephan Leblanc – STEFF-in luh-BLONK. Not steh-FAWN and not luh-BLANK.
Joe Nardella – nar-DELL-uh
Jackson Nishimura – ni-shi-MOOR-uh
Creighton Reid – CRAY-tun
Joe Resatarits – res-uh-TARE-its
New York
Gowah Abrams – GO-uh
Alex Buque – boo-KAY
Jean-Luc Chetner – ZHON-luke CHET-ner
Ryan Fournier – FOORN-yay
Dan Lomas – LOW-mus
Kieran McArdle – KEER-un muh-KAR-dl
Brooker Muir – MYOOR
Leland Powless – LEE-land
Cody Radziewicz – RAZ-a-witz
Philadelphia
Trevor Baptiste – bap-TEEST
Liam Byrnes – BURNS
Steph Charbonneau – STEFF char-buh-no. Since it’s French, the stress is sort of evenly placed throughout, or even char-buh-NO, but the Anglicized version is SHAR-buh-no.
Kevin Crowley – KROW-lee. Not like the bird. KROW rhymes with “cow”.
Isaiah Davis-Allen – eye-ZAY-uh
Anthony Joaquim – JOKE-um
Kiel Matisz – KYLE muh-TEEZ
Blaze Riorden – REER-dun
Eric Shewell – SHOO-ull
Cory Vitarelli – vit-uh-REL-ee
Daryl Waud – WOD
Rochester
Phil Caputo – ka-POO-toe
Holden Cattoni – ka-TONE-ee
Julian Garritano – gar-uh-TAN-o
Tyler Gaulton – GOLL-ton
Rylan Hartley – RY-lin. There’s an L in there. It’s not Ryan.
Dan Lintner – LINT-ner. There are two N’s in there, not LINT-er or LIT-ner.
Dan Michel – MICK-ell. Like nickel but with an M
Pat Saunders – SAWN-ders. Not SAND-ers.
Jay Thorimbert – THOR-im-burt
Craig Wende – Like the name Wendy
San Diego
Oliver Bolsterli – BOWL-stir-lee
Mike Carnegie – CAR-nuh-gee (hard g)
Brandon Clelland – CLELL-and
Nick Damude – DAY-mood
Garrett Epple – EPP-il
Mark Glicini – gli-SEE-nee
Eli Gobrecht – GO-breckt
Connor Kearnan – KEER-nan
Tor Reinholdt – RINE-holt
Mikie Schlosser – SHLOS-er
Frank Scigliano – shill-ee-ANN-o
Austin Staats – STOTS
Saskatchewan
Chris Corbeil – cor-BEEL
Matt Hossack – HOSS-ick
Mike Messenger – MESS-in-jer
Kyle Rubisch – ROO-bish
Adam Shute – SHOOT
Toronto
Scott Dominey – DOM-in-ee
Latrell Harris – la-TREL
Billy Hostrawser – HO-straw-zer
Brad Kri – KREE
Reid Reinholdt – REED RINE-holt
Challen Rogers – CHA-lin
Tom Schreiber – SHRY-ber
Alec Tulett – tuh-LET (here’s proof)
Vancouver
Keegan Bal – BALL
Nik Bilic – BEE-leech according to Nik himself. Many people say bee-LEETCH which he’s apparently OK with. Not BILL-ick or BILL-itch.
Tyler Codron – COD-run
Riley Loewen – LOW-en
Joel McCready – muh-CREED-ee
Chris O’Dougherty – O DORT-ee. Or O DOUGH-erty if you say it slowly.
James Rahe – RAY
Logan Schuss – SHUSS (rhymes with BUS). Not SHUSH, SHOOSH, or SHOOS.
Bob Snider – SNY-der. Not SHNY-der.
Warriors – WOR-ee-ers. It’s a pet peeve of mine when people say it quickly enough that it sounds like WOYERS. Three syllables, people.
Coaches & Execs
Ed Comeau – kuh-MO. Swarm head coach.
Jamie Dawick – DOW-ick. DOW rhymes with “cow”. Owner & GM of the Rock.
Clem D’Orazio – duh-RAZZ-ee-o. Black Wolves assistant coach.
Steve Govett – GUV-it. President of the San Diego Seals.
Mike Hasen – HAY-zen. Not HAN-sen. Knighthawks head coach.
Tracey Kelusky – kuh-LUSS-key. Wings assistant coach.
Darris Kilgour – DARE-iss KILL-gore. Not DARE-ee-us. Former Bandits coach/GM.
Dan Ladouceur – ladda-SIR. Assistant coach of the Swarm.
Curt Malawsky – muh-LAW-skee. Roughnecks head coach.
Nick Sakiewicz – sic-KEV-itch. NLL commish.
Kaleb Toth – KAY-leb TOE-th, not TAW-th. Former NLL player and coach. Hearing Toth’s name mispronounced on a broadcast (after a decade as a star in the league) was the inspiration for the very first pronunciation guide.
First Nations terms
Haudenosaunee – HO-dun-uh-SHO-nee. The collective name for the people belonging to the Six Nations: Mohawk, Onondaga, Oneida, Cayuga, Seneca, and Tuscarora.
Iroquois – In Canada it’s EAR-uh-kwa, in the US it’s EAR-uh-kwoy. Another name for the Haudenosaunee people.
Tewaarton – tuh-WAHR-tun. The Mohawk name for the sport of lacrosse and the name of the award given annually to the top American college lacrosse player.
Place names
Coquitlam – ko-KWIT-lum. Town in greater Vancouver, BC, home to lots of NLL players. Note that Port Coquitlam (aka Poco) is nearby but is a different town.
New Westminster – noo west-MIN-ster. Often shortened to just New West. Note that it’s not MIN-is-ter – there is only one i. Also part of the greater Vancouver area and also home to lots of NLL players.
Saskatchewan – Well, it’s complicated. I got in trouble a few years ago because I listed it as “sas-CATCH-uh-won” which is how I’ve been pronouncing it all my life, but apparently that’s wrong. The last syllable shouldn’t be “won”, and it shouldn’t really be “win” either. It should be “wən” where the ə symbol is a “schwa”, indicating an “unstressed and toneless central vowel sound”. Say it like there is no vowel there at all, like “sas-CATCH-uh-wn”. And some locals pronounce the first syllable as “sis” rather than “sas”, though I’d say the first vowel should also be a schwa. The end result is səs-CATCH-uh-wən.
Saskatoon – sas-ka-TOON. The emphasis in the word Saskatchewan is on the second syllable while in the word Saskatoon it’s on the third.
Toronto – tor-ON-toe. Or TRON-uh if you’re a Torontonian.
Other
Steve Bermel – BERM-ull. Rhymes with “thermal”. Bandits colour commentator.
Brad Challoner – CHALL-ah-ner. Brad says it’s like “challenger” without the g. Warriors broadcaster.
Melissa Dafni – DAF-nee. One of my co-hosts on Addicted to Lacrosse.
Pete Dalliday – DAL-i-day. Thunderbirds play-by-play guy.
Tyler Fitch – TY-ler FITCH. My other co-host on Addicted to Lacrosse.
Tyson Geick – GUYK. Like Geico without the o. Big Lacrosse Flash team guy.
Pat Gregoire – greg-WAHR. Thunderbirds colour guy and popular podcast guest.
Marisa Ingemi – muh-RISS-a in-JEM-ee. Boston Herald hockey reporter but used to write about lacrosse.
Devan Kaney – DEV-in KAY-nee. NLL content producer and host.
Adam Levi – LEE-vee. NLL and Lacrosse Flash contributor. Big team AND big stats guy.
Ty Merrow – MARE-o. Like bone marrow. Rhymes with Perrow, if that helps. Writer for the Georgia Swarm.
Tehoka Nanticoke: day-HO-ga NAN-ti-coke. No, he’s not an NLL player but he will be someday and if you follow lacrosse at all, you’ve likely heard his name.
Graeme Perrow – GRAY-um PAIR-o. It’s-a me!
Craig Rybczynski – rib-CHIN-skee but apparently “rib-ZIN-skee” is acceptable. Knighthawks broadcaster.
Evan Schemenauer – SHEM-en-our. Lacrosse blogger over at laxallstars.com and co-host of the Lacrosse Classified podcast.
Stephen Stamp – STEE-ven. STAMP-er is also acceptable. IL Indoor writer and editor, podcaster, name pronunciation verifier.
The NLL Pronunciation Guide 2019
It’s back and better than ever! The complete list of NLL people with weird, hard-to-pronounce, and not-that-hard-to-pronounce-but-people-get-it-wrong-anyway names, and how to say them properly. I’ve basically copied last year’s list, moved players to their new teams, added some rookies and players I missed, and added an entire paragraph on the word “Saskatchewan” which I’m sure some people will tell me is still wrong. I also added a few First Nations terms commonly heard in the lacrosse world.
Thanks again this year to Stephen Stamp for confirming these pronunciations. Stamper and I both confirmed many of these with the players themselves or their families, so thanks to them as well.
Names are organized alphabetically within teams.
Buffalo
Kevin Brownell – brow-NELL. brow rhymes with “cow”. Not BROWN-ull.
Josh Byrne – BURN
Jordan Durston – DER-stun
Chase Fraser – FRAY-zer, not FRAY-zher
Matt Gilray – GILL-ray
Zach Herreweyers – HAIR-wires (not HAY-wires as many say and as I had in previous years)
Thomas Hoggarth – HO-garth
Steve Priolo – pree-O-lo
Dhane Smith – DANE
Matt Spanger – SPANG-er. Like hanger but with an SP instead
Mark Steenhuis – STAIN-house
Matt Vinc – like the name “Vince”. Not VINK.
Nick Weiss – WEES
Calgary
Chris Boushy – BOO-shee
Reece Callies – REES CAL-ees
Mike Carnegie – CAR-nuh-gee (hard g)
Christian del Bianco – dell bee-AHN-ko
Dane Dobbie – DOUGH-bee. Not like Dobby.
Rhys Duch – REES DUTCH. Frequently pronounced through sobs in Vancouver this year.
Greg Harnett – har-NET
Anthony Kalinich – KAL-in-itch. I had ka-LIN-itch last year, but that’s wrong.
Riley Loewen – LOW-en. LOW is like the word “low”, not rhyming with “cow”. Interesting aside: the original German pronunciation would be like “LER-ven” but without pronouncing the R (there’s no really good equivalent in English). Loewen is an alternate spelling of Löwen, the German word for “lions”.
Ryan Martel – mar-TELL
Eli Salama – sa-LA-ma
Colorado
Ryan Benesch – buh-NESH
Scott Carnegie – CAR-nuh-gee (hard g)
Joey Cupido – koo-PEE-doe. Not KYOO-pid-o or KOO-pid-o.
Julian Garritano – gar-uh-TAN-o
Jordan Gilles – GILL-ess. Not the same as Brad Gillies on Rochester.
Stephen Keogh – KEY-o
Eli McLaughlin – E-lie muh-GLOCK-lin
Jacob Ruest – roo-EH where EH is pronounced like the e in “best”. Not roo-AY.
Dillon Ward – WOL
Georgia
Holden Cattoni – ka-TONE-ee
Alex Crepinsek – CREP-in-seck
Kevin Orleman – OR-luh-min
Mike Poulin – POO-lin
Randy Staats – STOTS. Rhymes with “slots”. Not STATS.
Leo Stouros – STIR-us. According to Leo, it “rhymes with thermos”.
Jerome Thompson – Prefers to to be called Hiana, pronounced HY-nuh
Adam Wiedemann – WEED-uh-min
New England
Alex Buque – boo-KAY. However apparently when playing in junior, he pronounced it rhyming with “spook”.
Nick Chaykowsky – chay-KOW-skee
Callum Crawford – CAL-um. Not CAY-lum.
Dave Emala – EM-a-la
Ryan Fournier – FOORN-yay
John LaFontaine – LA-fon-tane
Stephan Leblanc – STEFF-in luh-BLONK. Not steh-FAWN and not luh-BLANK.
Jackson Nishimura – ni-shi-MOOR-uh
Philadelphia
Trevor Baptiste – bap-TEEST
Doug Buchan – BUCK-in
Liam Byrnes – BURNS
Steph Charbonneau – STEFF CHAR-buh-no
Chris Cloutier – CLOO-chay
Kevin Crowley – KROW-lee. Not like the bird. KROW rhymes with “cow”.
Davide DiRuscio – DAY-vid dih-ROOSH-ee-o
Vaughn Harris – VON
Anthony Joaquim – JOKE-um, unlike teammate Joakim Miller
Chet Koneczny – kuh-NEKTS-nee. Direct from Chet: “connects-knee”
Kiel Matisz – KYLE muh-TEASE
Joakim Miller – YOKE-um, unlike teammate Anthony Joaquim
Adam Osika – o-SEE-kuh
Blaze Riorden – REER-dun
Eric Shewell – SHOO-ull
Rochester
James Barclay – BAR-klay
Eric Fannell – fuh-NELL
Brad Gillies – GILL-ees. Not the same as Jordan Gilles on Colorado.
Graeme Hossack – GRAY-um HOSS-ick
Luc Magnan – LUKE MAG-nun
Greg Puskuldjian – pus-KOOL-jee-in. Thanks Connor Wilson
Joe Resetarits – res-uh-TARE-its
Pat Saunders – SAWN-ders. Not SAND-ers.
Luke Van Schepen – van SHEP-in
Cory Vitarelli – vit-uh-REL-ee
San Diego
Brandon Clelland – CLELL-and
Garrett Epple – EPP-il. Sounds like a South African saying “apple”.
Rylan Hartley – RY-lin. There’s an L in there. It’s not Ryan.
Connor Kearnan – KEER-nin
Tor Reinholdt – RINE-holt
Mike Schlosser – SHLOS-er
Ethan Schott – SHOT
Frank Scigliano – shill-ee-ANN-o
Adrian Sorichetti – sore-i-KET-ee
Austin Staats – STOTS
Saskatchewan
Nik Bilic – BEE-leech according to Nik himself. Many people say bee-LEETCH which he’s apparently OK with. Not BILL-ick or BILL-itch.
Chris Corbeil – cor-BEEL
Nick Finlay – FIN-lee
Tyler Gaulton – GOLL-tun
Matt Hossack – HOSS-ick
Mike Messenger – MESS-in-jer
Brett Mydske – MID-skee
Kyle Rubisch – ROO-bish
Adam Shute – SHOOT. I love that there’s a goalie named SHOOT. Like former major league pitcher Bob Walk.
Saskatchewan – Well, it’s complicated. I got in trouble last year because I listed it as “sas-CATCH-uh-won” which is how I’ve been pronouncing it all my life, but apparently that’s wrong. The last syllable shouldn’t be “won”, and it shouldn’t really be “win” either. It should be “wən” where the ə symbol is a “schwa”, indicating an “unstressed and toneless central vowel sound”. Say it like there is no vowel there at all, like “sas-CATCH-uh-wn”. And some locals pronounce the first syllable as “sis” rather than “sas”, though I’d say the first vowel should also be a schwa. The end result is səs-CATCH-uh-wən. Or just say “the Rush” or do like Brian Shanahan and say “Saskatoon”.
Toronto
Phil Caputo – ka-POO-toe
Scott Dominey – DOM-in-ee
Latrell Harris – la-TREL
Billy Hostrawser – HO-straw-zer
Brad Kri – KREE
Dan Lintner – LINT-ner. There are two N’s in there, not LINT-er or LIT-ner.
Kieran McArdle – KEER-un muh-KAR-dl
Creighton Reid – CRAY-ton REED
Challen Rogers – CHA-lin
Tom Schreiber – SHRY-ber
Jay Thorimbert – THOR-im-burt
Alec Tulett – TULL-it (not TOO-lit like I had before)
Vancouver
Keegan Bal – BALL
Jean-Luc Chetner – ZHON-luke CHET-ner
Tyler Codron – COD-run
Dan Lomas – LOW-mus
Joel McCready – muh-CREED-ee
Reid Mydske – MID-skee
Chris O’Dougherty – O DORT-ee. Or O DOUGH-erty if you say it slowly.
James Rahe – RAY. Not RAY-EE or RAY-HE.
Logan Schuss – SHUSS (rhymes with BUS). Not SHUSH, SHOOSH, or SHOOS.
Warriors – WOR-ee-ers. It’s a pet peeve of mine when people say it quickly enough that it sounds like WOYERS. Three syllables, people.
Coaches & Execs
Ed Comeau – ko-MO. Swarm head coach. I’ve had this as KO-mo for years but apparently that’s wrong.
Jamie Dawick – DOW-ick. DOW rhymes with “cow”. Owner & GM of the Rock.
Clem D’Orazio – duh-RAZZ-ee-o. Black Wolves assistant coach.
Steve Govett – GUV-it. President of the San Diego Seals.
Mike Hasen – HAY-zen. Not HAN-sen. Knighthawks head coach.
Tracey Kelusky – kuh-LUSS-key. In the past I’ve included that kuh-LOOS-key is wrong, but apparently Tracey himself doesn’t care how you say it. Wings assistant coach.
Darris Kilgour – DARE-iss KILL-gore. Not DARE-ee-us. Former Bandits coach/GM.
Dan Ladouceur – ladda-SIR. Assistant coach of the Swarm.
Curt Malawsky – muh-LAW-skee. Roughnecks head coach.
Nick Sakiewicz – sic-KEV-itch. NLL commish.
Kaleb Toth – KAY-leb TOE-th, not TAW-th. Former NLL player and coach. Hearing Toth’s name mispronounced on a broadcast (after a decade as a star in the league) was the inspiration for the very first pronunciation guide.
First Nations terms
Haudenosaunee – HO-dun-uh-SHO-nee. The collective name for the people belonging to the Six Nations: Mohawk, Onondaga, Oneida, Cayuga, Seneca, and Tuscarora.
Iroquois – In Canada it’s EAR-uh-kwa, in the US it’s EAR-uh-kwoy. Another name for the Haudenosaunee people.
Tewaarton – tuh-WAHR-tun. The Mohawk name for the sport of lacrosse and the name of the award given annually to the top American college lacrosse player.
Other
Steve Bermel – BERM-ull. Rhymes with “thermal”. IL Indoor writer and occasional Bandits colour commentator.
Brad Challoner – CHALL-ah-ner. Brad says it’s like “challenger” without the g. Warriors broadcaster.
Melissa Dafni – DAF-nee. One of my co-hosts on Addicted to Lacrosse.
Tyler Fitch – TY-ler FITCH. My other co-host on Addicted to Lacrosse.
Tyson Geick – GUYK. Like Geico without the o. Former NLL host. Big team guy.
Pat Gregoire – greg-WAHR. Alternate pronunciation: SMO-kin PAT. IL Indoor writer.
Marisa Ingemi – muh-RISS-a in-JEM-ee. Boston Herald hockey reporter. Did you know: she used to be a lacrosse player writer!
Tehoka Nanticoke: day-HO-ga NAN-ti-coke. No, he’s not an NLL player but he will be someday and if you follow lacrosse at all, you’ve likely heard his name.
Graeme Perrow – GRAY-um PAIR-o. Yours truly.
Craig Rybczynski – rib-CHIN-skee but apparently “rib-ZIN-skee” is acceptable. Knighthawks broadcaster.
Evan Schemenauer – SHEM-en-our. Lacrosse blogger over at laxallstars.com and co-host of the Lacrosse Classified podcast.
Stephen Stamp – STEE-ven. STAMP-er is also acceptable. IL Indoor writer and editor, podcaster, name pronunciation verifier.
I’m on hold
When recording the Addicted to Lacrosse podcast, we recently changed from using YouTube Live to a service called UberConference. It allows us to set up conference calls but we can use our computer (à la Skype) or a regular phone to join the call, and then we can download an MP3 (assuming one actually clicks the “record” button before we start…) immediately after we’re done. This is much easier than waiting for YouTube to process the video, downloading the multi-hundred megabyte video mp4 file, and then extracting the audio from it. It also has the advantage of not being a video chat, so I don’t have to worry about cleaning up my office before we record. We usually start recording around 10pm EST but if we’re starting late, I can record in my pyjamas – and I have. The downside of not having video is that you don’t see which current or classic NLL jerseys we’re wearing and we won’t get any more cameos from Tyler’s cat, though we did have Melissa’s dogs make an audio appearance in one show.
Presenting your 2018-2019 Boston Blazers
Here it is: a team full of players who are not on a team, i.e. not on any roster or practice squad and not on any retired, injured, holdout, PUP, or other list. I’m quite surprised at who’s on this year’s list, considering there are two more teams than last year, and thus forty-two more positions available. And even with all of those extra players, these guys are still around.
Well, it’s not quite a full team since I only have 17 players. There aren’t a lot of forwards, so this Blazers team may have some trouble scoring goals, but they have a proven goaltender in Tyler Carlson and a pretty impressive defensive core. And they’ll win a bunch of faceoffs with Jay Thorimbert. They even have two former NLL captains in Joel White and Billy Dee Smith.
In making this list, I am explicitly assuming that Kevin Crowley, Curtis Dickson, Wes Berg, Nic Bilic, Robert Church, and Mike Messenger will sign contracts. If they don’t, none of them would make this list anyway since they’d either be put on a hold-out list or be released, in which case some team will instantly pick them up.
Forwards
Mark Cockerton
Evan Messenger
Daryl Veltman
Joe Walters
Transition/Defense
Reid Acton On Buffalo’s protected list
Dan Ball
Alex Kedoh Hill
Bill O’Brien
Tyson Roe
Billy Dee Smith
Derek Suddons
Cody Teichroeb
Jay Thorimbert On Toronto’s practice roster
Joel White On Georgia’s protected list
Adam Will
Goalies
Zak Boychuk
Tyler Carlson
NLL Chatter 