Ilija Gajic Shows Potential in Mammoth Home Opener
Although the Mammoth lost in their home opener 13-14, and still have plenty of kinks to work out, they also had a strong showing with many positives.
To begin with, rookie Ilija Gajic had a strong showing. He had 7 points on the night made up of 4 goals and 3 assists. The Mammoth worked very hard to acquire Ilija, including trading captain Gavin Prout to the visiting Edmonton Rush in the off season. Prout also had 7 points, all from assist, in his return to Denver.
Fan favorites Brian Langtry and Jamie Shewchuk also had 7 points each, with Langtry finding the back of the net 3 times and Shewchuk twice. Alex Gajic also had a strong showing with 2 goals and 4 assists. Although Cory Conway only had 1 goal, he still left his mark on the game with 7 assists.
Last week, penalties proved very costly to the Mammoth. Whether or not the Mammoth could’ve beat the Stealth is subject to debate. However, taking 62 minutes worth of penalties certainly didn’t help, especially when losing four players to ejection. This week, the Mammoth were able to stay out of the box fairly well, only racking up 5 penalties for 13 minutes. Unfortunately, Edmonton was able to capitalize on two of them for power play goals. The Mammoth’s power play proved to be very inconsistent, turning Edmonton’s 7 penalties into 6 goals…4 scored by the Mammoth and 2 by the Rush.
One large problem facing the Mammoth is, for the second week in a row, they had more shots on goal than their opponent and they still lost. This may be a matter of the Mammoth offense not choosing their shots well, or they are having the misfortune of facing two goalies who were playing at the top of their game. 54 shots on goal against the Rush certainly is telling that they had their opportunities. However, Edmonton goalie Matt Disher was able to stop 41 of them.
The other large problem facing the Mammoth appears to be goaltending. It is unknown whether Curtis Palidor started last week because Coach Bob McMahon felt he was playing stronger than Andrew Leyshon, or because of something else. What is certain is that Leyshon didn’t play either game at the level he did last season. Against the Stealth, Leyshon had a weak showing, letting in 13 goals on 36 shots. Against the Rush, Leyshon didn’t prove to be much better, letting in 14 goals on 37 shots.
This upcoming weekend may prove a rough one for the Mammoth as they play back-to-back games on the road. Friday night they play in Minnesota against the Swarm, and Saturday they play in Philadelphia against the Wings. With Curtis Palidwor now on injured reserve, Mammoth fans may get to see rookie goalie Neil Tyacke tested for the first time in an NLL game. Tyacke had a 78% save percentage with his former Canadian team, the New Westminster Salmonbellies.
Attendance – 15,178
Around the League:
Calgary Roughnecks – 10, Minnesota Swarm – 12
Edmonton Rush – 7, Washington Stealth – 15
Boston Blazers 7, Toronto – 8 OT
Rochester – 13, Buffalo Bandits – 11
Boston – 8, Philadelphia Wings – 12
Every Colorado sports team has gone through growing pains due to big changes in personnel, coaching or both. It’s only fitting that the Mammoth go through the same thing. With the possible exception of the Broncos, next season should be a banner year for Colorado Pro Sports as these teams get comfortable