The Colorado Mammoth announced this week that Bob Hamley was returning to the organization as assistant coach. Hamley was previously assistant coach under Bob McMahon before leaving mid-season to accept the head coaching position with the Edmonton Rush.  Many fans were excited by the news.

Under Hamley and McMahon, the Mammoth went 5-1 but struggled after Hamley’s departure. Whether or not there was a correlation is the subject of much speculation. However, Hamley is a well-respected coach who has had success in the past.

Unfortunately, adding Hamley wasn’t enough for the Mammoth as they headed to Minnesota to face the Swarm who were hot off handing the division-rival Washington Stealth their first loss of the season last weekend.  The Mammoth struggled against the Orlando Titans last weekend, but have typically played well against the Minnesota Swarm, even beating them in overtime earlier this season.

Obviously, there’s an elephant in the room. I can’t deny it and don’t want to skirt it, so let’s just get him out of the way.

The Mammoth are not playing well.  They’re not playing anywhere near their potential.  This is a team stacked from top to bottom with talent and yet they have been bulldozed completely in three of their seven games.  Maybe that’s the issue though – there is too much talent causing players to not feel a need to prove themselves. Maybe there are too many egos. Maybe just not enough team mentality. Yes, there was a lot of changeover in the team which is going to mess with team dynamics, but the Mammoth aren’t the only ones who went through that this season.

One thing is for certain – the Mammoth are having serious issues. Captain John Gallant told me that fans need to stay calm and not panic because the team isn’t panicking. He also said “We want to be playing our best lacrosse at the end of the season. Not now.  Not in the middle, but at the end.”  Anyone who has followed this league has seen plenty of teams start off extremely strong, winning the majority of the first half of the season only to lose the majority of the second half. However, we’re at the midpoint of the season, and as fans, it’s extremely difficult to have patience.

It’s not just that the Mammoth are losing. It’s that they seem to give up whenever their opponent starts developing a strong lead.  Instead of getting fired up and working harder, they let their opponents get under their skin. Instead of shutting them up by playing more aggressively, they resort to fist-fighting instead. I remember previous Mammoth teams over the years that played consistently through thick and thin. It didn’t seem to matter if they were down by one goal or nine; they played as hard as they could with a ton of heart until the final buzzer. In many instances, they were able to come from behind huge deficits to win.  For whatever reason, this team has not found its heart.

Now that I have that off my chest…

In the 1st Quarter, the Mammoth looked strong. After some back-and-forth, Alex Gajic was the first to score, assisted by his brother Nenad Gajic & by Nick Carlson. Ilija Gajic quickly followed up with the Mammoth’s second goal, also assisted by brother Nenad and by Brian Langtry.  Langtry notched his own goal a few minutes later, shooting from the retention line, and was assisted by Nenad and Jed Prossner. Chris Levis looked strong in net, keeping the Swarm scoreless until about three minutes left in the quarter when Richard Morgan scored a shorthanded, but contested goal. Upon review, the goal stood and the quarter ended with the Mammoth up 3-1.

2006 Rookie of the Year, Ryan Benesch quickly started off a flurry of 2^nd Quarter goals. In just under 6 minutes, the Mammoth scored once and the Swarm three times to tie the game 4-4. The Swarm finished the 2^nd strong, notching two more goals to take the lead 6-4.

Jamie Shewshuck started off the 3^rd Quarter by scoring a quick goal for the Mammoth after a minute of play.  Unfortunately, that was the last time the Mammoth would find the back of the net. It seemed like the Mammoth defense was on the floor for the majority of the second half, and by the 4^th Quarter, instead of dictating whatsoever where the Swarm were taking their shots from, it seemed like the Swarm were easily picking their shots – many right from the crease. Andrew Leyshon relieved Chris Levis midway through the 4^th, but it didn’t stop the bleeding and the Swarm scored three more times. Coming into this game, the Mammoth led the league in shots on goal. This time the Swarm were able to keep them to only 30 shots, while Minnesota had 42.

Final Score: Colorado Mammoth 5, Minnesota Swarm 15.

Attendance: 9,223

Around the league:

Calgary Roughnecks 13, Washington Stealth 9

Boston Blazers 12, Orlando Titans 11 Dbl OT

Rochester Knighthawks 12, Philadelphia Wings 6

Toronto Rock 13,  Edmonton Rush 14

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Although the Mammoth dropped to 2-3 on the season over the weekend, they didn’t give the Washington Stealth another easy win.

In the season opener the Stealth handed the Mammoth a 17-8 loss. Washington also steamrolled the Edmonton Rush in week 2, following that with close games over the Buffalo Bandits and the Calgary Roughnecks last week.

Many thought the Stealth would decimate the Mammoth again. However, Colorado put in a strong showing against a strong team. Some kinks still need to be worked out, but Saturday’s Mammoth team was a completely different team than the one the Stealth faced earlier in the year.

Jed Prossner scored the first goal of the game a minute in, putting the Mammoth up 1-0. But after a very defensive back and forth, the Stealth were able to tie it up half way through the 1^st quarter. With about three minutes left in the quarter, Cory Conway scored his first goal of the evening, giving the Mammoth the lead 2-1. Although Stealth Goalie Tyler Richards’ Goals Against Average of 10.11 compared favorably to Andrew Leyshon’s 13.32, it was Leyshon that had the stronger quarter. The Mammoth goaltender only let in 1 goal on 12 shots while Colorado went 2 for 9 against Richards.

The 2^nd quarter started off with a controversial goal by Jamie Shewchuck.

Initially it was ruled a crease violation negating the goal. New Mammoth head coach Steve Govett threw the challenge flag and upon review the goal was ruled good. Compared to the 1^st quarter, the 2^nd quarter was very high scoring with Tom Ethington, Prossner & Nick Carlson adding goals for the Mammoth. Meanwhile, Rhys Duch, Jeff Zywicki x 2, Tom Johnson & Luke Wiles notched scores for the Stealth, ending the half tied at 7.

The 2^nd half remained very defensive, but many of the Mammoth’s weaknesses became more evident as the game progressed. A lot of the Mammoth passes went wide, and so did a number of their shots. Ilija Gajic, who has been very strong on offense the past few games, went 0 for 12 with only 1 assist.

In the 4^th quarter, the Mammoth had 18 shots on goal compared to the Stealth’s 8, but both teams scored 3 each. The first couple of games, a lack of hustle and transition game seemed to be problematic for Colorado. That didn’t seem to be the case as the Mammoth played a very aggressive game, especially in the 4^th quarter. Some might say the Mammoth played too aggressively in the 4^th, failing to set up plays and forcing shots. Some might also try to pin the game on the inconsistent reffing. (While there were some questionable calls and inconsistencies, both teams were on the receiving end.)

In the end, the Power Play was the Mammoth’s killer.

Although they had five opportunities, the Mammoth’s Power Play definitely struggled against the Stealth, who are ranked number 1 in the league on the PK at 84%. The Mammoth’s Penalty Kill, ranked 9^th in the league, was able to kill 4 of the Stealth’s 6 power plays. Penalties really hurt the Mammoth in their first matchup against the Stealth, with four players being ejected for fighting. The Mammoth played a much cleaner game without their tempers besting them, keeping the game within reach to the end.

Friday, the 3-2 Orlando Titans come to Denver to face a Mammoth team that, despite their third loss, is starting to find their groove.

Attendance – 15,242

Around the League:

Rochester Knighthawks 8, Orlando Titans 13

Calgary Roughnecks 11, Edmonton Rush 14

Minnesota Swarm 7, Buffalo Bandits 11

Philadelphia Wings 9, Boston Blazers 11

Toronto Rock 8, Rochester Knighthawks 16

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After losing their home opener and dropping to 0-2, Mammoth fans were rife with frustration.  It became apparent that the Mammoth were frustrated as well when President and General Manager, Steve Govett, shocked everyone by firing Coach Bob McMahon.

Many fans have been clamoring for McMahon’s dismissal since the end of his first season, especially so after his second season last year when the Mammoth went 7-9.  But Govett stood behind McMahon, fiercely defending him… until now.  According to the Mammoth website, Govett was quoted as saying, “I have a standard and a vision for this team, and sometimes it’s hard to have others buy into that vision and carry it out if they’re not 100% in sync with what I’m looking for. I think our fans deserve better than what we’ve shown on the field so far.”

The coaching change came as quite a surprise, especially since Govett, who has no coaching experience, will be filling in as interim coach.  While Govett doesn’t claim to be the best choice, he also says he won’t be afraid of firing himself from the position if it seems that is what’s needed.  In response to fans’ speculations he responded, “No one says it will be easy and I may end up firing myself and hiring someone that better suits the job, but I will put the effort and work in to turn our ship in the short term. I won’t hand over the reins of an 0-2 team that has fallen short of expectations to someone that has little knowledge of the players and landscape of the situation or organization. That wouldn’t be fair to the team, the players, the coaches or the management and especially the new coach.”

Following closely on the heels of the coaching announcement, the NLL announced Ilija Gajic earned “Rookie of the Week” honors, despite the Mammoth losing their first two games.

With a new coach at the helm, the Mammoth went uncertainly into the weekend facing back-to-back games against two different teams.  They emerged victorious.

First up, they faced the Minnesota Swarm, a team they had both beaten and lost to in the preseason.  Because the Swarm is also in the Western division, the game was very important.  If the Mammoth lost, not only were they 0-3, they were 0-3 in their division.

The first half of the game was very high scoring with 17 goals, and the result that all four goalies had seen playing time in the game.  Andrew Leyshon was briefly replaced in the first quarter by rookie Neil Tyacke but returned at the beginning of the second quarter.  Swarm Goalie Nick Patterson was replaced in the second quarter by Kevin Croswell after the Mammoth scored four goals in a minute and a half.  Going into half time, the Mammoth had 8 goals on 22 shots to the Swarm’s 9 goals on 21 shots.

The second half was much more defensive and lower-scoring with only 11 goals on 53 shots.  The Mammoth were able to score 3 shots to the Swarm’s 2 in the third quarter, tying the game.  Both teams scored 3 goals a piece in the fourth quarter, forcing the game into overtime where Mammoth Defenseman Tom Ethington scored the game winner.

Brian Langtry, Jamie Shewchuk and Cory Conway led the team with 3 goals each, 2 assists for Langtry, 3 for Shewchuck and Conway.  Ilija Gajic had 2 goals and 2 assists and Cliff Smith 2 goals as well.  Although Chad Culp only had 1 goal, he had a huge impact on the game, notching 6 assists.  The game ended with the Mammoth at 15, the Swarm 14.

Back-to-back games are always hard on a team, especially when they’re playing different teams each night.  Following their win in Minnesota, the Mammoth headed to Philadelphia to take on the 1-1 Wings.  On an ordinary night, the Wings would be a strong opponent.  Would the Mammoth be up to the task after a tough game against the Swarm?

Compared to the previous night, Saturday’s game was low-scoring with a total of 23 goals compared to Friday’s 29.  Although many fans speculated that the games might be split between Leyshon and Tyacke, Leyshon started in goal both nights.  The Mammoth led at the half with 6 goals to the Wing’s 5.  The second half was a battle with the Wings scoring 6 goals to the Mammoth’s 5, sending the game in-to overtime tied at 11.

Although the Wings won the faceoff, Leyshon successfully blocked the shot on goal.  Much to the Wing’s fans dismay, Bill McGlone received a two minute goalie interference penalty immediately after that first shot for colliding with Andrew Leyshon.  After a little bit of back-and-forth, the Mammoth were able to capitalize on the power play with the winning goal scored by Alex Gajic, assisted by his brother Ilija.

Final score, Mammoth 12, Wings 11.

Around the League:

Buffalo Bandits 11, Washington Stealth 13

Rochester Knighthawks 3, Toronto Rock 17

Buffalo Bandits 7, Edmonton Rush 11

Orlando Titans 9, Boston Blazers 13

Washington Stealth 16, Calgary 15

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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

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Mammoth goalie Andrew Leyshon did not start at Washington, but was forced into action after an injury to Curtis Palidwor

It was expected that Andrew Leyshon would be starting in goal, however, for reasons unknown, Curtis Palidwor was in net. Jeff Zywicki scored the Stealth’s first goal of many, but Palidwor and the Mammoth defense were able to keep the Stealth to three goals in the first quarter.  Zywicki’s second goal stirred some controversy as it appeared the shot clock sounded before he scored, but the ref called it good and Colorado Coach Bob McMahon chose not to challenge.

Unfortunately, the Mammoth’s offense was unable to produce and the first quarter ended Stealth 3, Mammoth 0.

By the end of the second quarter, with the help of two goals by Jamie Shewchuk (one of them on a power play) and one by Ilija Gajic, it appeared the Mammoth might be finding their stride and were going to make it a game.  Yet the Stealth were able to match every Mammoth goal.  Zywicki scored two more goals and Tom Johnson netted one, ending the half at Stealth 6, Mammoth 3.

Adding to the frustration going into halftime, Palidwor took a shot that got through his face mask and was taken to a local hospital. While nothing has been made official, rumor is that after having surgery he will be out for at least six weeks.

The Stealth really opened it up in the 3^rd quarter with six goals scored by six different players. The Mammoth got two goals from Ilija Gajic and Jamie Shewchuck.  The 4^th quarter was much of the same with five more Stealth players notching goals while the Mammoth were only able to notch three.  The Mammoth defense seemed to have a hard time stopping the Stealth, but Leyshon also seemed to be off his game.  Although there has been no official word, many fans are speculating he was under the weather, which would explain Palidwor getting the start.

When these two teams play, it’s not uncommon to have a chippy game. For whatever reason, the refs seemed to have their own excessive agenda for dealing with the issue. Mammoth player Brad Richardson and Stealth player Eric Martin had a skirmish in the 2^nd quarter that resulted in matching 5 minute penalties.  It certainly didn’t help the Mammoth that by the end of the 2^nd half they had lost Alex and Ilija Gajic, Cory Conway, and David Morgan to game misconducts resulting in ejection from the contest, while the Stealth only lost Travis Gillespie and Matt Beers.

With a final score of Stealth 17, Mammoth 8, Colorado has a lot of things to examine before their home-opener Saturday, January 16 against the Edmonton Rush.  This game may prove to simply be a bump in the road to the championship, or it may be a reflection of a team overhauled in the off season.  Regardless, with 15 more games left in the season, it’s entirely too soon to tell.

Around the League:

Philadelphia Wings – 8, Orlando Titans – 13

Buffalo Bandits – 5, Rochester Knighthawks – 10

Toronto Rock – 17, Boston Blazers – 7

Minnesota Swarm – 7, Calgary Roughnecks – 12

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