At the start of every season, there’s always lots of conjecture on how each team is going to do.  Did the changes they made in the off season help or hurt?  Who’s going to dominate?  And of course, every fan wants to think their team improved and will take the Champion’s Cup.  The league is full of talent, but with the loss of the Orlando Titans, the talent pool was even deeper this year.  A lot of changes were made around the league, both on and off the field.

West

Calgary Roughnecks
The Roughnecks are one of those teams everyone else in the division seems to have a grudge with.  And for good reason as they are often a prime reason in their opponent’s not making it far in the post-season.  This year however, I think they’re going to have some issues.  They’ve added top face-off man and sin bin regular, Geoff Snider to the line-up but they’ve also made some leadership changes.  They’ve added former Mammoth coach Bob McMahon to the coaching`staff as defensive coordinator, but they’ve lost captain Tracey Kelusky and starting goalie Matt King.  Andrew McBride takes Kelusky’s place as captain.  Former backup Mike Poulin will be filling King’s spot with veteran goal tender Curtis Palidwor stepping in as backup.  The Roughnecks may surprise their critics, but like many others, I think they will struggle more this year and be in a fight for the last playoff spot against the Swarm.

Colorado Mammoth
The Mammoth have a lot to prove this year, especially after not making it to the playoffs for the first time in franchise history.  To say last year was tumultuous is a bit of an understatement.  They started the season with Coach Bob McMahon, temporarily had General Manager Steve Govett and finished with Bob Hamley.  They lost their starting goalie in the opening minutes of the first game.  They struggled on offense finishing with the lowest goal total in their history and on defense with the most goals scored against. Known as one of the hardest teams to beat at home, they went 0-8, definitely not something the team wants to repeat.  Like many of the other teams, they made several roster changes.  Most notable is the addition of John Grant Jr.  They will have former Roughneck goalie Matt King in net with former Arizona Sting goalie Rob Blasdell backing him up until Chris Levis’ ankle heals. Last year, loose balls were a huge issue for the Mammoth, but with the signing of veteran D-man Steve Toll, hopefully this season will be better.  With Bob Hamley still coach and a team still feeling the sting from an embarrassing season, I fully expect them to come out fighting.  I expect to see them battling in the finals to compete for the Champion’s Cup, probably against one of their favorite post-season opponents, the Stealth.

Edmonton Rush
Despite being deep in talent, the Rush have struggled over the years.  Last year they made their first playoff appearance and will look to build on what they were able to accomplish last year. They’ve added some players from fellow division team such as Devan Wray and Bruce Murray,  While Murray will provide some veteran leadership, he was on my list of Mammoth players I didn’t expect to see back on the team because I felt he wouldn’t be able to make the cut.  Needless to say, I was surprised when he signed with Edmonton.  He was fun to watch both here and in Arizona, but time will tell if the Rush bolstered their defense or slowed it down.  I expect them to start strong, but finish weak ending up in third place when all is said and done.

Minnesota Swarm
Minnesota is another team that just continues to struggle each season.  They limped into the playoffs last year, but not on their own merits.  After losing their own crucial game, they narrowly squeezed in after the Mammoth dropped a must win game of their own. Compared to others in the division, the Swarm didn’t make any major moves.  They certainly have size in Richard Morgan on Defense, and with 2006 Rookie of the Year, Ryan Benesch still on offense, the Swarm won’t be pushovers.  I expect them to struggle in the first half of the season, but finish strong to battle the Roughnecks for the final playoff spot.

Washington Stealth
As defending champs, the Stealth have a huge target on their chest, and I don’t just mean their logo.  There’s no denying it, the Stealth looked good last year, but they didn’t finish as strong as they started.  They only made a few changes to the roster adding Jeff Moleski, Victoria Shamrock D-man Chet Koneczny and former Rush captain Chris McElroy. It can be much harder to defend a title than it is to win it and while the Stealth are a talented team, the division just got much deeper in talent.  Rhys Duch had a huge impact last year. It will be interesting to see if he’s able to continue his streak this season.  I expect to see the Stealth battling it out for the final cup spot.

East

Boston Blazers
The Blazers have many wondering when they made headlines recently for firing their head coach Tom Ryan and bringing in Toronto Rock assistant coach, Matt Sawyer. Plenty of people are speculating whether there are other issues at play with many speculating certain talented members may have had a hand in it.  Of this, I will not conjecture further, however, it is certainly odd with the start of the season on the horizon for them to make such a change. The reasons behind it may certainly have an impact on team morale.  The other big question hovering over the Blazers is a matter of Egos, and are there too many for one team. While Casey Powell is certainly talented, he has a bit of a reputation and the Blazers will have issues if players can’t come together and play as a team.  I think the Blazers are going to struggle this season, but still expect them to make the playoffs.  They’re not the first team to struggle with first round knockout issues, but I don’t think this will be their year to break the streak.

Buffalo Bandits
The Bandits made some interesting acquisitions in the off season.  They now have former Roughneck captain Tracey Kelusky, and from the Mammoth Chad Culp. In addition to veteran John Tavares and Mark Steenhuis this has the potential to be a very dangerous offense. Tavares may not have many more seasons left in him, but only a fool would underestimate the impact he still holds on offense.  Don’t be surprised if the Bandits are batteling for that final cup spot come April.

Philadelphia Wings
To say the Philadelphia Wings were active in the offseason is an understatement. They have really overhauled their roster!  Probably most notable is the loss of long time Wing, Geoff Snider, but they’ve also lost Jason Crosbie and Dan Teat.  Athan Iannucci is expected to return to the line-up after being sidelined last season with a knee injury.  With the addition of Brendan Mundorf and Ryan Boyle on offense and Ryan McFadyen on defense, the Wings could surprise everyone this season.  With this much change, most people would expect them to have a rebuilding season and finish in last place.  I don’t think that will be the case though.  I think they will probably struggle in the first half of the season, but see them finishing strong and taking the number four spot.

Rochester Knighthawks
The Knighthawks have been making headlines of their own this off season.  Hall of Famer Gary Gait is coming back for another year.  In a league where 1-year contracts are the norm, they signed rookie Cody Jamieson to an unprecedented 10-year contract. Veteran goaltender Pat O’Toole retired and they traded John Grant Jr to Colorado for goalie Matt Vinc.  Like John Tavares, Gait doesn’t have many more seasons left, but with the loss of Grant on offense, his veteran leadership will certainly be an asset.  Like the Wings, the Knighthawks had a lot of change on their roster, so it will be a matter of when the team comes together.  However, while Gait is an asset, he also can be a hinderance as players will often second guess themselves and pass the ball to him rather than take a shot.  I think this season, they’ll miss the playoffs, but expect a very competitive team in 2012.

Toronto Rock
It was rumored during the off season starting goal tender Bob Watson might not be able to return this season due to complications with his job.  Watson was able to get it worked out and will be returning in net with Pat Campbell and Gee Nash backing him up.  As a Gee Nash fan, I can’t deny my bias, but that doesn’t change the fact that Watson has not one but two pretty solid goalies backing him up which will definitely be good for the Rock defense.  With Colin Doyle, Stephan Leblanc, Garrett Billings and Pat Maddalena on offense and a solid defense, the Rock will definitely be fighting for the Cup this year.

So basically, to sum it up:

West
1st – Mammoth
2nd – Stealth
3rd – Rush
4th – Swarm
5th – Roughnecks

East
1st – Rock
2nd – Bandits
3rd – Wings
4th – Blazers
5th – Knighthawks

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After last night’s game at the Pepsi Center against the Toronto Rock, the Mammoth coaching staff have some very hard decisions to make.  Unfortunately, regardless of the score, I don’t think the players made it any easier for them.

Mammoth offensive veteran standouts Brian Langtry and Jamie Shewchuck each scored three of the Mammoth’s seven goals.  But as for the rest of the offense… it’s going to be tough.  There were a lot of dropped passes and missed loose ball opportunities.

Granted, some of it may have been nerves.  Some of these guys have never played in the Pepsi Center, nor in front of a crowd that despite only being 6,507 strong was quite loud.  Some of it may have been chemistry.  I’m sure the coaches were changing lines up a lot trying to find who pairs well together.

The defense wasn’t much better.

They gave up entirely too many one-on-one situations with the goalie.  At least some of that was due to the phenomenal outlet passes former Mammoth goalie Gee Nash employs, but not all of it.  There was a lot of blown coverage and, again, issues with loosies.

The fight for who will tend goal is still very much on.

In this game it was Chris Levis and Rob Blasdell.  Levis looked pretty solid stopping 22 of 27 shots whereas Blasdell looked a bit rusty only stopping 15 of 20.  In comparison, in the two quarters Gee Nash played, he stopped 17 of the 19 shots he faced.  I fully expect he will be backing up veteran goaltender Bob Watson for the Rock this season.  I can’t deny I’m very jealous of that pairing, but we look to have a much stronger goaltending situation in Denver this season compared to last.

Many expect former Calgary Roughneck goalie Matt King will be the Mammoth starting goalie.  The Mammoth will be playing a scrimmage against the Stealth next week in Everett, where one of the players mentioned Curtis Palidwor would be competing for the spot against the presumed standout from tonight’s match up for the back up spot.

While tonight was a rather lackluster performance, these Mammoth are extremely deep with talent. Once they get the kinks worked out, we’re going to see an amazing team.

Colorado Mammoth 7, Toronto Rock 10

Attendance: 6,705

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East Division Final

Toronto Rock at Orlando Titans

One quarter was all it took to make a world of difference in this game.

The first half was a very close back-and-forth game with Toronto having a one-goal lead at the end of the first quarter and Orlando a one-goal lead at the end of the second quarter. Kasey Beirnes started off the scoring midway into the opening quarter, putting Toronto on the board first. Pat Maddalena tied it up, notching his first goal of the night for the Titans.

The Titan defense did a good job in the first half keeping Colin Doyle scoreless and rookie phenom Stephan Leblanc to one goal in each half. Last week against the Buffalo Bandits, Leblanc scored five goals and was the game MVP.

While the first half was close, the third quarter was anything but.

The Toronto Rock opened a flood gate of goals with seven different players each notching a goal while Orlando Titan Mike McClellan scored the only Titan goal of the quarter. McClellan scored twice more in the fourth, but the damage done in the third proved to be too much for the Titans.

Titan star Casey Powell was held to one goal on eleven shots. And although the fourth quarter was close, with each team scoring four goals, the Rock never gave up their lead.

Toronto Rock 15, Orlando Titans 10
MVP: Kasey Beirnes
Attendance: 4,651

West Division Final

Edmonton Rush at Washington Stealth

The Washington Stealth came out strong in the first quarter, and it took the Edmonton Rush until the closing minutes to catch up.

Paul Rabil, Luke Wiles (x2) and Jeff Zywicki each scored for Washington. Dean Hill notched Edmonton’s only goal of the first, scoring on the power play.

Edmonton seemed to have knocked off the rust midway through the second quarter, showing they weren’t going to give up without a fight. Gavin Prout scored twice and Ryan Ward once for the Rush, but each goal was matched by the Stealth with Cam Sedgwick, Paul Rabil and Rhys Duch each scoring. The half ended with the Stealth up by three.

The third quarter proved to be very defensive with Matt Disher and Tyler Richards both making phenomenal save after save for their teams. Jeff Zywicki and Rhys Duch each got a goal past Disher for the Stealth while Ryan Powel and Scott Stewart each got a goal past Richards for the Rush.

The fourth goal was the turning point for the Edmonton Rush, though.

Jeff Zywicki scored early in the quarter for the Stealth, followed by Luke Wiles halfway through. However, Disher and the Rush defense kept the Stealth scoreless for the rest of the quarter while the Rush offense launched their own battle to stay in the game.

Ryan Ward and Dean Hill each notched goals early in the fourth, but it wasn’t until close to the end of the game that the Rush were able to bring the game within reach. Brodie Merrill scored with under four minutes left to bring the score within two. In the final minute, the Rush pulled Disher for the extra attacker, scoring twice, sending the game in to overtime.

Overtime was short-lived, however, with the Stealth winning the face off and Paul Rabil scoring an unassisted goal to send the Rush home while the Stealth prepare for the Champions Cup Final.

Edmonton Rush 11, Washington Stealth 12
MVP: Paul Rabil
Attendance: 4,242

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Edmonton Rush at Calgary Roughnecks

Although the Edmonton Rush made their first playoff appearance ever in team history, it didn’t show in their play. Veteran goalie, Matt Disher ,was a strong asset for the Rush as he made 60 saves on 67 shots whereas Mike Poulin made 23 saves on 33 shots. Disher and the Edmonton Defense shut down many of the Roughneck stars including Josh Sanderson who went 0/13 and Tracey Kelusky who went 1/11. It certainly didn’t help Calgary that while the Roughnecks went 0/4 on the power play, the Rush went 3/3.

Proving how dangerous their offense can be, the Rush had goals from six different players with Gavin Prout, Andy Secore, and Corey Small each with two, Dean Hill had three, Ryan Ward and Jim Quinlan each notched one. Dane Dobbie was the only Roughneck able to notch more than one goal and he got three.

A definite rivalry has been developing between the Edmonton Rush and the Calgary Roughnecks because of their proximity to one another, but this game definitely added fuel to the fire. Edmonton has been playing very well the second half of the season and their momentum has carried them forward to the semi-finals next week.

Edmonton Rush 11, Calgary Roughnecks 7

MVP: Matt Disher

Attendance: 10,388

Minnesota Swarm at Washington Stealth

The Minnesota Swarm showed the Washington Stealth why in the NLL, no lead is safe, despite how large it is.

The Washington Stealth went in to the second quarter with a commanding five goal lead over the Swarm and it appeared the Stealth were going to notch an easy win over the Swarm who have been struggling the past few weeks. The Swarm on the other hand weren’t going to give up without a fight. The change in both teams was so dramatic in the second quarter, it was hard to believe it was the same teams. The Stealth were kept scoreless after the first couple of minutes in the second whereas the Swarm went on a run of their own to bring the lead within two ending the half Swarm 6, Stealth 8.

The Swarm struggled on the power play, going 1/5 while the Stealth went 2/4 plus notched two shorthanded goals.

Minnesota had a revolving door with their net minders. Goalies Nick Patterson and Kevin Croswell, swapped duties four times with Patterson finishing off the game.

Rhys Duch proved why he should be the game MVP notching six goals on ten shots and five assists for the Stealth while teammate Jeff Zywicki scored five goals on ten shots.

Minnesota Swarm 10 ,Washington Stealth 14

MVP: Rhys Duch

Attendance:3,268

Buffalo Bandits at Toronto Rock

It looked like the Buffalo Bandits were going to run away with this game, especially with Mike Accursi scoring six goals nearly in a row. But whereas the Rock’s momentum continued to build until it peaked in the 4^th quarter, the Bandits seemed to peak early and just couldn’t get back into the game once they relinquished the lead.

While Mike Accursi was on fire only missing four shots, All Star Forward Mark Steenhuis only scored twice on ten shots and, future Hall of Famer, John Tavares went zero for eight. Colin Doyle and Stephan Leblanc led scoring for the Rock with Doyle notching 4/8 and Leblanc 5/11.

Looking at the shots on goal can be slightly misleading. The Rock finished with 46 and the Bandits 37. However, showing how much stronger the Rock played towards the end, 31 of those 46 shots were in the second half whereas the Bandits only had 15.

Buffalo Bandits 11, Toronto Rock 13

MVP: Stephan Leblanc

Attendance: 9,367

Boston Blazers at Orlando Titans

To say this was a close game is a bit of an understatement. These two teams were so well matched that as the clock wound down, you half expected it to come down to the wire in overtime. It didn’t go into extra quarters, but it was still a close contest.

Shots on goal were only separated by three with Titans on top, but Blazers led in the other important areas such as looseballs and faceoffs. All of the penalties were in the first half, with Orlando only capitalizing on one, and Boston on zero although the Blazers did have two shorthanded goals in the first quarter.

In the end, it came down to a battle of the goalies with neither team scoring in the final four minutes.

Boston Blazers 11, Orlando Titans 12

MVP: Casey Powell

Attendance: 4,205

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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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