NLL Insider

Scoring is down in the NLL. At press time, the average goals per game this season was 22.81, down from 25.11 last year and the lowest since 1991 when it was 22.29.

But if you think I’m going to call for my own Shanahan Summit to find out how to fix the game, you’re dead wrong. This might be the most exciting year in NLL history, as 10 of the 11 teams had realistic chances at first place two thirds of the way through the schedule.

When I was seven years old, I watched my first baseball game. The final score was 10-9 and I thought it was great. My uncle, a longtime fan, explained to me that the pitching was bad and the defense was porous. I guess I thought the defense was all right because when I played with my friends every dribbler hit became a home run. Years later I was able to appreciate the intricacies of a well-pitched baseball game, but as a new fan I wanted to see runs.

The same can be said for lacrosse. The league is cognizant that new fans are turned on by goals, but that’s a quick thrill. Long-term fans, those who support teams in Toronto, Buffalo, Philadelphia and Rochester, are beyond that. They may have first been infatuated by the high-scoring games, but ultimately only championships bring fans’ love. In 1992 I saw my first Buffalo Bandits game. It was a 23-13 blowout for Buffalo over Baltimore and I didn’t enjoy it. The goals came too easy. Although I knew how good Tavares, Kilgour, Veltman and Keenan were from watching them in summer lacrosse, their talents would’ve been better showcased if Baltimore had provided some defense. The Buffalo fans seemed to like it but I suspect their fondness didn’t turn into love until John Tavares scored the overtime-winning goal to beat Philadelphia 11-10 in the championship that year.

Close, dramatic games provide fans with a better memory than a high-scoring blowout—even for the fans of the winning team.

Too many observers of professional sports in North America think there is always a direct correlation between high scores and entertainment value. Like many North Americans, I can see the humor when British sports reports announce another exciting day of “football” where every game was tied nil-nil. I admit that a well-played 14-13 lacrosse game is usually more exciting than a well-played 8-7 game, but it’s wrong to use goals per game to determine entertainment value.

In 1987 when the professional indoor lacrosse league started, it averaged 28 goals per game. For the next five years that average dropped to 22.29. In 1991, when the Gait brothers turned the league into their private playground, the average goals per game jumped to 28.30. That year, Gary and Paul averaged almost eight goals per game; that’s almost as much output as the whole Edmonton Rush team this season.

In 1992 when the explosive Buffalo Bandits entered the league, the offense was at an all-time high of 29.5 goals per game. The Bandits averaged 20 goals per game that year, but conversely Baltimore had a goals against average of over 18.

Generally, parity and stability brought the goal production down, while expansion would provide offensive spikes. For example, goal production fell from 1992 until 1995 and then jumped in 1996 when the Charlotte Cobras went 0-10 and allowed opposing scorers to pad their stats. The short-lived Syracuse Smash went 6-30 in the late 1990s and allowed over 17 goals per game.

In 2002 the league jumped from nine teams to 13. Only Vancouver had immediate success, while Calgary, New Jersey, Columbus, Ottawa and New York played well below .500. Established teams feasted on the weaker ones. While some might think that the 27.77 goals per game in 2002 provided exciting lacrosse, less than 60% of those games had margins of victory within four goals. So far this season, over 84% of the games had a margin of victory within four goals. In fact, in 2002, 22% of the games had margins of victory of seven or greater. If you take away those “blowout” games in 2002, the goals per game would have dropped to 23.80, not much higher than this season’s 22.81. Through late March there were only four “blowout” games.

Why, in this expansion season, has scoring not jumped like in other years? Although the Rush might not win another game, they’re still only allowing 12.4 goals a game. That’s almost as good as Philadelphia’s league-leading 12.3 GAA in 1998.

Arizona assistant Bob McMahon says he thinks scoring is down because offenses have become overly cautious of the great transition abilities of most defenses.

Every team seems to have a few speedy defenders with scoring prowess (Steve Toll, Jay Jalbert for example). So the conundrum is that defenses have become so adept at scoring that scoring is down.

Teams have strict rules against taking outside shots when the shot clock is expiring because of the potential of the rebound creating a transition scoring chance. Instead they cautiously roll the ball into the corner and retreat to the bench so that the defense can get on the floor.

Personally, I think that’s just sound lacrosse, and with 10 of 11 clubs fighting for postseason positioning, teams were already playing playoff lacrosse in March.

So while I think my brother Brendan’s Shanahan Summit was the start of some good changes for the NHL I don’t think the perceived scoring drought in the NLL should be any cause for concern.

In fact we should be celebrating one of the best regular seasons in league history. I only hope the playoffs are as exciting as the battle to get there.

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