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Happy 2008! The season that almost wasn’t is finally under way, and with a bang!! If the season-opener is any indication as to what we have in store this year, I think we are all in for a treat.

Before the season gets into full swing, I would like to take this opportunity to attempt to change the way most of you watch a game. As fans, we are very lucky in that the NLL is littered with superstars, and the makeup of the game allows the superstar to use the combination of stick and ball to do incredible things.

John Grant dancing a goalie, then shooting over his shoulder and hitting the top corner. Colin Doyle getting hit and taking a spinning shovel shot while falling. This is what makes the game so exciting. This is why people buy tickets, coming in as spectators but leaving as fans.

This is also why the stars get all the glory.

For this week I have decided to give some attention to a few guys that you will never see on the plays of the week. The foot soldier, the grunt, the guy that does the dirty work in the trenches.

The best players in the league that you have never heard of.

Before I get to the list, let me point out that each of these players was nominated by a coach, other than myself, other players, or a GM. I am also aware that this list is quite small and without a doubt I will miss several players that you feel belongs, but I am unfortunately limited by both time and space. Also, if you are a fan of the team that a player on this list plays for, you may wonder how I could possibly think that nobody has heard of that particular player. I am talking about league-wide recognition, not recognition by home fans.

Lastly, one veteran coach was reluctant to give me a name because he was afraid that it might jinx the guy for the year. On the off chance that this is possible, I have decided to leave any New York Titans off this list.

Here we go …

John Sullivan, Minnesota: On a team that prides itself on having no real superstars, John Sullivan may be the guy that best exemplifies what that mantra is all about.

He is as solid a defender as there is in the league, more about cross-checking than hack and whack. He can play man-down, be on the draw team, and will go into the corner at 100 mph.

His style of defence can be summed up in one word: Boring. Cross check and don’t get beat for 30 seconds. A coach’s dream. If you could field a ‘D’ that consisted of 5 Sully’s, you would probably never allow more than 6 goals per game, but you would probably also never have any fans.

On a side note, my 5 minutes of research leads me to believe that Sully is the only player in the NLL that has a Facebook page dedicated to getting him to the All-Star game.

Jeff Moleski, Calgary: This was the only guy that got 2 votes, one of which was from a guy that is not even a member of the Roughnecks organization.

Both describe him as “raw with endless potential.” Here is another guy that plays hard ‘D’, gets the ball, hits, fights, and does anything else you may ask. The ultimate team guy.

Rich Morgan, Portland: Even if Rich was terrible, his pure size would make him hard to beat. Lucky for Portland that is not the case.

Rich is a giant of a man that plays hard, cross check ‘D’, and has the stick skills and lacrosse sense to make good decisions in transition. As far as leadership goes, what better way to motivate your fellow players than running a marathon?

And for those of us lucky enough to have watched the latest Lumberjax promos (If you haven’t PLEASE take a few minutes on the web and find them), you will also know that he is a ‘Dance Dance Revolution’ master.

On a team with a superstar like Patrick Merrill’s brother, it is hard to get out of the shadow, but this guy deserves it.

Obviously there are plenty more, but my space is limited, so we will have to revisit this in the future. In the meantime please visit our NLL message board and let me know who you think deserves to make the cut.

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