NLL Insider

With his turbulent Toronto Rock history one year and 2,500 miles behind him, Stealth captain Colin Doyle talks about his new role, pink jerseys, and starting over in San Jose.

The last few years the San Jose Stealth have been able to kind of fly under the radar. Have you lost that this year?
I hope so. I mean it’s always nice to fly under the radar because you can kind of sneak up on people but after the season we had last year I don’t expect to sneak up on anybody. It’s no secret that we’ve made some nice additions, along with everybody else in the league, so no I really don’t think we’ll fly under the radar. People will be prepared to play us and we’re going to have to play our best to beat everybody on every night. Not quite sure that people are talking about us yet in the upper echelon but they certainly know about the Stealth and can expect a tough game every time they see us.

So you’d rather be considered a contender right from the start?
It’s hard to say. Really the only people that matter when it comes to thinking you’re a legit contender are the people inside the dressing room, right? Anyone who’s a part of our organization. People can speak however they want and make any assumptions they want about other teams but realistically we expect big things from this team this year but we also know this is probably going to be the toughtest year of the NLL with the dispersal and everything. We made some great strides last year and I think we just want to add on to what we did last year and that’s our goal and that would certainly mean lofty expectations.

You guys hit training camp with almost your entire roster intact. What kind of an advantage do you think that’s given you over other teams?
It’s nice to be able to practice together, coming from the Rock organization where we practiced every week together. The scenario is a lot different than it is with a lot of these western teams. There’s a huge advantage to have guys playing together and seeing a lot of each other during the week. It’s an advantage, but at the same time we haven’t played a game yet and Calgary has played a game so there’s a little bit of a disadvantage there. I expect that having most of the guys living down here and practicing together will be a huge advantage for us down the stretch. It may not pay dividends right away but I think having the group together all year certainly makes a difference.

Last year we saw a few star players emerge on the Stealth. Who do you think it will be this year that makes the rest of the league sit up and take notice?
Some of the kids we drafted, Tom Johnson and Frank Resetarits, they’re rookies right now and two relative unknowns but two great talents. They’ll get their chances this year and they will make big things happen. We’ve also got some young american D guys too that again are relative unknowns in the indoor game, Steve Panarelli and Zach Heffner, guys like that, they’re going to make a real difference on our D. You know, you can never guess what’s gonna happen any given year but I think if things go according to how we envision them they’ll certainly play a big part in the success of our team.

How’s Paul Dawson looking on defense?
Paul is getting better every game. Obviously it’s a big transition for somebody like that, but Paul is obviously very athletic and he’s enabled himself to make the switch really well, he’s going to fit in nicely with our team. He brings an element of toughness that I think we need. His defense will continue to get better. It’s another one of those situations where you never can tell what’s going to happen by the end of the year, but he’s fared really well in training camp and he’s held his own throughout so again I expect him to play a big part in our team’s success.

What’s the game plan looking like for this weekend?
Well they’ll be at home and they’re going to have a great crowd so first thing’s first you have to do your best to take them out of the game and stay in it for as long as you can, don’t let Calgary go off and start the game and bury us early. Our game plan is like any other game, we need to go in and keep it close for as long as we can and outlast them. We know that they’re going to play that uptempo style of defense so offensively we need to be aware of that and make good decisions and move the ball. Other than that we have to be athletic, we have to get our defense on the floor in a hurry, we have to get our offense off the floor in a hurry, and as per the usual we need a great game out of Coz.

Are you looking forward to seeing those pink jerseys running around?
(Laughs) I am! I think it’s a great cause. I think it’s a really neat idea so I’m looking forward to seeing how they look, I think it’s excellent. Might be quite distracting though, we’ll see!

Looking at the rest of your schedule, what teams do you see as the biggest threats?
Oh that’s a tough question. Usually with this league it’s easier to say who are the legit contenders and who aren’t but the simple fact of it is you look at a team like Portland who was last in our division last year but made some changes that could potentially bolster them to first. There’s a lot of unknowns out there. The one thing I can say is that everybody is a lot better, there will be no pushovers this year. I really truly believe that anybody could take this league this year. Rochester is, in my opinion, the best team in the league, they’re champions for a reason, they’re the team to beat but outside of that it’s going to be a competitive bunch. I’d like to say that there’s one serious threat to us, but I firmly believe that everybody in the west is.

Are you tired of answering questions about the Toronto Rock?
Ha! Yeah. I am.

Great. I’ve got two.
Well that’s okay.

In going from the Rock to the Stealth, how did your role on the team change?
Last year was different because I didn’t really have any time to gel with the guys, I just kind of came in at the start of the season. When you just get thrown into a line-up like that, I just did what I’ve done for the past ten years and I found that that’s not necessarily my role here. I now consider myself more of a facilitator, speaking in offensive terms because we’ve got so many great talents the biggest key for us is to spread the ball. I play a big part in that and I don’t think I’ll be asked to take the ball to the net as much as I did with Toronto. That’s the best way I can explain it. I was a go-to guy in Toronto and I expect to be the same here but I’m surrounded by a lot of go-to guys. When I say facilitator I mean try to keep things organized so that everybody can chip in. That’s what’s going to make us tough to stop.

Is it kind of annoying that you haven’t gotten the chance to go back and play the Rock?
It’s disappointing, yeah. I’d love to go back and play Toronto. I thought the odds would have been good to us this year, but I understand that San Jose has never played Toronto. It would’ve been real nice to get back there but I keep telling myself the one way you can get back is to help win the west here and if they win the east maybe we’ll get that match-up. It’s disappointing, but whatever. What can you do?

The team seems to be working really hard to get you guys moved to California. What does that do for team morale and confidence?
I think it will be really big. This year I think they said we’ve got 18 guys or 17 guys living in the market — that’s how they term things here — so you’ve got 18 guys at practice every week and you’ve got 18 guys playing cards together and having dinners together and hanging out poolside. Working together. It just goes a long way. Coming from an organization like Toronto where that was just never an issue, it was what it was, everybody was local and you practiced together every week and you saw so much more of each other I think in the long run it makes a major difference because you get a real cohesive group. Not just on the surface but deep down. You get a bunch of guys who really stand up for each other and really enjoy going to battle. I think when you get into the nuts and bolts of it it’s kind of a big part because realistically every team in this league is looking for those little things that can make you better.

How’s life in San Jose?
It’s cold! I understand it’s warmer in Waterloo than it is down here so that was a surprise. But it’s nice, my wife and myself and my daughter got settled in last week and I’m doing a lot of work for the team so it’s gonna be great. It’s going to be much nicer than it was last year. It’s tough flying in, not to make excuses. You don’t get to know the guys as well as you’d like and you don’t get the practices during the week, those practices that you’ve become accustomed to, so I think having us down here will make a big difference. I’m really excited to be here, I just hope it warms up a little.

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