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Calgary captain Tracy Kelusky will miss this weekend’s games. He’s out due to a concussion.

“It’s a tough loss,” said Roughnecks’ general manager Kurt Silcott in a press release. “Losing your captain and one of your leaders is always tough, but we feel that we’ve got the team around that can sustain it.”

Calgary plays tonight in San Jose and then again on Saturday when they’ll host Portland.

“We’d like to get them both this weekend,” added Silcott. “Hopefully we can go into San Jose on Friday and win that one and then come home with a really big effort on Saturday night in front of our home fans and really get ourselves going.”

The Calgary-San Jose game is the lone match Friday, but all teams suit up again on Saturday.

In this post I’ve combined my regular Friday Scouting Report with some additional quotes from coaches on the up-coming weekend, so it turned out to be a novel.

Calgary (0-2) at San Jose (1-0) - Friday

San Jose won the first match-up between these two teams, in OT. Both teams had bye weekend last weekend and will be itching to get at it.

“It’s a huge weekend for us,” said forward Kaleb Toth. “We need these two games to get to .500 and just to get the confidence for our team.”

Everyone knows though that San Jose has an explosive offense.

“If we can just limit their opportunities and make sure that they know every time they get the ball they’re going to get hit and whacked, we should be able to control them,” Toth added.

Calgary’s Steve Dietrich and San Jose’s Anthony Cosmo, will again get the starts for their respective teams.

Report: “This should be another intense struggle between two well matched teams. It will most likely come down to goaltending in the late stages again. In their first two games, the Roughnecks have fared poorly down the stretch. That’s been a focus for Calgary at practice lately. It won’t be a lot of fun waking at 4am for a flight on Saturday morning back to Calgary (where the Jax already lie in waiting) if you’re staring at an 0-3 start. So look for the ‘Necks to bring a lot of emotion to this game.”

New York (1-1) at Toronto (2-2)

Both teams are focused on playing complete games.

Toronto’s back to .500 after a 14-9 victory in Edmonton, while NY’s coming off of a 17-13 loss to Buffalo.

”In the end wins are our measure of success,” said Toronto assistant coach Terry Bullen. “We feel we’ve played better than the results were. That’s not by any means trying to make excuses because you need to put complete games together. And that is our focus really, and that’s were we’re working towards.”

“I think we blinked and they didn’t,” said Mueller of his team’s loss last weekend. “That’s something you can’t do against top teams… we’re happy to be in those close games but we need to be better.”

Report: “Toronto’s play on the press really sealed it for them last weekend. Whipper played well and with two rock D’s guys going up both sides of the boards on every save, whipper was feeding them all night… Rock had seven goals in transition.

“New York’s put up 15 powerplay markers in just two games. In comparison, Toronto has 12 in four games. Casey Powell runs that O with Pat and Mike McLellan looking real good. Hanford should give them more possessions. The key will be trying to stop Toronto’s top two of Manning and Sanderson and not getting caught on transition. Vinc’s up for the challenge to out perform Watson at the other end.”

Edmonton (0-2) at Chicago (0-2)

Edmonton and Chicago both made key acquisitions during the off-season and had hoped for better starts to kick off the 2008 season. But both are winless heading into Week 5.

“We know what we’ve got to work on, and I believe we’ll make strides,” said Edmonton head coach Paul Day. The Rush will practice Friday before going into action. Day noted he made a goalie switch last game from Palidwor to Disher largely to try and change momentum.

“I don’t think fitness is our a problem,” said Paul Day, noting everyone has a personal trainer. “We had a great practice last week, and we had a week off so we seem to be coming back well… I think we need to get more loose balls, and a little more hungry so that’s what are focus has been.”

Edm Report: “Lots of new talent, but uncreative team…too much outside shooting…defense runs well, but doesn’t mix it up or establish much of a physical presence…Healthy Shannon gives them a new threat, but it comes at the expense of Jimmy Quinlan, who loses playing time after leading team in scoring in 2007…Accursi takes over on faceoffs…weak start for Palidwor.”

Chi Report: “Blasted after weak effort against Philadelphia… starting to get guys back from injury, but need to mesh in a hurry…getting some contribution from new guys, but veterans need to step up…Miller hasn’t finished either game yet…bye week could help in getting rid of negative thoughts from the first two weeks, but another loss could kill team psyche.”

San Jose (1-0, play Friday) at Colorado (3-0)

This one could be another great game.

Recall San Jose beat Colorado last season in the playoffs, in OT.

San Jose Head Coach Walt Christianson noted he’d likely rotate new players in for San Jose to stay fresh.

“One of the things that has changed for our team this year is we’re a little deeper on the bottom-end of our line up so if you look at our players in 13-19 spots we’re much better this year,” said Christians about his confidence substituting in new bodies.

Report: “You would think that Colorado would be the fresher of the two teams for this match. Experience tells though, that teams in this league perform amazingly well in the back end of a doubleheader. On the other hand, Colorado is deeper throughout the lineup – especially at core D and transition… Sims, Gajic, Carlson and Bloom are probably the best quartet in the league. The Mammoth are not that deep on pure offence so if Llord produces early in his career it will bring a sigh of relief…” 

Buffalo (2-1) at Philadelphia (2-0)

Both teams are coming off of victories and are looking at this game to be a good measuring stick out East. The Bandits won 17-13 over New York last week, but the score was closer than the final indicates. At home, Philly beat Rochester 15-14.

Athan Iannuci, Jake Bergey and Jaime Thomson lead that offense with a combined 39 points in two games.

“Obviously, we couldn’t ask for a better start than 2-0,” said Philadelphia head coach Dave Huntley.

“We respect them very much. They’re young, they’re fast,” added Bandits head coach Darris Kilgour. “We’re expecting a very high-tempo game and for them to come out with a lot of energy.”

PHI Report: “The wings are fast and much improved at both ends. Few have been able to stop Athan when isolated one-on-one. Bergey is looking as strong as ever… Defensively Shawn Nadelen and Rob Van Beek are strong and athletic. Rob Blasdell has looked excellent through the first two games. The wings, and Snider, need to adjust to the referees and stay out of the box. Otherwise, Philly is a scary team out East…”

BUFF Report: “Buffalo still needs more production from their secondary scorers. Sure, Vyse and Powless have chipped in but it’s not enough. Thankfully, Steenhuis has looked real good for the Bandits with 17 points. That’s helped taken some of the pressure off of Tavares. Thompson in net looks to have settled down and found his grove.

“The key for Buffalo will be trying to neutralize the face-off combination of Snider and Jacobs and be efficient in transition. Philly will look to continue doing what’s got them to an early 2-0 season start. It’s a good test for both teams.”

Portland (0-2) at Calgary (0-2, play Friday)

Portland played well in their 12-11 OT loss at home to 3-0 Colorado, so this one will be another tough game for Calgary who are playing back-to-back.

Can Dietrich get the call again? I asked during the media call and the expectation was, ‘Yes’, but we’ll see how his knees hold up. Back-up tender Avery may get another opportunity to prove himself. He was 4-0 last season in relief of then starter Andrew Leyshon.

“Saturday against Portland is going to be a big test,” added Toth. “It’s going to be the second game in two nights. I think the energy from the crowd is going to be key for us. We’ve got to eliminate their big guys, try to shut them down and just exploit their weaknesses.”

After relying on eight-point performances from Dawson and Malawsky in their opener, however, the ‘Jax received more secondary and transition scoring on Thursday. Nine different players scored the 11 Portland goals. That’s definitely a more balanced attack than Portland showed in their opener. They also improved their special teams, going 3-for-4 on man-up opportunities while holding Colorado 2-for-6 on their powerplay starts.

Matt King got the call for the ‘Jax and played well making 33 saves. He’ll likely get the call again on Saturday over Dallas Eliuk who was pulled early in their first game.

Cal Report: “This is one of those brutal travel weekends for the Roughies –playing in San Jose on Friday night then a few hours of sleep and up well before dawn for the trip back to Calgary to host Portland on Saturday night. And don’t forget some of the Roughneck contingent will start their journey in Ontario on Thursday. They’ll need to find their game legs somehow… ”

Minnesota (2-0) at Rochester (1-2)

Rochester’s gone on a little bit of a slide after opening the season with a road win in Buffalo, while Minny really put it together right off the back taking their home-and-home with Toronto two weekends ago.

“Our effort is there,” said Minnesota head coach Duane Jacobs. “We seem to be playing well as a team right now. We’re pretty happy with where we’re at right now, to say the least.”

The Swarm know, however, that Rochester should be amp-ed for this game

“We’re all aware of that,” said Jacobs. “It’s a difficult thing for any team when you go into Rochester and they’re coming off a couple losses. But it’s just another challenge for our team. We’re going to go in there and put our best foot forward and hopefully give ourselves an opportunity to win.”

“No one’s happy with that,” said Rochester head coach Ed Comeau of two-straight losses. “We know there’s a lot of good teams this year. Everyone’s up a notch and we know getting a victory any night will be difficult… But you haven’t seen our best yet. We’re confident we’re going to get on track and we’re hopeful we can do it this weekend.

“I think a big part of it is just getting everyone back on track and playing together,” added Comeau. “Part of it is just recognizing how hard it is to win in this league every night.”

Min Report: “They’re the real deal – cohesive, playing for each other, and totally bought in to Dewey Jacobs’ philosophy…sweep against Toronto will only build confidence of a young team…may be best team in NLL on transition to offense. Patterson is playing awesome for them right now too. The Swarm are coming off of a game where they held Toronto to just four goals, and Patterson made 40 stops in that game… Look for Minny to run-and-gun Rochester. Ward’s a beast and Point’s playing like a veteran.”

Roc Report: “Same problem as usual – riding on talent, but uninspired early…Grant may have hurt Knighthawks in Game 2 against Buffalo by being selfish…need to have whole offense involved to be successful…losing to Philly should be a wakeup call for the defending champs…a third divisional loss this weekend would be cause for concern. They should play with more fire, but playing against another young and quick team may cause trouble again.”

An All-America at Simon Fraser and a decorated Jr. A player for Coquitlam, Kojima began covering lacrosse in 2003 and started working for Inside Lacrosse in 2007. Email him at steve.kojima@nllinsider.com or go to www.laxfuj.com .

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