NLL Insider

Week 9 of the NLL features six games, two each on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Schedule (All Times Eastern)

Friday, Feb. 22
Minnesota at Philadelphia - 8:00 PM
Calgary at Portland - 10:30 PM

Saturday, Feb. 23
New York at Rochester - 7:35 PM
San Jose at Edmonton - 9:30 PM

Sunday, Feb. 24
Buffalo at Chicago - 3:00 PM
Colorado at Calgary - 5:00 PM

Here is a quick preview of each match-up…

Minnesota (6-1) at Philadelphia (4-0)

This one should be good with Minny and Philly combined for a 10-1 record on the season. They both push the ball aggressively up floor and lead the league in goals per game. Minnesota is averaging nearly 15 goals per game and Philly is averaging 16 goals per game.

“We expect Philly to be very athletic and to run the floor,” said Minnesota head coach Duane Jacobs, “We have similar styles and both teams are going to play up-tempo, at least I know we are and I can’t see Philadelphia changing much.”

“That’s who we are and that’s who they are,” agreed Huntley, “Not going to be a lot of surprises really, it should be real exciting.”

Minnesota sits atop the Eastern Division with an impressive 6-1 record. Their only loss was last weekend in a surprise Buffalo Bandits victory.

“We learned we can’t get outworked by teams,” said Jacobs of the loss, so he expects a much better effort Friday. Minnesota’s led offensively by Andy Secore, Ryan Ward, Craig Point and Sean Pollock, plus the tending of Nick Patterson (.765 SV%). Three of Minnesota’s forwards sit Top-10 in league scoring.

Last week, Philadelphia went into undefeated Mammoth territory and captured a road win over the Western Division’s top team to keep their record unblemished at 4-0.

“I was quite pleased with our guys’ play,” said Wings head coach Dave Huntley of their road win last weekend after two straight bye weeks.

Philly’s back at home and wearing their red third jersey for the first time. The organization is asking for their fans to wear red, as well.

Philadelphia’s led offensively by Athan Iannucci, Jake Bergey, Merrick Thomson and Jamie Rooney, plus the steady goaltending of Rob Blasdell (.767 SV%). Taylor Wray who missed the last game due to work commitments will be back in the line-up for Philadelphia.

Calgary (2-4) at Portland (2-5)

Calgary and Portland are tied for third in the Western Division with two wins a piece.

The Roughnecks, led offensively by Lewis Ratcliff, Scott Ranger and Kaleb Toth, dropped their last game 15-12 to Rochester.

Calgary will again have to battle without two of their top players in Tracy Kelusky and Steve Dietrich who continue to be bothered by post-concussion headaches and are not expected back until March 1. The Roughnecks are also without Jeff Moleski and Kyle Couling this Friday due to work commitments.

When these two teams met earlier in the year, Calgary won by a score of 13-6. Goaltender Ryan Avery looked good in that game, but he hasn’t shown well recently, allowing seven goals on 22 shots last weekend. Kurt Silcott hinted newly acquired Pat Campbell may get the start on Friday.

Portland enters the match with a 14-8 win over Edmonton last weekend. Two of their losses were in OT to top clubs, Colorado and Minnesota, and the team looks like it’s really coming together.

“I’ve kind of had that feeling the last two or three weeks in terms of finding chemistry, especially at the offensive end,” said Portland head coach Derek Keenan, “We’ve been good in certain areas in games, but not in the complete package, and I think it’s starting to get there… We played well last week, but obviously a big task at hand this week.”

Offensively Portland’s led by Dan Dawson, Ryan Powell and Derek Malawsky.

“We know it’s going to be a challenge,” added Calgary GM Kurt Silcott, “We’re hopeful we’ll get good goaltending and that our defense will play a similar style and keep them frustrated.”

New York (3-4) at Rochester (3-3) - Saturday

The defending champion Rochester Knighthawks currently sit fifth in the Eastern Division. But after starting 1-3, the team has evened their record at .500 and look to have turned the corner.

“I think the key was probably in the Toronto game in the fourth quarter, we just started to move the ball around,” said Rochester GM Jody Gage, “That’s been a big part of our success… the offense was definitely moving the ball around, we got a lot more quality chances, and when you get more quality chances, you’re going to put up more goals.”

“We’ve still got to get both sides of the team going here,” added Gage, “I think definitely the defense was a big part of winning the Toronto game, then last game the offense stepped-up.”

That included an outburst from John Grant Jr. as he was named overall and offensive player of the week after collecting ten points in Rochester’s 15-12 win over Calgary last weekend. New York’s Jordan Hall was named rookie of the week with six points in the club’s 14-9 win over Chicago.

The Titans are coming into this game on a two-game win streak.

“We’re pretty happy,” said New York head coach Adam Mueller, “We’re still trying to take it one game at a time. With the schedule we have, it’s a tough road… 3-4 certainly isn’t too bad.

“Rochester still scares me pretty much. They’ve got a great offense and it looks like their defense and their goaltender are playing really well as of late, so we’re going to have our hands full.

“But our guys are getting more confident as the season goes along, so we hope to give them a battle… Hopefully we have a chance to win it some time in the fourth quarter.”

New York’s Casey Powell sits fourth in league scoring with 16 goals and 39 points. NY’s other scorers are rounded out by Pat Maddalena, Ryan Boyle, Jordan Hall and Mike McLellan, four players within three points of each other.

When these two teams met in Rochester last season the final was 22-18 Knighthawks. Lots of goals are expected again this weekend.

San Jose (3-3) at Edmonton (0-5) - Saturday

Edmonton is expected to name a new head coach shortly. Stay tuned to NLLinsider.com for breaking news.

The only winless team in the league at 0-5, the Rush are trying to shake up things in time to make the playoffs for the first-time in the franchise’s history.

“I think it’s obvious what led to our change,” said Rush President Duane Vienneau, “We’re 0-5, and we felt as an organization we needed to do something sooner than later to try and turn around our season.”

“Edmonton has a good club,” added San Jose Stealth head coach Walt Christianson. “They’re not an 0-5 team. We’re preparing to play a very good team.”

“The downside is Paul Day’s a good friend of mine and a good coach, and it’s unfortunate to see him go. But usually when a new coach comes in, the team will rally behind that coach especially with a new effort. They’ll probably come out guns-a-blazin’, and we’ll probably see a different team then what they’ve had for the last five days which is probably what they were trying to change by getting new staff.”

Unfortunately for the Rush, they’re going to be facing an explosive Stealth attack that looks to have started to find its groove after a fairly slow start. San Jose scored 17 goals in their last game, with six players registering five or more points in Jeff Zywicki, Colin Doyle, Cam Sedgwick, Frank Resetarits, Luke Wiles and Gary Rosyski.

Zywicki has a league-best 22 goals.

Christianson noted that Victoria product Aaron Bold will get another opportunity to start after putting up 46 saves and allowing just seven goals against in his last game, a Stealth win over New York.

Buffalo (4-4) at Chicago (1-4) - Sunday

While Chicago was riddled by injuries early in the season, the Bandits are the team that can’t seem to catch a break now.

With No. 1 goalie Mike Thompson already out with a concussion, back-up Ken Montour suffered a concussion last Friday and he too is now doubtful for this weekend. Thompson is expected to be back for the Bandits’ next game.

Sunday, Buffalo will turn to 21-year-old Daniel Sams. He has just 15 minutes of pro experience back in 2007. The Bandits hope Montour will still be able to dress as a back-up. If he can’t go, Kilgour noted they have an unsigned free agent they’ll sign and bring in for the weekend.

“He did a great job for us last year in Rochester,” said Buffalo head coach Darris Kilgour of his third string goalie, Sams. “We have a lot of confidence in him, and hopefully he has the confidence in himself.”

Kevin Dostie is listed as doubtful again.

“The guys are still up-beat, we still think we have a very good team.”

Despite the injuries the Bandits have been able to battle through, including a 16-14 win over previously undefeated Minnesota.

“We’ve proven we can play with every team in the league, but we need to do that on a game-to-game basis, starting with this week,” said Kilgour, “Every game we play right now in the Division is a must win for us… We’re really looking forward to the challenge.”

Colorado (5-1) at Calgary (2-4, Play Friday) - Sunday

The Colorado-Calgary game is a rematch of the league’s season opener. Calgary took an 8-5 lead going into the fourth quarter of that game, only to lose 10-9.

“We’ve got to keep our foot on the pedal if we’re lucky enough to get a lead,” added Calgary GM Kurt Silcott.

The Roughnecks missed key defenders Andrew McBride and Devan Wray in that game. In this match, they’ll be without Kelusky and Dietrich but Colorado is not under-estimating Calgary, especially at home.

“They’ve got lots of firepower,” said Mammoth head coach Bob McMahon, “And it’s still a very unique defense that they play. They force you into bad decisions with the ball, and if you’re not ready to play it really doesn’t matter who’s in net… We have to be intelligent on offense and generate good chances.”

Led offensively by Gavin Prout and Dan Carey, Colorado sits in first place in the Western Division with five wins. The team is looking to rebound after being outscored 5-1 in the fourth quarter of their last game, a 15-13 loss to Philadelphia. It’s only their second road game this year.

“I thought we played well,” said McMahon of the Mammoth’s game last weekend. “(Sunday) we have to continue to try and do the things we did well, and nip some of the things we did poorly.”

“We’re hopeful that we can get a good effort on Friday night and turn around with another good effort on Sunday afternoon and come up with some W’s,” said Silcott. He added, Calgary may alternate goalies this weekend, so whoever doesn’t start Friday could get the call Sunday.

Coverage

All games are available with B2 broadband broadcast for $7 per game. Click on the ‘Live Games’ link on NLLinsider.com to catch the feeds.

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