NLL Insider

Definitely a tough week to nail down the charts heading into a quiet but pivotal week 11.

As usual lately, a number of major ballers will be game time decisions with Minny’s Andy Secore and Craig Point potentially missing tonight’s clash with Buffalo.

If either of those two are unavailable, expect to see new signings and Swarm GM faves, Dan Marohl and Keith Cromwell in the lineup, two Americans that played prominent rolls for the Wings when Marty O’Neill ran the show in Philadelphia. Some also feel that Cromwell specifically might end up seeing more floor time a man-up with sophomore Dean Hill’s number’s sagging compared to a year ago.

Also, unlike the Toronto vs. Philadelphia game, which was postponed last night due to a crazy winter storm that hit TO yesterday afternoon, both teams are currently on hand in Buffalo for tonight’s game, which will go on as planned even though weather conditions are just as nasty in the Buffalo area.

Suspensions will play a big roll this weekend and beyond too. Here’s the shakedown on that…

- Billy Dee Smith’s previous five games off has been reduced to two games after an arbitrator looked at the case this past week. Smith will begin serving that as of tonight’s tilt against Minnesota.

- Kyle Couling, who got nailed last week by the league for a harsh hit to the back of the neck on Colorado’s Gavin Prout, has taken his appeal off the table and will begin serving his three game suspension starting this weekend. Couling will miss games against Portland, Colorado and San Jose.

- The Rock’s Jon Harasym has been handed a one game suspension for a questionable hit on Calgary’s Kelly Hall, leaving  the Necks’ forward crumpled in a heap on the ACC rug last weekend. Although it appeared that Harasym didn’t get his stick or elbow up on Hall, replays did show Harasym leaving his feet to make the hit, which saw his shoulder land flush on Hall’s mug. It doesn’t appear that Hall is feeling any affects of a potential concussion on the high shot, and should definitely be available this weekend.

- And finally, the musical chairs seems to have come to an end with Edmonton’s suspension of a player for an illegal hit on San Jose’s Luke Wiles. After previously incorrectly naming defenders Buck Stobart and then Mike Grimes, the league has now been able to identify the correct player as forward Chris Gill. The suspension will likely keep Gill out for a single game, while no appeal has been submitted by Gill as of yet.

And on a side note, Buffalo’s Brett Bucktooth was able to practice with the team this past week after sitting out the past two plus months since his hip surgery. He’s definitely not expected to play this weekend, but it appears seeing him the lineup in week 13 is a definite possibility.

Here’s this week’s roster breakdowns to the best of our knowledge…

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