NLL Insider

Every win this past weekend seemed a little more important than any previous slate of games this year. Calgary’s win over Portland gave them a nice push for that third spot in the West. San Jose suffocating Colorado sent a huge message to the rest of the league that they’re serious as hell about goin’ all the way to the Champ Cup final this year. And Buffalo’s win over a depleted Swarm roster has them in ear shot of the top spot in the East. It’s go time now people and even though the All-Star Game is on the docket, you best believe guys know just how valuable every win is from here on out. Probably gonna be seeing more “must win” games this year than any other previous… and we saw at least one semi “must win” game this past weekend. Beauty season for sure.

San Jose Stealth (5-3 overall, 3-2 division)
Like I said when I picked the Stealth in pick ‘em last week, when these guys are all on the same page and playing consistent ball, few in this league are gonna be able to hang with ‘em. Anthony Cosmo has bounced back from a semi rough start to the year and playin’ some outta his mind ball. Their D might not be as high profile as when guys like Cam Woods and Jim Moss were there, but right now at least, they’ve done a great job of mixing in some solid box specific defenders with some full-out stud athletes that lets ‘em handle most O’s no matter what gets thrown at ‘em. And their O is obviously as solid as you’re gonna get. They are also getting solid production from the later half of their game day roster, which most teams this year are having problems with (even Gary Rosyski was a healthy scratch for ‘em they have so many more options this year… hmmm). They had some issues with some of their more high profile battles to start the year, but their performance on Saturday night definitely has these guys close to the top of the heap. They’ll have a helluva battle on their hands with Philly this weekend and it should be interesting how they counter the Wings super quick two-way game. Think they got the wheels to do it, but we’ll see how things shake out once they enter the jungle in Philly.

Colorado Mammoth (5-3, 5-2)
Hear a lot of fans saying there was a lack of effort from the Mammoth on Saturday night, but I tend to disagree. Think they played hard, but just didn’t play smart. Lots of bad decisions on O and guys really seemed to be second guessing themselves a lot. That’s what these slides can do to even the most vet heavy teams, with Rochester being this year’s best example. Big difference between playing hard and playing smart. They got pretty decent play outta their D but that scoring punch that usually follows this team just wasn’t there. Sources say that the team had a heart-to-heart behind closed doors after the game. They’ll likely need to just forget about what just went down, realize that they have a Cup winning quality side and just get on with this weekend against a surging Calgary team that won’t give ‘em an inch. They can’t start over thinking their game, cuz that’s when the problems we saw on Saturday are gonna sneak back up on ‘em. If you’re only gonna order one game on B2 this weekend, I’d say make the Calgary vs. Colorado war your pick. If it turns out to be sh**, Ted Jenner will give you your $7 back (but you didn’t hear that from me).

Buffalo Bandits (7-4, 6-4)
Buffalo’s definitely still lookin’ good after another big division win over Minnesota. Gotta think at this point Kenny Montour is the team’s definite #1 keeper. Some solid starts and big play in relief has some people talkin’ Keeper of the Year (maybe a bit premature but hard to not argue that he’s looked solid of late). Big game out of Clay Hill again and not just cuz he filled in Billy Dee Smith’s shoes with a couple goals and helpers (although it did help). With his play this year, Hill has moved into the upper echelon of top defenders in the L and not only makes the two games Smith misses sting a lot less, he’s also made people in Buffalo forget about Kyle Couling pretty fast too (can’t say I’ve heard Buffalo supporters mention his name once this year). And although he’s not posting the kinda numbers Hill or Smith are on the press, seems like Chris White’s play has gone a bit unnoticed this year too. Would be surprised if White’s name wasn’t on the All-Shanny Team at the end of the year. Definitely one of this year’s best pure D guys.

Minnesota Swarm (6-3, 4-3)
The depth of the Swarm looks like it’ll definitely be tested over the next month or so. Their IR is even deeper than anything the Banditos had to deal with this year and they can only hope to keep it together as well as Buffalo has done so far this year. Although various sources are telling us that the Ian Rubel deal might take a bit longer to be made official than first thought, it definitely sounds as if Rubel will be the newest Swarm defender in coming days. Darren Halls, who was easily having his best pro season right up until his injury this past weekend, will definitely be missed more than most people around the league that haven’t been watching him develop actually realize. Halls has become as steady a pure defender as you could want and for some reason a name that never gets mentioned in the Colin Doyle deal. Doesn’t take a genius to see that Dean Hill’s digits have taken a dip during his sophomore run this year. Whether he’s getting a bit more attention from the rest of the D in the league or is just not clicking, he’ll definitely be one of the guys expected to elevate his game with the injuries piling up. His man-up numbers are about in line with what he did last year, which really is his bread and butter, but his five-on-five work and fitting into Minny’s slightly reworked O might have him needing a bit more time to get his feet back under him.

Calgary Roughnecks (4-6, 4-3)
Yeah Kaleb had a great game and yeah TK was back and just as good as ever, but are the Necks truly back? Tough to say full out. Like Rochester dumping Chicago the previous week, not sure Portland was the greatest gauge to get a handle on where these guys are right now. I really think the true test will be against a pretty motivated Colorado team this coming Friday night. And although Chugger’s still waiting in the wings trying to shake off those post concussion headaches, I gotta tell ya, I think Pat Campbell is doin’ just fine and so far has been as good a #1 tender in the league as Calgary could ask for. And I’ll admit, even though Mike Carnegie has impressed during his junior and now Major days with Brampton, I wasn’t 100% sold he was gonna cut it in the bigs. Well, I was sooooo wrong. Kid has been solid in the NLL and really one of Calgary’s most consistent guys in their own end (congrats on your first goal too Mike). Let’s just say if Carnegie lands a D spot on the all-rookie team I’m not gonna be too surprised. Some really nice stories shakin’ out in Cowtown lately.

Portland Lumberjax (3-7, 3-5)
That was definitely a big game to drop this past week. No other way to dice it up… that was the biggest L of the season for Portland. Not so much that is was the harshest beating they’ve taken, but to lose to Calgary with that three spot and tie breaker on the line, that was definitely one the Jax needed if they truly are gonna take a serious run at the title like Derek Keenan eluded to last week. And hey, I know exactly where Keenan’s coming from. What coach in their right mind is gonna admit defeat mid-season? If he had said anything else, sure the Jax management would wonder what the hell was up. And how the hell does he look his team in the face if he just told media, “Yeah, I’m lookin’ to trade half my roster away!” But I gotta think if Calgary offered him, and I’m just spit ballin’ here folks, Devan Wray, Peter McFetridge and a semi high pick, he’d be moving big Daws, especially with the Sting guys reverting back (or whatever the hell is supposed to be happening to them if the Sting keep that for sale sign in their yard in 09). They’ve got a bitch of a sked the rest of the way and think they’ll be extremely lucky to go .500 over that span. Think I mentioned it in previous weeks, but with San Jose (THREE TIMES!!!), Colorado, Philadelphia and Buffalo to close out the season, even the best teams in the L would have a helluva time lookin’ good through that war. I’m gonna guess and say that five wins will likely win you that four spot in the West, and with a slightly lighter second half, I think they still need to worry about a reinvigorated Rush team right on their ass. I still think that 1 spot will be a tight fight between San Jose and Colorado, two will be between Calgary and whoever drops out early in that race for first, and then fourth comes down to Edmonton and the Jax. Obviously you gotta give the edge to Keenan’s boys since their two up on the Rush, but that sked is bad news no matter how you look at it.

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