NLL Insider

Week 12 of the NLL schedule features five games, plus an NLL All-Star Game and skills competition.

Schedule (All times Eastern)

Friday, March 14
New York at Toronto - 7:30 PM
Chicago at Minnesota - 8:00 PM
San Jose at Philadelphia - 8:00 PM
Colorado at Calgary - 9:30 PM

Saturday, March 15
Rochester at Edmonton – 6:00 PM

Sunday, March 16
All-Star Game at Edmonton – 4:00 PM

Coaches’ comments for Friday’s games after the jump.

New York at Toronto - 7:30 PM

New York (4-5) travels to Toronto (5-3) to kick off this week’s NLL action. The Titans have already matched their numbers of wins last season, but now they’re looking for an opportunity to make playoffs. And to do it, they’ll likely need a win on Friday.

“The guys are playing well. We’re playing really well in spots,” said New York head coach Adam Mueller. “This one’s a huge one for us. If we win this one we get to .500, then we’ve got a shot at making a run to playoffs.”

“We’re in a similar position as New York,” said Toronto head coach Glenn Clark. “It’s so tight in the East, every game is important especially against Eastern Division teams… we’re right in the mix of being in or out of the playoffs. We’re both in the same boat. It’d be a huge win to keep striving towards playoffs.”

Toronto (5-3) is fourth in the division, just one game ahead of Rochester (4-4) and 1.5 games ahead of sixth-place New York (4-5). Philadelphia (6-1) leads the East, with Buffalo (7-4) and Minnesota (6-3) tied for second.

The Titans jumped out to an 8-3 half-time lead the first time these two met back in January, but ended up losing 14-10 on the strength of Blaine Manning’s seven points and Ryan Benesch’s four goals. However, Benesch has collected just five goals in his seven other games played this season.

When questioned earlier, Clark said he hoped for Benesch to break through again. “He’s got too much talent not to,” said Clark.

Toronto has been led offensively by Blaine Manning and Josh Sanderson who’ve combined for close to forty-percent of the team’s goals this season. Bob Watson has been stellar in net for the Rock and boasts the league’s second-best save percentage.

New York’s been led by All-Star Casey Powell, but has also received strong offensive contributions from Pat Maddalena, Jordan Hall and Mike McLellan. Ryan Boyle has converted on just seven percent of his shots.

New York’s last game was two weeks ago, a 16-12 loss to Philadelphia. Prior to that loss, the Titans had put up consecutive wins over Buffalo, Chicago and Rochester. Toronto is riding a two-game win streak with victories over Buffalo and most recently, a 9-7 win over Calgary on Mar. 1.

Chicago at Minnesota - 8:00 PM

After starting out undefeated at 6-0, Minnesota (6-3) has dropped their last three road games and currently sit in a tie for second with Buffalo, who own the tie-breaker thanks to two wins over the Swarm that included an 11-7 win last weekend.

“The road wasn’t too kind to us the past month,” said Minnesota head coach Duane Jacobs. “We’re pretty banged up right now.”

Chicago (1-6) hasn’t had much luck to start, but GM and head coach Jamie Batley feels they can turn it around. The ‘Rox are last in the Eastern Division with their only win back in January over Edmonton. They had a bye last weekend, after coming off an 18-8 loss to Rochester.

“We have nine games left, and we’re looking for a win this weekend,” said Chicago head coach Jamie Batley. “We’re looking to turn it around this weekend.”

Chicago was involved with the four-way trade that saw them add goaltender Matt Roik in exchange for Brandon Miller. But they also lost Lindsay Plunkett to Edmonton in that deal, and he had 22 points. Although that was a team-high, it ranked him outside the Top 50 in league scoring, highlighting some of Chicago’s issues this season.

As for whether Matt Roik is ready. “He’s looked good, a little rusty,” said Batley. The former Wings’ starter will likely be tested often. Chicago’s given up close to 15 goals per game on average through seven games this season.

Nick Patterson will get the start in net for Minnesota, and the next night as well for the Eastern Division NLL All-Star team. Minnesota’s led by Ryan Ward. Minny’s Ryan Cousins and Chicago’s Scott Self will also play in Sunday’s All-Star game.

It does not look like Minnesota’s All-Star Andy Secore will play this weekend. Darren Halls, Mark Miyashita and more are injured too, but the Swarm will welcome back Andrew Biers and start new players recently dealt for.

San Jose at Philadelphia - 8:00 PM

San-Jose (5-3) versus Philadelphia (6-1) may feature one of the West’s top teams against the Eastern Division’s top team, but Stealth head coach Walt Christianson is playing the underdog card.

“It’s obviously going to be a tough task for us going into Philadelphia. They’re playing really good lacrosse,” said Christianson. “We’re definitely the underdog going in there, but I think it will be fun and I think we’ll be up to the task.”

San Jose comes into the match on a three game win-streak with victories over Chicago, Edmonton and most recently, a 12-8 win over Colorado to tie for first in the Western Division.

“It was a major character win for us,” said Christianson of last week’s win. “The kids we have are not only good athletes, they’re quality players with experience in those type of situations… We’re really happy to see our young players step up, and obviously for our veterans to lead us too.”

This game is an opportunity to watch two excellent offenses and the league’s top two goal scorers. Philly’s Athan Iannucci has a league-best 35 goals in just seven games and San Jose’s Jeff Zywicki is tied for second in the league with 26 goals in eight games.

San Jose’s Colin Doyle and Luke Wiles, plus Philly’s Jake Bergey and Merrick Thomson are also all Top 20 in league goal scoring. San Jose also features rookie Frank Resetarits who is coming off a hat-trick game versus Colorado and Philadelphia rookie Jamie Rooney has scored some clutch goals for the Wings.

The Wings will also add AJ Shannon into the mix. “It doesn’t seem fair,” said Clark in last week’s conference call. Philadelphia is 5-0 at home and averaging over 15 goals a game.

“One of the things that’s interesting about San Jose is they have a nice mix of young athletes learning the game and veterans capable of teaching the game,” said Philly head coach Dave Huntley. “They look somewhat similar to us in the way they’re configured.”

“It’s kind of interesting that our teams are so similar,” agreed Christianson, noting both teams also have great goaltending with Rob Blasdell in Philadelphia and Anthony Cosmo in San Jose.

West vs East: The Stealth have won two games in the Eastern Division, over New York and Chicago, while the Wings defeated Colorado 15-13 one month ago.

Colorado at Calgary - 9:30 PM

“We’re looking forward to a good battle with Colorado,” said Calgary GM Kurt Silcott, of the Colorado-Calgary game. “We know that right now Colorado is on a bit of a slide so they’re going to come in really motivated to play well. We’re expecting a real good game against them on Friday night.”

Colorado (5-3) is on a three game slide and Calgary (4-6) will be gunning to close to within one game of the Mammoth who are tied with San Jose for the Western Division’s best record.

The Roughnecks earned a 15-12 win over Portland last weekend in front of a packed house thanks to the franchise’s free-ticket give-away.

“We’re hoping we’ll have a nice size crowd for our game against Colorado,” said Silcott, noting he hopes sales pick-up as game time nears and the franchise leverages last week’s marketing campaign.

Calgary’s Tracy Kelusky scored six points in a triumphant return from injury and Lewis Ratcliff continued his steady production. Ratcliff now sits third overall in league scoring. Goaltender Steve Dietrich will again be out so Pat Campbell will again start for Calgary.

Colorado is looking to get back on the winning track after losses to Philadelphia, Calgary and most recently to San Jose who they lost to this past weekend, 12-8. In their last two games, Colorado’s offense led by All-Stars Gavin Prout and Dan Carey has been held to under 10 goals each game.

“We don’t want to panic,” said Colorado’s head coach Bob McMahon. “Everyone’s a really good team in this league. I just think you have to play your best every night. If you’re not bringing your ‘A’ game, you’re going to be in an awful lot of trouble.”

“It’s just the nature of the beast in this league that every one’s a very good team,” added McMahon. “We have to be ready to play Calgary.”

It is the third and final meeting between the two clubs, so it is yet another important game in the Division standings. The Mammoth opened the season with a 10-9 win over the Roughnecks but then lost 12-9 in late Feb. Calgary’s Nolan Heavenor was named Game MVP the last time these two met.

In Edmonton

There’s lots of action in Edmonton this weekend, with Rochester (4-4) against Edmonton (1-6) on Saturday, immediately followed by the NLL All-Star skills competition. Note: The game starts at 4:00 PM ET. Tickets printed prior to confirmation of television scheduling have an incorrect time.

“We’re playing the champs and I know full well who they are and what they’ve done in the past so it’s going to be a real challenge for us,” said Edmonton head coach Bob Hamley. “Coming off a big win in Portland, we’re excited to get back at it.”

The Rush are coming off a 9-7 victory over Portland and will add to their line-up their leading scorer Mike Accursi who took the morning warm-up but missed their last game due to a flu. Lindsay Plunkett, Chicago’s leading scorer who Edmonton recently acquired in a trade, will also dress for the Rush.

Rochester comes into this game with a 18-8 win over Chicago and are led by NLL All-Stars John Grant Jr., Scott Evans and Steve Toll. Like Edmonton, the Knighthawks currently sit outside of a playoff position. Winning this game is key for both teams to stay in the playoff race.

The NLL All-Star skills competition will feature a Fastest Shot, Accuracy and Trick-Shot competition.

On Sunday, Edmonton will also host the NLL All-Star Game.

Coverage

All NLL games can be seen live online via B2 Networks broadband broadcast for $7 US per game. Click on the ‘Live Games’ link on NLL Insider to catch the feeds.

If you purchase the Rochester-Edmonton game via B2 Networks, you’ll also be able to watch the All-Star skills competition immediately following the game. That key cross-Divisional game begins at 6:00 PM ET, Saturday.

The 2008 NLL All-Star Game will be shown on Rogers Sportsnet West in Canada on tape-delay at 6:00PM ET, Sunday. It will be aired nationally in the U.S. at the same time on Altitude DirecTV (channel 644) and DISH Network (channel 410).

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