NLL Insider

Some of the Insiders already broke down the games for you, for this weekend’s playoff match-ups. Check out the takes from Paul Tutka, Ty Pilson and Tom Ryan.

So with this post I’m skipping the stats and bringing you the thoughts of the NLL coaches and GMs as we look forward to the first round of the 2008 NLL Playoffs.

Schedule of Divisional Semifinal Playoff Games (All Times Eastern)

Philadelphia at Buffalo – Fri, 7:30 PM

“They’re very athletic and they have tremendous offensive players,” said Buffalo head coach and GM Darris Kilgour of Philadelphia. The Wings finished the regular season with the most goals of any NLL team, averaging 14 goals per game.

“They push the ball very well and they get a lot of breaks off the bench… They’re a very rounded team. I think they’re going to try and play up-tempo against us, and we’re going to try and slow it down against them. It should be a very good battle to see who’s style is going to prevail.”

“We really want to slow them down as much as we can. We want to make it a five-on-five game… It’s really going to be about us controlling ourselves and making sure the guys on the 2-on-1s are the correct guys. We might even pull off on a 2-on-1 if we have two defenders going down. So, we’re going to be very careful with how we transition.”

“It’s a great rivalry, it’s good for the league and it’s good for the fans.”

“The last game we had 18,000,” added Kilgour of the crowd and benefit of playing at home where they’re 7-2 this season. The Wings are 3-5 on the road. ”If you come to a Bandits’ game, you see there are a lot of painted faces, orange wigs and jerseys. It’s just a tremendous atmosphere. And to hear the chants going on during the game and the wave, and all that stuff. Obviously we’ve been playing better at home than on the road this year.”

“It’s going to be absolutely huge for us to have the home crowd behind us.”

“It’s obviously great to be in the playoffs, that’s why we all play – for the championship,” said Philadelphia head coach Dave Huntley. “We were fortunate to beat them at our place and they put it to us pretty together at their place. So it’s the rubber match. We know our guys are looking forward to the challenge.”

Philadelphia is led by the regular season scoring leader, Athan Iannucci. They’re getting secondary scoring from Jake Bergey, and rookie forwards Merrick Thomson and Jamie Rooney. They’ll dominate the face-offs with Geoff Snider. Buffalo will look to John Tavares, Mark Steenhuis and Mike Accursi to carry the bulk of their scoring and hope for secondary production from Roger Vyse, Kevin Dostie and Cory Bomberry.

New York at Minnesota - 8:00 PM

“It’s been a good year. I think the guys did a great job, especially in the second half, of the season” said New York head coach Adam Mueller of his team’s play. “If anybody had told me when we were 1-4 that we would have to go 9-2 to make the playoffs, I don’t know what our shot would have been, but that’s what we ended up doing and the guys have just been building our character all season.”

“Minnesota’s played great both games (against us, 16-9 and 12-9 Minnesota wins). I think the key for us is getting a good start and just getting some confidence against them. They’re a talented team on both ends of the floor. We’re definitely going to have our hands full.”

“We’re not taking New York lightly at all, even though we’ve had some success in the past,” said Minnesota GM Marty O’Neill. “They are the hottest team in the league. Everybody’s just getting geared down… We just want to make sure we play to our best capacity and let the chips fall where they may.”

“The guys certainly have something to play for. A lot of the guys have been here for all of four years. They want to do something more this year – for ourselves, for our fans. I think there’s a lot of people out there that don’t want to give us any credit just because we’re a young team. But some of these guys have grown up in the NLL, they’ve been in it since they’ve been 19 year’s old. It’s time for them to prove they’re veteran players and get a playoff win under their belt.”

“I think we picked the right players and they buy into the systems,” said Mueller, giving credit to his scouts and assistant coaches for being able to develop a large contingent of American field lacrosse players. “I believe the players believed they could make the playoffs this year. Now it’s a new season and they want more. They don’t want it to end.”

New York comes into this game 9-2 over their last 11 games, and are considered the league’s hottest team right now, led offensively by Casey Powell, Pat Maddalena and Jordan Hall, Ryan Boyle and Mike McLellan. Minnesota also has a balanced attack featuring Ryan Ward, Andy Secore and Craig Point, Sean Pollock and Chad Culp. The Swarm are a solid 6-2 at home this year.

Calgary at Colorado - 9:00 PM

“I think it’s been a pretty good rivalry over the last three or four years,” said Colorado coach Bob McMahon. “We’ve had three real good games with them this year, and we’re anticipating a fourth”.

“We’ve started to play better of late, and that’s always a good sign, but we know we’re headed into a bee hive in Colorado,” said Roughnecks’ GM Kurt Silcott. “They’ve got a great team, and they’re going to have 18,000 fans there, so we know we have our work cut out for us.”

“Colorado’s always one of the top teams in the West. We’re looking at that first game of the year where we went right down to the wire, a real close game. We think that’s the type of game it’s going to be this weekend. We’re just hopeful we can get some bounces at the end.”

“We’re feeling real good about they way we’ve been playing lately, and hope we can keep it going. It’s huge,” added Silcott about having Tracy Kelusky and Steve Dietrich back. “We’ve got a lot of character in the room.”

“I think Josh Sims is definitely out,” said Colorado’s Bob McMahon about his line-up. “I think he’s at least two or three weeks away. We’re anticipating not having Dan (Carey) again this weekend (either). We’re just going to have to get some better efforts from some of the other players.”

Carey has been dealing with post-concussion symptoms while Sims has a high-ankle sprain. The Mammoth still have some of the league’s best transition players in Nenad Gajic and Nick Carlson, and will be looking for offensive production from Brian Langtry, Jamie Shewchuk and Gavin Prout. Calgary has Kelusky, Curt Malawsky, Kaleb Toth, Scott Ranger and newly acquired Josh Sanderson.

Portland at San Jose – Sun, 6:00 PM

“We treated that game as a playoff game,” said San Jose head coach Walt Christianson of their last game – a win over Colorado to win the West. “I thought we played really well. I actually think the last two or three game we’ve played really well.”

“I think it’s going to be a great game. We’ve lost the last two games to Portland at home. We’re aware of that, and they’re aware of that… We’ve made some adjustments to our offense and some adjustments to our defense. It’s going to be anyone’s game.”

“We have some confidence,” said Portland GM and head coach Derek Keenan. “We think we really played well over the last five or six weeks, even in Buffalo last week without our full line-up… It’s obviously going to be a tough game against these guys. We’re extremely evenly matched.”

“What you have to do is make that next step,” said Christianson of the post-season. He mentioned how Chris Hall’s article ‘Focus Time in the NLL’ was a great insight into playoff lacrosse. “Basically you have to execute better. Everyone has to be prepared on and off the floor.”

“We know that they’re going to focus on (Dan) Dawson, so we’re going to need some secondary scoring,” added Keenan. “Playoffs is all about guys raising the level of their game. Most of the guys that are competitors in this league and belong in this league, will raise their level of play in the playoffs. That’s what we need to do on Sunday.”

“We’ve actually won in their building twice,” stated Keenan. “And I think it’s a similar circumstance for us. We really went in there needing to win those games to put us in a playoff situation… This is obviously the same situation. You win or you go home.”

Portland’s offense will run through Dan Dawson. They’ll hope for secondary scoring from Derek Malawsky, Ryan Powell and Peter Morgan, rookies Pete Jacobs and Cory Conway. San Jose will look for the scoring trio of Jeff Zywicki, Colin Doyle and Gary Rosyski to be a force. Cam Sedgwick should also be called upon, along with rookie Frank Resetarits.

The ‘Jax won the West two seasons ago and lost in the first round. They’ll look to reverse that scenario this weekend. Portland won 12-11 in overtime when these two last met in San Jose on April 28.

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