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 It was a great start to the playoffs last night as Philly gave the Bandits a great battle and it looks like we’r in for more of the same tonight and tomorrow.

New York at Minnesota. Although New York was the hottest team in the league during the second half of the season they were 0-2 against the Swarm. Their first loss was way back on February 8^th and was their low point of the season. Minnesota built a 12-0 lead and cruised to a 16-9 lead. Their second loss was by a score of 12-9 in Minnesota and was New York’s only loss in the last seven games.  Minnesota on the other hand was a disappointing 4-6 in their last 10 games.  Although I really like Adam Mueller (my pick for coach of the year) has done with the Titans this season my gut says that Dewey Jacobs and his Swarm are going to prevail tonight. I’m taking the Swarm.

Calgary at Colorado. The Rocky Mountain teams have has turned this into quite the rivalry. Both of these teams have suffered with key injuries this season. Colorado lost Dan Carey and Josh Sims while Calgary missed Tracey Kelusky and Steve Dietrich for much of the season. At times this season the Mammoth have looked like the elite team (at home) that won the cup two years ago and at times they have looked very ordinary (on the road). Calgary looked like they were flushing the season down the toilet about a month ago before demolishing Edmonton at home to start a three game winning streak in which they finally looked like the team that many of us thought they would be. If I’m Colorado, I’m concerned about Josh Sanderson. He’s a big game player who has yet to have a breakout game with his new club.  If Calgary can shut down Gavin Prout they win the game. Although the prevailing mood around the NLL is that Colorado is in big trouble tonight. I’m going to go against the grain and take Colorado here. Gee Nash will have a big game and the Mammoth will rally around their sudden underdog role and ride the crowd to a victory.

 Portland at San Jose. First of all what’s with the league awards and Anthony Cosmo. Can you believe that he has never won a weekly award in his NLL career? Last week he held the Mammoth to 6 goals on 54 shots and still received no honors. While I’m at it, I can’t think of anyone who has shown me that they deserve the Defenseman of the Year award more than San Jose’s Eric Martin.  Although he sometimes plays reckless this guy is tough, athletic, and a monster on loose balls. I don’t know how many times I’ve seen him trapped by two or more players in a corner only to emerge with the ball to start a fast break – and he has decent scoring touch.  I bet you can guess whom I’m picking for this game. You’re wrong.  Portland also has a few weapons of their own by the names of Dan Dawson and Brodie Merrill. The last time they met was a 12-11 overtime victory for Portland and where Dawson had 9 points and Merrill had 2 goals, an assist and 13 loose balls. What is even scarier is that coach Keenan has at times held these guys back this season. Last year he felt than Merrill suffered from burnout and he wasn’t going to let that happen this year. Now there’s no holding back. Dawson and Merrill will be the difference as Portland wins another close one.

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