Iannucci is named MVP of NLL

May 15th, 2008 by Bob Chavez

Philly fan, you can stop holding your breath. The suspense is over with the announcement that Athan Iannucci is this season’s MVP of the National Lacrosse League.

Not that it was any big surprise. AI started the season with five goals and one assist in the Wings’ season-opening victory over Chicago and never took his foot off the gas pedal. He averaged just more than four goals and six points an outing in 2008 en route to scoring a league-record 71 goals. That broke the record of 61 set by Gary Gait in 2003 and we all know that if you’re knockin’ a Gait’s name off a perch in the NLL record book, you’re doing something special. Nooch was a big part of the Wings offense that led the league with 225 goals and a berth in the playoffs.

The playoff run ended earlier than the Wings and their fans would have liked, obviously, but today’s announcement can’t really surprise anyone. For most of the second half of the season, the MVP talk started and ended with Nooch. The down-to-earth big fella is a shooter who knows how to use his big frame to get into position and his stick skills to avoid checks of defenders and make the goalie move to create open shots for himself. It’s an award that’s well-deserved, so a tip of the cap to Nooch, the 2008 MVP of the National Lacrosse League.

Chavez is an avid lacrosse player in Rochester and a journalist for the Democrat and Chronicle as well as a longtime Inside Lacrosse contributor. Email him at bob.chavez@nllinsider.com or go to RochesterSports.com.

Rate This Story: