Fan Poll: Who’ll Big it Up in ‘09

September 29th, 2008 by Paul Tutka

Right now at Inside Lacrosse, we’re already starting to do a bunch of prep work in anticipation of the ‘09 NLL season, with our preview issue in the works weeks, if not months ago.

And like every year, the staff is divided on where teams should be ranked from top to bottom. We keep having to tell Jenner to stop logging in votes for the Anaheim Storm, but that’s just the tip of the ol’ iceberg.

Whether you dig the rankings or not, it’s basically carved in stone that any sports preview mag has to have ‘em in there. That’s life, like it or not. Seriously, it’s written down somewhere.

So, with that said…

What ‘08 non-playoff team will make the biggest impact in ‘09? We included Boston in there too, just to work some of you up so the crew has something to laugh at again this week. Hopefully some of the posters had their prescriptions filled over the weekend, or at least found a hobby. NLL Insider is not responsible for any heart attacks or nervous breakdowns, but might be able to find it in the budget to ship out a box of tissues to help you wipe those tears away.

Onto the stuff that matters…

You’ve got Toronto, who’s added guys like Jason Crosbie, Craig Conn, Stephen Hoar, Luke Wiles, Mike Fleming and will be getting Chad Thompson back too. The buzz around TO this year is through the roof compared to the last couple seasons.

Rochester obviously lost John Grant for the year but added one of the nastiest pure D guys in Kyle Laverty to make-up for the loss of Regy Thorpe, who made the move upstairs. Just a reminder, the last time Rochester lost Grant in 2004 to that initial ACL injury, Shawn Williams stepped up and had an MVP calibre season, getting the Hawks into the post-season with an 8-8 record. Yeah, they bombed out against Buffalo in the first round of the playoffs, but a first round failure is better than last winter’s non-postseason year, right? Can someone, maybe even Willy again, do what he did in ‘04? Maybe it’ll even be pickup Aaron Wilson?

Chicago poured it on thicker than anyone to close-out ‘08, and with the addition of Anthony Cosmo and a pool of solid draft picks, as well as the return of Chris Panos, can they finally crash the post-season party? How good can Cody Jacobs be this year with 16 full games under his belt?

And then out west, will the completely reworked Edmonton Rush, who’ve added some big names and good prospects over the summer, be able to challenge for a spot? Some we’ve talked to think they might even be good enough already to go well past just simply grabbing one of the last spots out west. Has Bob Hamley made the moves that will make them a contender less than a year after his arrival?

And then you’ve got Boston (technically a non-playoff team), who not only had Dan Dawson fall into their laps, but have also done a great job of putting together an expansion team that definitely will bring that trendy, high tempo, in your face, non-stop action, transition game that buried a lot of teams last year. Plus they got the MSL’s MVP mannin’ their cage, former Rocker, Mike Poulin.