NLL Insider

With all the talk of what Craig Point will do next year and the history lesson we had last weekend, looking at the best and worst ever sophomore years in the NLL, this week we asked you guys which of last year’s pretty impressive rookie class would keep treading water and which ones would flounder a bit.

Jordan Hall seems to be the odds on favorite to continue taking his game to the next level, especially after his impressive play for the Mann finalist New Westminster Salmonbellies this past summer.

Anyways, after the jump, we broke down last year’s rookie class and what they might be capable of this winter. Also make sure to hit up this link, to see how this week’s poll shook-out.

Jordan Hall  New York Titans
Hall got the most love on the polls this week, and for good reason. Hall was considered the fave by a lot of people in the league for rook hardware, all the way up until Point was actually named the league’s best first timer. He followed it up with a solid summer with New West, falling a series short of winning the Mann. Oh yeah, he also won the MLL title with Rochester in 08. Hall was probably last year’s most versatile rookie and put in minutes for New York on both sides of the court. Hard to see him faltering at all this upcoming season.

Mike Carnegie  Calgary Roughnecks
Carnegie was a rook that definitely flew under the radar last year, but ended up being one of Calgary’s most important pure D guys from start to finish. The little hyped defender did what Hall couldn’t this summer, win his first Mann, playing an important role in Brampton’s own end. Look for Carnegie to again be relied on by the Necks heavily in 2009.

Merrick Thomson  Philadelphia Wings
Not only did Thomson have a solid year for the Wings, but he followed it up with an even hotter showing in the MLL, finishing behind just John Grant in the league scoring charts. With Jake Bergey, Jamie Rooney and Jason Crosbie gutted from Philly’s O, Thomson might have the best opportunity to up his game due to the Wings’ current situation on O. The skies the limit with Merrick.

Craig Point  Minnesota Swarm
Even though Point got his fair share of votes on both ends of this week’s poll, it’s still pretty tough to doubt a kid that was playing well beyond his years last winter just minutes into the season. Will not having Andy Secore on the floor hinder Point, or just give him even more opportunities to light it up?

Dane Dobbie  Calgary Roughnecks
Dobbie didn’t get as much a chance to show his stuff off like most guys listed in this rundown, but after his jaw droppin’ year with Coquitlam, that had him leading the WLA in scoring, you’d have to think the Necks will do everything they can to get him into 16 this winter. After only fitting into a handful of games in a fairly limited role last year, Dobbie easily has the most upside of any of last year’s rookie class.

Steve Hutchins  Edmonton Rush
Hutchins got a bit of love on the polls, and after a good summer in Brooklin, why not, right? Bob Hamley seems to have faith in him, and after his comments on Hutchins in recent media reports, you’d have to think the former Whitby Warrior will get a fair shake at landing a full-time gig in Edmonton this winter. With that said, it’ll be even harder to find a spot in Edmonton this year versus 08, so a solid training camp will be super important for Hutchins.

Frank Resetarits  San Jose Stealth
Resetarits had a decent first year as he continued to transition his game to the NLL, but fell a tad short of what most felt he’d do, especially considering San Jose traded away Callum Crawford, Andrew Burkholder and a 12th overall grab for him. On the positive side, Resetarits is still growing as a ball player in this league and should benefit from new head coach Jeff Dowling’s approach to the game. Expect a bigger soph season from Frank as the Stealth’s offense will no doubt be tweaked a bit.

Jamie Rooney  New York Titans
Interestingly, Rooney got more slump votes than top soph votes this week, which mighta been more due to Philly fans hating the fact they lost him to New York in the Sting Dispersal. Either way, there’s no denying that Rooney had a pretty slick first real rookie year in the league, after being bounced around a bit landing in Buffalo, Calgary and Arizona before going full-time in Philly. Should be interesting to see how he fits into the Titan’s O, but like he showed with the Wings last year, all he needs is the opportunity and he’ll more than likely produce. Rooney was also one of last year’s most clutch scoring rookies behind likely only Point and Hall.

Bobby McBride  Chicago Shamrox
Surprised a guy like McBride didn’t get more action on this week’s poll, considering he had a really impressive first season in Chicago last year. McBride’s up tempo style fits perfectly into Jamie Batley’s constant press style of ball, so expect more of the same from McBride this year. Don’t be surprised if he breaks the 100 loosie barrier either, cuz the kid is the definition of a hustler.

Tyler Codron  Portland Lumberjax
The fact that Codron got even less love than McBride in this thing just goes to show that your mainstream rep in this league is dictated a lot by where you play. Codron was not only Portland’s best rookie last year, he mighta been their best defender period too. The guy does it all on D and was given some of the toughest assignments every night out in 08. Not enough good things you could say about Tyler and look for him to have an even bigger second year in the bigs.

Pete Jacobs  Portland Lumberjax
Jacobs was voted as the guy you guys think will dip the most in 09. The youngest player in the league smashed any expectations most had for him and had a pretty decent first year in the NLL. But it appears you guys thought it was a bit of a fluke. Jacobs had an OK summer playing Jr. A for Akwesasne, but took a number of games to get back into the swing of things with the Indians. You gotta remember, Jacobs is still super young and will likely still be the youngest buck in the league next year again, so it’s definitely a bit early to write him off. Should be scary to see how he develops over the next four or five years.

Cory Conway  Portland Lumberjax
Conway will likely get a chance to see some serious minutes this year with Portland and after a solid summer with the Jr. Shamrocks, which included a serious Minto run, the expectations will be a lot higher on him versus just a year ago. With a full winter under his belt, look for Conway to maybe even double his digits from last year.

Last year’s rookie class was a pretty deep one that included more top ballers than the ones we looked at today. Got an opinion on how some of last year’s rooks will fair this year? Hit the boards and let us know.

Rate This Story:

(+11 rating, 3 votes)

 Loading ...