NLL Insider

Yeah Geoff Snider is the unofficial pro fight champ right now, but if that’s the only aspect of his game you see on the court, you’re missing out large on one of the NLL’s most high impact guys in the game right now.

He’s also by far the league’s most entertaining non-offensive guy too, getting fans outta their seats as many times during a game as John Grant or Dan Dawson do.

Snider is also probably the lone non-O player that team’s totally change the way they play in order to counter his presence.

Due to his absolute dominance at the face-off circle, the Buffalo Bandits all but gave up on even trying to win the draw against Philly last winter and simply had guys looking to play D right off the hop versus looking to bury a loosie. Other teams soon followed the Bandits lead in 2008.

The Philadelphia two-way work horse combines brains and just full-out brute strength at the circle, matching the single season record for FO wins last winter with his 318 (tying former teammate Peter Jacobs‘ record).

Snider also broke Jim Veltman’s single season loosie record last year by a full game’s worth of pickups, with 244 LB’s versus Veltman’s previous best of 226 during the 2006 season.

The former Burnaby Laker Junior stud also sets a tone on the floor like few others in the game, and we’re talking with his gloves on, not off.

His performance at last year’s All-Star Game in Edmonton was one of the most “real” showings the mid-season showcase has seen since Jay Jalbert and Glenn Clark almost threw-down in battle in 2004. If everyone played with as much heart and tenacity as Snider did this year at Rexall Place, the NLL would easily own the best ASG of any pro league on the planet.

Snider followed up his impressive NLL season with an equally impressive one playing for the Denver Outlaws in the MLL, finishing third in league ground ball numbers and also scoring a slick game winner against the San Fran Dragons straight off, you guessed, a face-off win.

Interesting fact: Since 1992, when the league first started “officially” tracking loose ball numbers, Snider is one of only four players to lead the league in that category. The other three being Veltman, John Tavares and Brodie Merrill. And for those that simply point to Snider as being a face-off guy when trying to explain his off the charts loosie numbers, Snider is obviously the first “FO” guy in the NLL or MILL to ever lead the league in that stat. Snider also currently holds almost a whole LB more per game than Veltman’s career end total, averaging 13.44 LB per game to Veltman’s 12.54. If Snider plays the same 219 total games that Veltman did, which is definitely a possibility, he’d smash Veltman’s final LB total (2747) with almost 3000 career loosies.

Does Snider belong in the NLL Insider Top 50? Hit the boards and let us know what your Top 50 looks like heading into the 2009 NLL season…

#50 Matt Roik, San Jose Stealth
#49 Jon Sullivan, Minnesota Swarm
#48 Billy Dee Smith, Buffalo Bandits
#47 Steve Toll, Rochester Knighthawks
#46 Jarett Park, New York Titans
#45 Bruce Murray, Colorado Mammoth
#44 Shawn Evans, Rochester Knighthawks
#43 Peter Lough, Toronto Rock
#42 Matt Vinc, New York Titans
#41 Jeff Shattler, Calgary Roughnecks
#40 Craig Point, Minnesota Swarm
#39 Scott Ranger, Calgary Roughnecks
#38 Brian Langtry, Colorado Mammoth
#37 Sean Pollock, Minnesota Swarm
#36 Jake Bergey, Boston Blazers
#35 Pat O’Toole, Rochester Knighthawks
#34 Kyle Sweeney, Philadelphia Wings
#33 Luke Wiles, Toronto Rock
#32 Ryan Boyle, New York Titans
#31 Chris White, Buffalo Bandits
#30 Jordan Hall, New York Titans
#29 Shawn Nadelen, Philadelphia Wings
#28 Cam Woods, Toronto Rock
#27 Mike Accursi, Buffalo Bandits
#26 Dan Carey, Colorado Mammoth
#25 Pat Maddalena, New York Titans
#24 Andy Secore, Edmonton Rush
#23 Ryan Ward, Minnesota Swarm
#22 Tracey Kelusky, Calgary Roughnecks
#21 Josh Sanderson, Calgary Roughnecks
#20 Shawn Williams, Rochester Knighthawks
#19 Blaine Manning, Toronto Rock
#18 Nick Patterson, Minnesota Swarm
#17 Eric Martin, San Jose Stealth
#16 Scott Evans, Rochester Knighthawks
#15 Scott Self, Edmonton Rush
#14 Anthony Cosmo, Boston Blazers
#13 Geoff Snider, Philadelphia Wings

Hit this link for NLL Insider’s Top 50 archive and keep checkin’ back every week as we countdown the top 50 best in the pro game, with #1 being named just before the NLL season kicks off.

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