NLL Insider

Minnesota Swarm pure defender Nick Inch. (Photo: Dave Sanders)

Another new feature we’ll be running with during the 2009 season is our Weekend Warriors post, looking at guys that should make an impact in the upcoming weekend’s slate of games, but are a little less obvious than the typical top scorers or clutch tenders everyone already has scribbled down as impact ball players.

So, every week before the first ball gets fought for, we’ll drop the names we see having big weekends and who you should keep you eye on past the usual suspects, starting now…

Greg Peyser – New York Titans

Like we mentioned earlier this week, Peyser looked really impressive in the Florida Cup game. He was super athletic, gritty, all over the floor and even added a goal off a Casey Powell feed 30 seconds after his bro, Stephen, got his first NLL point. Don’t only keep your eye on Peyser this weekend against Boston, everything’s pointing to a big breakout season too.

Tom Johnson – San Jose Stealth

With Luke Wiles in TO and Gary Rosyski in Denver, expect Johnson, who finished 9th in WLA scoring this past summer, to get a lot more minutes and looks in 2009. One NLL GM told us this past off-season, “Boston really shoulda figured out a way to keep Johnson after drafting him in the dispersal draft, cuz Tom is one helluva player. That guys for real.” Don’t be surprised to see Johnson come outta Week 2 with upwards of five goals in the Stealth’s double this weekend.

Drew Westervelt – Philadelphia Wings

What a season opener for the UMBC grade. Westervelt was a huge positive in the Wings’ disappointing loss and was by far the most versatile of Philly’s forwards. Best part is, he was far from afraid to bang around in traffic and really put it all on the line on most of his shifts. Expect Westervelt to give Rochester’s D headaches for four full periods. Another trick wouldn’t be out of the question.

Phil Wetherup – Rochester Knighthawks

The last time Wetherup won a game in the NLL? It was the K’Hawks last regular season game during the 2007 season, and although Buffalo sat a few of their big guns, Wetherup looked good on 49 slick stops in the win. It sounds like Wetherup will get the start over the newly signed Derek Collins while Pat O’Toole gets back to 100% after tweaking his knee. Without a big game from Wetherup (or Collins), Rochester can forget about the W in Week 2.

Bill McGlone – Toronto Rock

You’d have to think that McGlone is the guy just ahead of, the yet again benched, Ryan Benesch, in the Rock’s depth charts. McGlone looked decent in last week’s win, but definitely nothing spectacular, missing a couple real good chances on Matt Vinc that mid-season have gotta get buried. Expect McGlone to bounce back against Buffalo at the ACC on Saturday night, a team he poached two against during Chicago’s 13-7 loss late last season. But if not, you can bet that Benesch is ready to take his spot. Interestingly, Benesch flipped Buffalo for ten points in two Toronto wins in 2008.

Nick Inch – Minnesota Swarm

The boys on Minny call him the ‘Vanilla Gorilla’, while Ryan Powell probably called him a major pain in the ass after getting handled by Inch for much of the Swarm’s 11-7 win over Portland last week. He’s not flashy, not gonna score many if any goals or even assists, but man is the opposition ever gonna be in for a beating with Inch on the floor. Look for Inch to get some tough assignments this weekend against the Stealth, and look for career loosie numbers by the end of the year too. Even with Cousins, Hill and Sullivan all potentially back in the lineup, it’s gonna be a tough call not to include Nick on game-days this year.

Joe Smith – Buffalo Bandits

With Kyle Laverty in Rochester and Pat McCready on the shelf, Joe Smith’s definitely a name to look for this year in Buffalo’s always solid back-end. Leading up to the season, many felt Smith was one of the best looking defenders in the Bandits’ camp, and after a decent start against the Wings last week, expect more of the same from the Bandits’ lone American full-timer. It’ll be tough to get much mainstream mention playing behind some of the more high profile names on Buffalo’s D, but Smith should contribute consistently this year no matter who’s watching.

Matt Lyons – Boston Blazers

Boston’s obviously gonna be looking for more than just Dan Dawson lighting it up, and one of the most likely to fill that role is sophomore Matt Lyons. Lyons looked pretty good in his pro debut last year in Rochester and followed that up with an even more impressive run with the Barrie Lakeshores in his first MSL season (23G, 19A, 42Pts). GM and Head Coach Tom Ryan drafted Lyons outta Orangeville before the Blazers took a nap in 2008, but made sure he scooped him up again in the dispersal draft. Lyons is one of five current or former Northmen currently on the Blazers’ 23-man roster.

Rate This Story:

(+21 rating, 5 votes)

 Loading ...