NLL Insider

Was Matt Disher's Week 2 enough to land him in the Trophy Case Chase? (Photo: Robert Rosenberg)

Casey Powell continues to be pretty much everyone’s front runner for the MVP nod coming outta Week 2.

He’s killing the scoring charts and is on pace to own pretty much every single season O scoring stat in 2009.

Who else is in the mix for the four major pieces of pro hardware (click here for the rookie rundown and here for the weekly studs)? Find out, after the jump.

GOALTENDER

FAVORITES 

Bob Watson Toronto Rock
Watson again allowed the Rock to stay in a game that their O definitely wasn’t shining in, with fans thinking back to last year’s non-playoff, little-scoring, off-floor drama filled run. Whipper actually probably looked better and had more to do in Florida, but still did enough to stay in the front runners pool.

Nick Patterson Minnesota Swarm
After sitting out last week in place of backup Kevin Croswell, Patterson didn’t miss a step in his 2009 debut, holding the usually potent San Jose Stealth offense to just four even-strength goals. Minny only once held opponents to single digit scoring last year, already doing it twice in 09 between Croswell and Patterson.

Matt Disher Portland Lumberjax
We included Disher last week more or less cuz there weren’t too many active keepers available to pick from coming outta Week 1. This week Disher showed he still has the skills to pay the bills in two strong showings against Colorado. Had some super huge clutch saves to allow the to Jax go on a 12-1 run on Saturday. Coulda plugged Chugger in here too.

MAYBE

Kenny Montour Buffalo Bandits
Montour had maybe his best ever NLL showcase in Toronto on Saturday night, stoning and frustrating Toronto forwards to a paltry six goals. We had Mike Thompson in here last week after a good game against Philly, but if the two Bandit keepers keep splitting time, can they win the keep nod with only 8 starts apiece?

LONG SHOT

Brandon Miller Philadelphia Wings
B Miller was simply awesome in the Wings’ huge win over the Rochester Knighthawks, challenging Hawks defenders at the top of his crease and then coming up with clutch stop after clutch stop. But will the Wings’ “backup” get the nod ahead of Blazer over the long haul? He’ll need minutes if he’s gonna be considered in 09.

DEFENDER

FRONT RUNNERS

Andrew McBride Calgary Roughnecks
Man was the Necks’ D deadly on the weekend. They came out as advertised and could be the most in your face D in the West this year, posing all kinds of problems for most teams in 09. And McBride led the pack, playing tough as nails in his own end and pushing the pace on Calgary’s impressive as hell press.

Chris White Buffalo Bandits
White was one of the few positives on D in a Buffalo win that really hinged on the clutch tending of Kenny Montour. He manhandled a ton of guys in the Rock’s much bigger O, versus last year, but will likely have to get his boys to keep the inside way tighter if he wants to stay on the top shelf of the hardware count.

Ryan Cousins Minnesota Swarm
Outside of a brain cramp of a third period, across the board, against San Jose, Cousins returned to the floor in Minnesota and led the D to one of the team’s best goals against wins in recent years. With two DOTY nods in two years, Cousins comes into 09 as an easy front runner.

MAYBE

Ian Hawksbee Edmonton Rush
Hawksbee was all over the place in the OT loss to Calgary and was a big reason why the Rush held the Necks to just three goals in the third and fourth quarters. He’s probably behind both Scott Self and Rory Glaves on the D depth chart, but Hawksbee was a beast out there on Saturday night no matter where people rank him.

LONG SHOT

Regy Thorpe Rochester Knighthawks
A couple months in a suit doesn’t seem to have hindered Thorpe’s game all that much, and although a defender of the year nod at this point in his career is unlikely, few can argue that Thorpe had a pretty good game on Saturday. With 10 loosies, unmatched leadership and 7 FO wins against Snider, Thorpe had a nice “return” to the court.

TRANSITION

FRONT RUNNERS

Scott Stewart Portland Lumberjax
The league gave him the weekly nod last week while we snuck him in with our mention of Peter Morgan, and Stewart again proved last week against Colorado, in both the W and the L, that he’s coming to play in 2009 and you better not get in his way. He might be the most athletic Canuck out there this year.

Brodie Merrill Portland Lumberjax
Merrill and Stewart are just two of a number of guys on the Jax this year that have looked really slick in transition, but what a game by Merrill in the win over Colorado!! 19 loosies, solid in his own end, three points, and then calling out Rich Catton off Colorado’s bench and taking a decision while sticking up for teammate Ryan Powell.

Geoff Snider Philadelphia Wings
Snider again came out with guns a blazin’ last week and did just about everything outside of strapping on the mattresses and taking a spot in the Wings’ cage. At this pace, he could even be up for the MVP nod at year’s end. And in 09’s first title fight, Snider dropped contender Troy Bonterre with a blow right on the beak.

MAYBE

Kyle Sweeney Philadelphia Wings
He might be labelled as a defender on nll.com, but Sweeney truly is one of the game’s top offensive defenders and showed why on Saturday night at the Blue Cross. 2 goals, 2 helpers and his 14 looseballs was one of the main difference makers in the Wings big win.

LONG SHOT

Jeff Moleski Calgary Roughnecks
For those that still only remember Jeff Moleski as the guy that gave Tim O’Brien all he could handle a number of years back, you’re missing out on one helluva player. Moleski looked so good in both Calgary W’s and was huge at both ends of the court for ‘em too. He’s on pace to smash his loosie career #’s and could be a chart topper come mid-April.

MVP

FRONT RUNNERS

Casey Powell New York Titans
There’s no stopping Powell so far this year as CP rocked the house in Jersey (all 100 of ‘em) as the Titans evened up their season at one apiece. Although still pretty early, his points per game average after two has him smashing most O records including AI’s 71 from last year. Easy MVP fave right now.

Mark Steenhuis Buffalo Bandits
If Powell is an easy pick for an MVP two weeks in, Steenhuis is no doubt just as easy a pick for the bridesmaid spot. As Buffalo’s O struggled to get much production, Mark lit the Rock up for a hat-trick and still currently leads The Money Ballers as this year’s most clutch ball player. His shoes are orange? Never noticed.

Josh Sanderson Calgary Roughnecks
This third spot in the front runners coulda gone to a number of guys, but it’s hard not to wanna talk about Shooter’s weekend as Calgary ran he table 2-0. He’s really helped solidify Calgary’s O and even buried the game winner against San Jose. He mighta not scored five, but his impact on O was pretty unmatched in Week 2.

MAYBE

Gary Gait Rochester Knighthawks
Leading into the half, think a lot of people thought Gait mighta even been flirting with ten markers by the time the final buzzer sounded, but guess five is an “OK” return to the highest level of lacrosse too, right? He definitely played some “selective” shifts depending on the situation on the rug, but come on, he still lit up five!!

LONGSHOT

Kevin Ross Minnesota Swarm
There is no way, absolutely no way, Ross wins an MVP, but how can you possibly deny the start this once written off kid is having. Ross leads the Swarm in scoring and owns an impressive .286 shooting %. He might not be a Secore replacement, but the game he’s brought to Minny has their O looking just as good.

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