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With the Stealth on the road last week and no blog from me..I think it’s time for a refresher. Obama is our new Pres, pink is the new black and Tom Johnson cut his hair. (A quick thanks to all those who voted in the ‘What should Tom do with his Hair contest’… and for those who didn’t get a chance to vote, don’t worry too much, it was rigged)

Aaanyway, like most people out there, the Stealth would agree that January wasn’t the best month. Heck, it was a slow month for me at my studio too. Got invited to a few award shows, but no meat and potatoes work. I guess you could say the same about the Stealth. They started the month with new faces, young talent, and high hopes, but with a 1-3 record, nothing really to show for it. Well, that’s not totally true… in the Stealth’s three losses, three goals was their largest deficit. So what does that tell ya..? A few hard-fought close match ups and a whole lot for those new faces and young talented gunslingers to learn from…..and the best part about the month of January?…It ain’t over yet! Try saying that with a western accent…way more fun.

I showed up about an hour and a half before game time and could tell the Stealth were in ‘must win’ mode. You can feel the sense of urgency in the air around the locker room. Spirits are always high when you have a room full of Canadians, but today was more business than usual. One look at Colin Doyle and I knew it was on. As the captain and emotional leader of the team, the Stealth go how Colin Doyle goes…and today they were going to work.

I head down the hall to the turf and take in a few minutes of the pre-game warm-up. Yeah, the guys are ready to go….not much talk, no joking around. Just straight business…I run into assistant GM Doug Locker doing the same…observing. DL is also the GM of the MLL’s San Francisco Dragons and has seen a few warm-ups in his day. He likes that his team is uber-focused, and would love to pull a win out of the afternoon’s action. We both noticed Cam Sedgwick killing it in pre-game. Catching everything inside, finishing everything….you could totally see that Cam was poised to put some points on the board. (That’s called foreshadowing, people) As skilled as offensive players are, they run on waves of confidence and you can see who has it running high on any certain day. Today was going to be Cam’s day…you could see it. I quickly jedi mind trick Doug into paying me millions to play for the Dragons this summer then head to my trusted shooting spot about 100 feet off the HP Pavilion’s turf.

I catch player introductions from a different angle and have a new found appreciation for fog machines…I think once I reach P.Diddy status I am going to have fog machines installed around every door of my house – especially the bathroom door for obvious reasons. The opening whistle sounds and immediately the Stealth get to work as Tom Johnson sticks the first goal of the night only 28 seconds in. Cam Sedgwick nets his first on the night and Zywicki follows. The Stealth Jump out 3-0 and don’t ever look back. As a fan it is great to see the parts working together. Right now our offence is like clock work. The Stealth bust out to a 5-3 halftime lead. Doesn’t seem like much, but with a few goals called back you know the Edmonton’s defense is helpless. It seems more like 8-3…granted, I’m not wearing a Stealth jersey anymore, but I wasn’t that worried going into halftime. The Stealth machine was rolling and all Edmonton could do was rush to get out of the way. (Bonus points to anyone who just caught that..if you have to ask then you don’t know)

Watching the offense at work right now brings me back to a few weeks ago. After the Rochester game I was hanging with the team and saw Colin Doyle and a younger goal scorer in what looked like a good conversation. Upon closer inspection, Doyle was handing down the tenants of a solid offense. As a defensive player, I don’t get to hear too much of what happens in offensive huddles…this was my chance. I heard Doyle tell the up-and-comer three nuggets of info that I think all offensive players could learn from. It was loud in there and my memory is pretty bad, so here goes a brutal paraphrase of the wise words of Colin Doyle:
1)Trust in your system, trust in your teammates
2)It’s never about your points, it’s about your TEAM’s points
3)Don’t pull the mask of the lone ranger and don’t mess around with Jim.

Actually, I think someone else might have said that last one, but like I said, my memory is pretty bad.

The second half is more of the same…The Stealth totally filling it up on the offensive end. The third quarter alone saw 5 Stealth goals, two of which were stuck by ‘D’-men Eric Martin and Kyle Sorensen. Fellow defenseman Curtis Hodgson netted two on the night as well. Not a bad showing from the back door. That’s how you say defense in Canadian. The front door guys did pretty well, too. The second half sees 11 total Stealth goals to Edmonton’s 3. Our boy Cam Sedgwick goes off in the third quarter…Sedgy netted a hat trick in the 3rd alone. Add that to his one first half goal and 2 apples (Canadian for assist, you can also say ‘helpers’)

I kinda feel bad when Edmonton pulls goalie Chris Levis…I get a sweet shot of his face walking to the bench. I then remember back to last season when he was playing with Colorado. He had some choice words for me one night…so I guess I don’t really feel that bad…actually, not at all. Things get a little chippy late in the fourth quarter – pretty common when one team is losing pretty badly. Having trouble scoring goals? No worries, you can always fight. Edmonton’s captain, Chris McElroy gets in EMart’s face and the two drop the gloves with smiles on their faces. You can tell that McElroy has ‘TP’ed’ a few houses in his day…maybe as recent as last week. It is hard to take the fight serious, thought. McElroy has a hot pink Mohawk. Like I said, as recent as last week.

Meat gets in another tilt (Canadian for fight) less than six minutes later and gets tossed. Not too big of a deal though, Stealth are up 13-6 and the offense hasn’t slowed down. The Stealth throw in three more goals and call it a day. 16-6 is your final. You can feel a collective sigh of relief as the game ends. For guys like Doug Locker and Colin Doyle this game is proof that the pieces fit.

The Stealth close out January with a big divisional win. I quickly pack up my camera bag and jet to Los Angeles to start what looks like a super productive February. I would guess that the stealth feel the same way. See you after the Feb. 21st game when the Stealth take on the Colorado Mammoth and I teach you guys more cool Canadian words.

To check out the full photo gallery from this post, visit our NLL Insider Photo Gallery

San Jose Stealth blogger , Zach Heffner, reunites with his former team for the 2009 NLL season. A member of last year’s regular season Western Division champion San Jose Stealth squad, Zach has since started his own company, VERDICT Photography, and looks to promote the team and the sport through his photographs.
Zach joined the Stealth after a stint with the Chicago Shamrox and is currently a player with the San Francisco Dragons after putting in two seasons with the Chicago Machine. An NCCA National Champion while at the University of Virginia, Zach lists winning a bronze medal with the USA National Indoor Team at last years’ World Indoor Championships in Halifax, Nova Scotia as his top lacrosse moment.

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