NLL Insider

The Beat

Canadians Brad Richardson, Ilija Gajic and Jamie Lincoln all released from Denver lacrosse program

Denver University has confirmed earlier reports that cited former Burnaby Lakers’ stud and current Pioneers’ sophomore, Jamie Lincoln, had been released from the school’s lacrosse team.

The University is now additionally confirming that fellow Canadian teammates, Brad Richardson and Ilija Gajic, have also been removed from the program.

The school states that the decision to dismiss the three players was due to ‘violations of team policies’. READ MORE »

Futures Report

Abbott and Seibald headline Quint Kessenich’s NCAA prospect ranking, Lincoln dismissed from Denver

Although more geared towards the Major League Lacrosse Collegiate Draft, ESPN and Inside Lacrosse’s Quint Kessenich checked in with his Top 25 NCAA Seniors on the MLL Draft Board, which includes a number of high profile Americans, and even Canadians, already slated for stardom in the National Lacrosse League as well.

Cornell’s Max Seibald, who NLL Insider ranked as the top American draft eligable player in our initial 2009 NLL Entry Draft preview, currently sits second behind Syracuse middie Matt Abbott in the MLL’s Top 25 rundown, with Kessenich describing the Big Red leader as, “The ideal midfielder for the MLL –- he faces-off, plays defense, clears the ball and takes his man to the cooker.” READ MORE »

Behind the Scenes, NLL, The Life

Heffner’s Stealth Blog: Showing Their Colors

Welcome back Stealth fans to this week’s ‘Do-or-Die’ installment of ye old behind the scenes blog.

Actually, let me clarify…This week’s home-and-away series with Portland is really a ‘Don’t Do or Die’ scenario….what that means is – of the two games for the boys this weekend, they must win at least one to stay afloat in the Western Conference playoff race. If they win both, well, then they are sitting pretty…lose both…lose it all.

Which brings me to a sort of philosophical point I touched on last week. READ MORE »

The Beat

Colorado Mammoth ‘model owner’ Stan Kroenke ups stock in Arsenal, plus the links

Times might be tough across the board for many owners in today’s North American pro sporting scene, but that hasn’t stopped Colorado Mammoth owner, Stan Kroenke, from dropping $60.8 million and practically doubling his stake in English soccer giant Arsenal, with yesterday’s purshcase of five thousand shares from Danny Fiszman.

The purchase now gives Kroenke 20.5% stake in the club.

Kroenke, outside of owning the National Lacrosse League’s Mammoth, also owns the NHL’s Colorado Avalanche, NBA’s Denver Nuggets and MLS’s Colorado Rapids, as well as co-owning the NFL’s St. Louis Rams and the hibernating AFL’s Colorado Crush. READ MORE »

NLL, Rookie Report

National Lacrosse League (NLL) Rookie Rankings: Week 13

The rookie rankings are pretty solid as we enter the back stretch — with Duch, Veltman, Peyser and Buchanan leading the hunt for Rookie of the Year (ROY) hardware. A new rookie goaltender cracks this week’s Top 10, however. After the jump, also hear from the coaches of San Jose and Boston on this year’s top two ROY candidates. READ MORE »

The Beat

Lacrosse Links: Surfing through the NLL Forums

Light news day today, so we’ll take a gander at what the kids are writing about over at Wingzone.com. The official EA Lacrosse Video Game Petition Group is up and running. Could Spike TV be a candidate for an NLL game of the week? Fan updates on the Eastern and Western conferences. Plus, the best NLL team ever debate continues to rage.

READ MORE »

Fight Club

National Lacrosse League Dream Matchups: It’s Pat Campbell vs. Ryan McNish

That just about does it for Rory Smith, the talented Titans brawler, who really didn’t put up much of a fight against former Buffalo Bandits brawler Jamie Hackel. The old dude scored a 336-210 victory in the final tally. As bullish as Smith is, it apparently is no match for the experience of Hackel, who made quite a name for himself while in Buffalo. So now it’s on to the next round, where we have Calgary goalie Pat Campbell trading knuckle sandwiches with Edmonton Rush defender Ryan McNish. Who’s your pick? READ MORE »

NLL

National Lacrosse League fans, the best there are?

A fan of the New York Titans made the trip to Buffalo this past weekend to enjoy his team in action against the Bandits. While planning his trip to Buffalo publicly via the NLL Forums, he found out that cab fare from the airport to the hotel he was staying at in the heart of Buffalo would cost him about $35. When a Buffalo fan got word of this via the forums, he insisted on picking up the Titans’ fan from the airport and taking him to his hotel to save him the cash. READ MORE »

The Beat

Dowling disappointed things didn’t work out in San Jose, plus the links

Jeff Dowling (Photo: Dave Sanders)

Former San Jose Stealth head coach, Jeff Dowling, definitely was hoping recent moves made by his former team would spark the club to a turnaround, unfortunately for Dowling, it appears the Stealth brass was looking for a more dramatic spark.

If you still haven’t heard, almost three weeks ago, the Stealth demoted Dowling from his head coaching position, paving the way for Chris Hall, who at the time was one of the team’s assistant coaches, to take over for Dowling, who was kept on staff while taking Hall’s previous assistant position on the Stealth bench.

Approximately a week later, Dowling made the decision to step down from his assistant coaching position, with the Stealth promoting Joe Romano as the team’s offensive coordinator. READ MORE »

NLL Insider

The All-NLLinsider Team: National Lacrosse League Week 13

Every week this season at NLLinsider.com we’re going to be putting our heads together to argue and exchange threats over email bring you the All-NLLinsider Team of the Week. Quite simply, the All-NLLinsider Team will consist of the six best players to step foot on the floor in any given game every weekend. 3 F, 1 T, 1 D, 1 G, all awesome. With every team in action in week thirteen the selection process got as underhanded and out of control as a certain on-floor assault of Geoff Snider Saturday night. READ MORE »