NLL Insider

                Every week we are scanning the league for stories that may have gone unnoticed by you folks or that will make good water cooler fodder.  More importantly we want to delve a little deeper than face value as we take a look at these things. So let’s dive in shall we?

The return of the Dynamic Duo?

Many of the NLL’s virgin fans may have no idea that they missed out on watching some of the most dynamic two-man games of all time. Sure people will say the Paul and Gary Gait tandem was one the best, maybe Tom Marechek and Jake Bergey. Newer fans can say they saw the tag-teams of Kaleb Toth and Tracey Kelusky, Gavin Prout and Brian Langtry, John Grant and Shawn Williams. But there has been a reunion of sorts north of the boarder that will once again, pair up two guys that when their game was on, there was no defense that could stop them.  With the Toronto Rock acquiring the services of Kim Squire, he will once again be teamed with the guy who many feel is one of the best in the game today, Colin Doyle. Together they won 4 NLL cups (’99, ’00,’ 02, ’03) with the Toronto Rock and a MANN Cup in 2001 with the Coquitlam Adanacs. Squire bounced around the NLL for a few years before having his lacrosse career seemingly brought to an early end due to a rare case of flesh eating disease. Squire had his demons and with the help of one time coach Les Bartley, he was able to battle them and keep them under control. Now coming up on 4 years from his last NLL action, Squire has fought hard to get himself back into the game of lacrosse spending the past few summers suiting up in the MLS in Ontario putting up some impressive numbers. Will the re-marriage of one of the all time greatest two-man teams spark the fire that lived deep inside Kimbo’s game? Will they be able to work the magic they had a decade earlier? Can they still read each other’s minds? Well, hopefully Doyle is the guy to lift up his long time friend and help rejuvenate a career put on hold.

Can Edmonton make the play-offs?

                Since day one, the Edmonton Rush have been fighting for an identity. When they first came into the NLL back in 2006, they were immediately put into a tete-a-tete with their expansion brothers, the Portland Lumberjax. Right off the bat the Rush fell behind when the Lumberjax selected Brodie Merrill in the expansion draft and almost immediately Merrill had an impact that we haven’t seen from a rook in a long time. As the seasons went by, the comparisons continued to pile up and as Portland moved on to NLL title games and considerable success while the Rush were still trying to figure out how to get a solid footing in the league and get out of the basement. Now entering their fifth season the Rush have one less thing to worry about; no more Portland. And the best things to come of that, seven players – including Merrill plus their new Head Coach and GM coming from the now defunct Lumberjax. It’s almost like the two teams decided to form like Voltron into a more powerful team to take the NLL by storm. Will it work? Well every new year, the Rush come back with a bigger, stronger and faster roster that they say will be the one to take them to the play-offs for the first time in team history. Many argue that the Western conference isn’t as strong as it has been in the past which may give the Rush an easier path to the promise land. But they still have to bring it all together on the rug and prove they are this good.  Yes the addition of Merrill will be huge for the Rush, but their back end and transition games are something they have always been good at. The addition or Gavin Prout, Ryan Ward and Ryan Powell to their left side easily make up for the loss of Dan Teat, Mike Hominuk, Ryan Benesch and Callum Crawford.  Dean Hill will provide a size presence on the other side of the floor and if they can come to terms with Derek Malawsky the will finally have an offense that opposing teams won’t laugh at. The one wild card for the Rush this year is their goaltending. Can Matt Disher play back to his All-Star level? Or will untested Brandon Atherton be called into action? Once again, a new NLL season is upon us and the Rush have high hopes; if this isn’t the year they make the play-offs, could it be the last we see of the Rush?

Will the NLL get anymore media exposure?

                With every passing year of NLL action getting better and better, can we expect to see any more media coverage? There have been some signs of life in this area.  The Toronto Rock have signed a deal with TSN2 to cover all nine of their games this season including five home games, both of their games in Alberta as well as their season opener in Boston and an April 10^th date in Buffalo.  Is it that hard for everyone else to do this? Obviously every arena in the league has the capabilities to run a televised game via some outlet. Whether it’s a National deal orchestrated by the league or, like the Rock, a private deal with a local carrier. In speaking with members of the newly located Washington Stealth, they will be linking up with Comcast to broadcast their home games and will be utilizing the broadcast team from the Everett Silvertips (WHL) hockey team. Of course the Colorado Mammoth will once again take advantage of Altitude Sports to bring extensive coverage to the lax fans in the Mile High city and it will be professionally done.  The league will continue its partnership with Mogulus, which is now known as Livestream, to provide complete coverage of the NLL season. Yes this is great for the league as it allows fans from all over the world to watch the games live or on-demand but it doesn’t lend itself to the major media outlets. Watching the year in review shows over the holidays, only one lax clip was used and it was a side angled shot of Casey Powell’s between the legs shot during the NLL Championship game.  Where were clips of Mark Steenhuis’ 17 point performance?  How did the Mitch Belisle or Jeff Zwyicki hits not make any top 50 lists? The answer is simple, no TV network is going to comb through YouTube and team websites for footage. Every team not only provides internet broadcasts but they also film the games and as fans we know great plays happen every game. The league also makes weekly highlight reel/plays of the week montage (which could be better and wider spread) but why aren’t we sending these with media releases coast to coast? ‘Dear ESPN, here are the top 10 plays from this past week in the NLL, of note, John Grant had 7 goals, Matt Vinc let in 1 goal while facing 60 shots and there was an amazing fight between Geoff Snider and Rory Smith that had the fans on their feet for 5 minutes. Please feel free to use them at your disposal.’  Not so hard….. Teams need to make sure that every game, the networks (TV and Radio) know the team is playing, have players go to the stations to promote the game, make sure they are at the games getting clips, have press conferences do everything you can.  Why isn’t the sport of lacrosse as big as we all want it to be? Because every year we settle for mediocrity and we never go for the spot light. Time to Change

Jenner is a two-time Mann Cup champion with six years of NLL experience. Email him at ted.jenner@nllinsider.com Currently the voice of the BombSquad in Everett and pursuing pro lacrosse in BC in the Arena and on the radio

Rate This Story:

(+16 rating, 24 votes)

 Loading ...