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John Grant Jr. to miss 2009 season after emergency surgery

John Grant Jr. will miss the 2009 NLL season after emergency surgery<br>(Joe O'Rourke)

The Ontario native, who was recently named Major League Lacrosse MVP for helping lead the Rochester Rattlers to their first championship, will be out indefinitely after an infection that required emergency surgery last week.

According to the release, the infection spread from his elbow into his knee, and doctors were required to remove his left ACL and screws attaching the ligament to the bone itself. Grant will be in a knee brace from four to 12 months, after which he will undergo another surgery to re-insert his ACL.

Check back with NLLInsider.com for further details on this story. To read the full Rochester press release, continue reading after the jump. READ MORE »

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2008 Draft: Veltman goes first

Just moments ago, Boston made it official. Daryl Veltman (shoots left) goes number one. Stay here for more.

With the 2nd pick, San Jose takes Paul Rabil (righty) of John Hopkins.

So far no surprises. Third pick is Rhys Duch (righty), also to San Jose and then Edmonton took Jamie Flouris  number 4. READ MORE »

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Toronto, Rochester, and San Jose make trade

In the first big trade of the weekend, the Toronto Rock have traded Aaron Wilson and a 2009 first-round  draft choice to Rochester for Stephen Hoar and Rochester’s 2008 first round draft choice (5th overall).

Toronto then moved the 2008 draft choice to San Jose for Luke Wiles.  The deal was ironed out very late Saturday night. READ MORE »

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NLL Combine game

I’ll try to keep this brief because it is late but here’s a few thoughts on the combine game. 

Not only were players trying out for the NLL but so were refs and stats crews so  I suspect there are some mistakes in the stats. I can’t give you accurate assists but here I am sure that my goalscorers are correct. READ MORE »

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NLL Draft: Veltman will be #1

Ok at least thats what Boston General Manager Tom Ryan says. As recently as a few hours ago Ryan told me that he will draft Daryl Veltman with the number one pick in tomorrows  draft.  READ MORE »

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NLL Entry Draft: The Hot 30

In preparation of this weekend’s NLL Entry, NLL Insider hammered out the 30 best guys we see going in top two thirds of the ‘08 draft, with Hobart attacker Daryl Veltman easily taking the top spot.

This year’s draft is pretty open compared to previous years, with the combine, which will be held on Saturday, probably giving GM’s a better idea of who they’ll move up or down in their draft order, more-so than even last year.

’08’s draft might not have as many high profile names as we’ve seen in recent years, but it’s loaded with quality, athletic, two-way type players that could definitely find a spot in the league in coming seasons.

And although Veltman is the consensus first overall grab, a number of teams are extremely interested in landing Johns Hopkins middie, Paul Rabil, and are apparently willing to give up quite a bit to do so.

Although team’s needs, geography, existing chemistry, player familiarity and a host of other aspects will play a major role in how the draft plays out, after the jump make sure to check out NLL Insider’s Hot 30… READ MORE »

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Team’s Draft Needs Heading into the NLL Entry Draft

Can Derek Keenan and the Lumberjax match last summer's impressive Entry Draft selections?

This year’s NLL Entry Draft is shapin’ up to have a pretty solid first couple rounds and even a couple interesting likely mid and late round picks that many feel have the legs to transition their game to the bigs.

So although we’re comin’ atcha with The Hot 30 tomorrow, lookin’ at the 30 best ballers available in this year’s draft, today we’re lookin’ at what each of the NLL’s 13 teams will probably be lookin’ for based on their current roster needs.

So after the jump, check out what we think team’s will be lookin’ to stock up on this weekend in Boston… READ MORE »

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Sean Greenhalgh ready to come into Buffalo training camp 100%

Buffalo Bandits forward Sean Greenhalgh, who just prior to the start of the 2008 season tore his ACL during a pre-season practice, tells NLL Insider that he plans on coming into the Bandits’ camp this winter in the best shape of his life.

“Things are going great,” said Greenhalgh. “My knee feels 100%. In fact, I’m currently training for a marathon in Toronto and the legs never felt better.”

Greenhalgh was picked up in a blockbuster three team off-season trade at around this time last year which saw both Greenhalgh and Ian Llord shipped to Buffalo, Taylor Wray and Jason Crosbie to Philadelphia and then Steve Dietrich and Kyle Couling to Calgary. READ MORE »

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John Grant recovering well after emergency surgery

NLL Insider spoke with recently hired Rochester Knighthawks GM Regy Thorpe last night in regards to John Grant, who just prior to the Peterborough Lakers Game 7 finale against the Brampton Excelsiors last week, was forced to go under the knife after an infection spread from an injured elbow all the way to his leg.

Thorpe, who spoke to Grant on Friday, said that their high scoring power forward was recovering well and after a few days in the hospital after the surgery for precautionary reasons, Grant would be released and likely off his feet for the next couple of weeks. READ MORE »

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Stealth coach Jeff Dowling talks trade, keepers and draft picks

San Jose Stealth Head Coach, Jeff Dowling,  confirmed with NLL Insider last night that the Stealth did in fact receive the Chicago Shamrox’s first round draft picks in 2008 and 2009 in the keeper swap the two teams completed on Thursday afternoon.

There was some confusion yesterday as to what year the draft picks were in and even the amount of picks that were changing hands, after the team’s sent out contradicting press releases late Friday afternoon.

So again, the official trade sees San Jose dealing starting keeper Anthony Cosmo to the Chicago Shamrox in exchange for tender Matt Roik and Chicago’s first round pick over the next two drafts. READ MORE »

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Chicago GM Jamie Batley confirms NLL Insider’s initial report

NLL Insider has confirmed with Chicago Shamrox’s GM Jamie Batley that the initial report NLL Insider released late last night was indeed the correct terms of the trade that went down between the Shamrox and San Jose Stealth.

The official deal sees the San Jose Stealth trading keeper Anthony Cosmo to the Chicago Shamrox in exchange for goaltender Matt Roik, as well as Chicago’s first round selection in both the 2008 and 2009 entry draft.

Reports from both teams made earlier today contradicted the official deal, but Batley confirms that the above trade is how things played out and the team has since corrected the miscommunication on their website.

Batley coached against Cosmo’s Brampton Excelsiors last night as his Peterborough Lakers were edged out by the now Ontario champion Excels in a hard fought seven game war. Batley had previously coached the Lakers to the past four Mann Cups and just missed out on last year’s NLL post-season as his Shamrox strung together an amazing second half of the season.

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Shamrox and Stealth press releases contain major differences in what was exchanged

Well, the confusion as to what exactly changed hands in the Anthonay Cosmo and Matt Roik deal is getting even more confusing, with the only constant being the two high profile keepers.

Shortly after the Stealth released a reportstating that the team had traded Cosmo to Chicago for Roik and the Shamrox’s first round pick in next week’s entry draft, the Chicago Shamrox posted a vastly different breakdown of the trade on their website.

The Shamrox are claiming, that outside of the two keepers exchanged, Chicago also gave up first round picks in the 2009 and 2010 entry draft, not the 2008 draft as the Stealth have announced. READ MORE »

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Anthony Cosmo for Matt Roik trade made official via press release

The San Jose Stealth have officially announced the deal involving All-Star keeper Anthony Cosmo that NLL Insider had reported late last night, with one minor correction.

Instead of gaining both a first rounder in 2008 and 2009, the Stealth are reporting via a press release that they have only obtained Chicago’s first round pick this year, along with goaltender Matt Roik of course.

The press release also strangely identifies Roik as being a rookie last season with the Chicago Shamrox, the third overall draft selection in fact. Roik has been a long time vet of the NLL, playing for  such teams as the New Jersey Storm, the Anaheim Storm, the Philadelphia Wings and of course most recently with the Chicago Shamrox. READ MORE »

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Dan Dawson staying in Boston, Dawson swapped for Veltman

Two months ago, it seemed extremely unlikely, but the buzz leading up to yesterday’s blockbuster trade that saw San Jose and Chicago swap keepers, was that Dan Dawson, the man linked to about 20 rumoured moves this off-season, would be staying with the expansion Boston Blazers.

Many felt a trade between Boston and the Edmonton Rush was imminent, and although none of the parties involved in a possible trade have had any comment for most of the summer, a number of sources close to the situation had told NLL Insider that Dawson will be staying in Boston heading into the 2009 NLL season.

In fact, sources have also confirmed with NLL Insider that the Blazers traded for Dan’s younger brother, Paul Dawson, from the San Jose Stealth in exchange for Peter Veltman yesterday. READ MORE »

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Anthony Cosmo dealt to Chicago for Matt Roik and a pair of first rounders

Anthony Cosmo

NLL Insider has learned from various sources that the San Jose Stealth have dealt keeper Anthony Cosmo to the Chicago Shamrox in exchange for tender Matt Roik, as well as Chicago’s first round picks in this year’s and 2009’s Entry Draft, in a blockbuster move completed on Thursday afternoon.

The trade sends Cosmo back east, a move that’s come close to happening the last couple of off-seasons, in order for him to be closer to home and work in Mississauga, Ontario.

The deal also allows Roik, who recently made the move out west to play for the New Westminster Salmonbellies of the WLA, to set up shop at the other end of the country for both summer and winter ball.

The two will also coincidentally be going head-to-head against one another in this year’s Mann Cup, with Cosmo’s Brampton Excelsiors edging out the reigning Mann Cup champion Peterborough Lakers in a seven game war in the MSL final last night. READ MORE »

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Who’s In Who’s Out During NLL Off-Season

Kyle Laverty, who won the Champion's Cup last season with Buffalo, has already been picked up by Boston and then dealt to Rochester this off-season, his likely 2009 home. (Larry Palumbo)

We’re just over a week away from the NLL Entry Draft, where not only will a slew of pro up-and-comers get spread across the league’s 13 teams, but as always with this league, an array of deals involving current vets, usually high profile ball players, will no doubt have the switch flipped on ‘em too.

Actually, with the Arizona Sting re-Dispersal Draft and Boston’s Expansion Draft, which saw players swapped back-and-forth and everywhere else, the player movement before the Entry Draft this summer has been as fast and furious as the league has seen in quite awhile.

So, after the jump, check out the tic-tac-toe that’s already gone on this off-season and see what kinda player movement your crew has already gone through… READ MORE »

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Toronto’s Chad Thompson on track for 2009 NLL return

NLL Insider spoke with Toronto Rock two-way stud, Chad Thompson, and confirmed with the former OLA Jr. A defender of the year, that after sitting out the 2008 NLL and MSL seasons, he is on track to return to the Rock’s lineup for the start of the 2009 season after recuperating from a nasty ACL tear sustained during the summer of 2007 playing for the Barrie Lakeshores.

The 24-year-old defender is a former first round pick of the Philadelphia Wings and after being dealt to San Jose, Thompson was the little talked about piece of the now infamous Colin Doyle trade, that saw Doyle shipped to the Stealth, along with Darren Halls and a first round pick in the 2007 NLL Entry Draft (Tom Johnson) for Ryan Benesch, Kevin Fines, Thompson and the Stealth’s 2008 (traded in Lewis Ratcliff deal) and 2009 first rounders. READ MORE »

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Regy Thorpe K’Hawks new GM, Paul Suggate linked to coaching gig

As NLL Insider speculated earlier this off-season and the Rochester D&C officially announced yesterday, Rochester Knighthawks’ defender Regy Thorpe has retired from his role on the floor with the team, but has been hired as the franchise’s new GM.

Thorpe, who coaches the Six Nations Arrows in the OLA’s Junior A loop, has been linked to both the team’s head coaching position and GM role since before last season even ended.

Jody Gage, the team’s long time GM, will now be focusing all his efforts with the Rochester Americans of the American Hockey League after Thorpe’s head office promotion. READ MORE »

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Source: Minnesota Swarm to play in Western Division

Ryan Sharp and the Swarm will now be competing against Portland and the rest of the West for a post-season spot starting in '09.

With the inclusion of the Boston Blazers to an already loaded Eastern Division, which owned seven of the league’s teams versus the West’s five in 2008, sources say that obviously geographically moving Minnesota made the most sense.

Minnesota plays in the Western Division in both the NHL and NBA.

The East will again have seven teams (Buffalo, Rochester, Philadelphia, New York, Toronto, Chicago and Boston), while the West will begin 2009 with six teams (Calgary, Edmonton, Portland, Colorado, San Jose and Minnesota).

Sources also say however that even though the Swarm will be part of the West’s standings, their regular season schedule will still have a heavy eastern feel to it in order to maintain some of the rivalries they’ve spent the past four seasons building.

NLL Insider

Revisting the Draft: ‘05 Edition

This is the big one.

The one GM’s were trading up for years earlier and the one that has already produced multiple Champion’s Cup winners and multiple year end hardware winners too.

It’s the Entry Draft Brodie Merrill was slated to go first in during his freshman year at Georgetown. Ditto for Sean Greenhalgh at Cornell, Jeff Zywicki at UMass and even though he played D at Canisius, Matt Vinc was the first keeper in a while most felt would be capable of making the jump from being a stud Jr. A tender to a solid one in the bigs too.

To make a long story short, 2005’s first round was as close to a can’t miss as the league had ever seen.

Brodie obviously was number one and Derek Keenan in Portland made no bones about the fact that the Lumberjax would be taking him first and building their franchise around the two-way work horse for years to come. READ MORE »