NLL Insider

NLL Top 50

NLL Insider Top 50: Shawn Nadelen #29

Now that we’re heading inside the 30 mark of the Top 50, most names will probably be pretty agreeable with fans across the board, cuz a lot of ‘em are gonna be as close to household names as we have in the sport.

Well, everyone except for maybe the guy in the pic to the left of this text.

There are few in the league that play textbook D like Philadelphia Wings’ defender Shawn Nadelen, and there are equally as few that get ignored as much as Nadelen does when talking about the best defenders in the sport today. READ MORE »

NLL Top 50

NLL Insider Top 50: Jordan Hall #30

He mighta been inched out by Craig Point in last year’s rookie of the year vote, but there’s no denying over the past year that New York Titan’s two-way stud Jordan Hall has had a major impact on the game, hardware or not.

As former Titans coach Adam Mueller told NLL Insider’s own Steve Kojima during his rookie coverage last winter, Hall rarely has as a bad shift, no matter what end of the court he’s working in.

Paul Stewart, assistant coach on Mueller’s award winning staff last winter, told NLL Insider prior to last year’s ROY announcement, “I just can’t see how it couldn’t be Jordan. He’s got better overall numbers than any rookie this year, plus he’s all over the floor, not just O or D. No other rookie came close to what Jordan did for us this year.” READ MORE »

NLL Top 50

NLL Insider Top 50: Chris White #31

We gotta stop the Chris White is underrated talk already, OK?

If people still don’t know the name Chris White after watching just a single Buffalo Bandits game, then they have bigger problems than knowing what a kick ass defender is in this league.

White finally found a spot on the East’s All-Star team last year, and although that kinda recognition is nice for a pure defender like White, a low intensity, minimal contact. opposite-of-smash-mouth game like the ASG isn’t the kinda stage to get a feel for what White’s dropped on the NLL since entering the bigs in 2003. READ MORE »

NLL Top 50

NLL Insider Top 50: Ryan Boyle #32

The former NLL rookie of the year’s numbers mighta dipped a bit in 08, but Ryan Boyle still served a pretty vital role on the New York Titans’ offense last winter and remains one of the smartest ball players in the game today.

Boyle’s partnership with Casey Powell helped push the Titans into last year’s eastern final, while has reputation continues to grow as one of the best up and coming playmakers in the NLL today.

Powell might be considered by many to be the best American playing the indoor game, but after both CP and Boyle’s first 48, the Princeton legend has last year’s MVP finalist beat. READ MORE »

NLL Top 50

NLL Insider Top 50: Luke Wiles #33

Usually when a guy is getting ready to play with his third team in just four years, it’s cuz he’s been bounced around from city-to-city, trying to land a full-time spot with a franchise as an off-season freebie inking. It’s the start of being labelled a journeyman.

That’s not the case with Luke Wiles.

After being dealt in a draft-eve blockbuster three way deal, Wiles will be throwing his third pro sweater on in Toronto, helping with a pretty hefty rebuild of the Rock’s offense. READ MORE »

NLL Top 50

NLL Insider Top 50: Kyle Sweeney #34

“Kyle Sweeney is the most underrated player in our league.  Game after game he brings everything he’s got.  He should be on the All Star team.  Maybe now that we are winning he’ll get the recognition he deserves.  Great teams are built on those who make it possible for others to do what they do best.  Just know Kyle that we know.” - Russ Cline

Those were the words spoken (actually written in his blog) by Wings’ President and Owner Russ Cline last winter in regards to Philly defender Kyle Sweeney.

Well Russ, not only were we listening to you last winter, we watched a hulluva lot of Kyle in 08, and ya know what, Sweeney is probably even better than you advertised. READ MORE »

NLL Top 50

NLL Insider Top 50: Pat O’Toole #35

Man, if only Pat O’Toole played as lights out for Rochester as he did against Brampton in the MSL final this past summer, the four time Mann Cup winner woulda given Bob Watson a real run for his money in the top tender countdown in 08.

Like a lot of guys in Rochester last year, O’Toole’s first half of the year wasn’t necessarily the best we’ve ever seen him, but don’t think for a second that the Knighthawks barn burnin’ run for that last post-season spot didn’t coincide with O’Toole’s way improved and clutch play. READ MORE »

NLL Top 50

NLL Insider Top 50: Jake Bergey #36

Thought it was kinda fitting that we were able to dig up this old pic of Jake Bergey from his early days with the Philly Wings, cuz Bergey’s 2008 season was not only a blast from his past, it mighta been better than anything he’d done in his indoor career altogether, which is definitely saying something.

To say Bergey had been written off over the last couple years would be one of the biggest understatements in this league.

The former Champion’s Cup winner is one of the few Wings left from the 2001 cup winning team in Philly (Peter Jacobs is the other one) and although it sounds like Bergey is contemplating retirement for 09, if he even comes close to what he did last year, it’d be a crime not to see him suit up even just one last time. READ MORE »

NLL Top 50

NLL Insider Top 50: Sean Pollock #37

Although some may initially think back to his alleged early season off-floor dustup with Toronto Rock Head Coach Glenn Clark when they reflect on Sean Pollock’s impact on the game in 2008, if that’s all they remember about the Minnesota Swarm forward, then they obviously weren’t paying enough attention to what Pollock brought to the table last year.

The fiery red head mighta sent Toronto fans into a tirade after getting tossed in the team’s opening game at the ACC last year, but it was everything Pollock did past that that made 2008 a pretty memorable one for him. READ MORE »

NLL Top 50

NLL Insider Top 50: Brian Langtry #38

There’s few that can turn up the heat like Colorado Mammoth forward Brian Langtry.

Just ask the Portland Lumberjax, who almost found their name in the record book when Langtry posted nine goals and 13 points against them last winter.

In 2007, Langtry damaged Toronto for five goals, the same team he nailed for seven earlier in this career in one of the single best one game performances from downtown this league has ever seen.

When “on”, few can shoot the lights out like the former NLL rookie of the year, who just came off an insane summer playing for the Denver Outlaws in the MLL. READ MORE »

NLL Top 50

NLL Insider Top 50: Scott Ranger #39

Based on what he threw down last year, which is the bulk of the criteria being looked at for this thing, you better believe the once written off Scott Ranger belongs in the league’s best 50 current ball players.

In Ranger’s first two seasons in the NLL, which he spent with San Jose, who drafted him in the first round of 2003’s Entry Draft, Ranger managed to barely squeeze into nine games with the Stealth, posting an even more anemic 11 points in those games.

After being bounced around the Stealth’s active roster and pracky squad during the 2006 pro season, in which the former Vic Jr. saw zero big show minutes, Ranger’s lucked changed the following year. READ MORE »

NLL Top 50

NLL Insider Top 50: Craig Point #40

There have been few junior to pro transitions as seamless as the one Craig Point dropped on the NLL in 2008.

The reigning rookie of the year looked like a seasoned vet from day one, scoring two and assisting on six others in his first game in the NLL when the Minnesota Swarm smoked the Rock at the ACC in one of last year’s most dramatic and heated contests.

It was the kinda game that woulda snowed most rookies, but Point made it look like he’d done it a hundred times before, all while 13 thousand screaming fans watched his every move. READ MORE »

NLL Top 50

NLL Insider Top 50: Jeff Shattler #41

It was like someone flipped the switch on Jeff Shattler’s back during the summer of 2005.

After a pretty serious shoulder injury that kept Shattler from pursuing an NCAA or CHL hockey career and then later a trade that sent him to the Brampton Jr. Excels from the Missy Tommies, Shattler’s stock has gone through the roof during both seasons of ball. And the best thing? The Calgary transitional stud shows absolutely no signs of slowing down.

Shattler is more than capable of playing a full-time role at either end of the court, but due to his speed, athleticism, and maturing game sense, the Necks now own one of the most dynamic two-way prospects that’s come down the pipe in quite awhile. READ MORE »

NLL Top 50

NLL Insider Top 50: Matt Vinc #42

There have been very few keepers over the last several seasons that have made the jump from being a top tier junior goalie, to a legit full-time NLL tender.

Seriously, take a look at most of the full-timers (not the ones taking up that end spot on the bench or on the pracky roster), and most are still the older school guys that have been in this league for a better part of the last decade.

One of the rare tenders buckin’ that trend? New York Titans backstop, Matt Vinc. READ MORE »

NLL Top 50

NLL Insider Top 50: Peter Lough #43

Even though Toronto’s 2008 season kinda left much to be desired from most Rock fan’s perspective, there were definitely a few positives that came outta last season, one of the biggest being the off-season signing of Peter Lough.

Lough brought a no nonsense leadership role to the Rock’s D, one which has actually gone through a pretty big face-lift over the years as well, even though it’s their O everyone is always chirping about.

The former Arizona Sting captain plays a physical game, but is also one of the cleanest guys in the sport, a combo you don’t always see from the best pure D guys in the NLL. It’s a role that’s given Lough the rep as one of the classiest and most respected guys in the league. The best part is, he’ll also go buckets if the situation calls for it too. READ MORE »

NLL Top 50

NLL Insider Top 50: Shawn Evans #44

The NLL’s more skilled version of Sean Avery, aka Shawn Evans, is exactly what that comparison would suggest.

A ball player that can score but also send an in entire barn into a frenzy based on his extracurriculars.

Rochester’s second half of the “Evans Brothers” continues to bring his ball bustin’ style of lacrosse to the pro game, doing everything that’s been asked of him in the NLL since being drafted second overall in the 2005 entry draft.

Even after only starting ten regular season games with the Peterborough Lakers this past summer, due partially to a trade request to Six Nations, Evans still killed the charts with 5.3 points per game, which woulda had him second to only John Grant and ahead of his big bro, Scott. READ MORE »

NLL Top 50

NLL Insider Top 50: Bruce Murray #45

He’s started for Team Canada in both of their two WILC gold medal performances, but for some reason, Colorado Mammoth defender Bruce Murray is very rarely mentioned as one of the pro’s best defenders.

Murray, like Jarett Park, had only had the chance to play in front of pretty sparse crowds in places like Vancouver, Anaheim, and Arizona, and it really wasn’t until last year, when he got picked up by the Colorado Mammoth, that the mainstream NLL fan finally started noticing, Murray is pretty damn good.

The 6′1″ 250 lbs. plus pure D monster is pretty mobile for a guy his size, gaining a rep as a defender that plays solid shut down defense, but also one that anticipates the other teams game plan better than most. READ MORE »

NLL Top 50

NLL Insider Top 50: Jarett Park #46

He’s found himself on two tickets that don’t get the biggest crowds in the game, but after suiting up for both San Jose and New York, for those that have had the chance to see him, know that Titans transitional stud, Jarett Park, has one of the slickest two way games goin’ on in the sport today.

Park’s stock went through the roof this past winter, helping lead an explosive New York two-way game that snowed some of the best in the bizz in ‘08.

His speed is pretty blinding, as long as his hair is outta his face, which allowed Park to rank within the league’s top 10 in loosie pickups. Jarett’s first step is one of the best in the sport, already ten feet past the opposition’s O guys when they finally realize Park just picked their pocket. READ MORE »

NLL Top 50

NLL Insider Top 50: Steve Toll #47

He may not of had as “big” a season as he did in ‘07 when he was named the league’s first ever transitional player of the year, but Steve Toll’s game is one that has created major problems for teams since he first burst onto the scene in a full-time role with the Toronto Rock in 2000.

Toll actually had a pretty impressive hockey career leading up to that choice of committing full-time to pro ball, having played college hockey with RIT and for teams like the Fayetteville Force and Indianapolis Ice of the CHL.

Since then, Toll’s filled up his fist with five pro rings and garnered a rep as one of the quickest Canucks to ever play the game. Hell, one of the quickest period to ever play at this level. READ MORE »

NLL Top 50

NLL Insider Top 50: Billy Dee Smith #48

There’s no in-between with Billy Dee Smith.

You either love the Buffalo Bandits defender or hate his guts. Most probably hate ‘em, but it’s part of what makes Smith so great.

The World Lacrosse Champion, Minto Cup, President’s Cup, and Champion’s Cup winner is the epitome of the kinda guy you hate to play against but love to have runnin’ in your own crew.

Smith has a first-step and blinding speed you almost never see from Canadians and is a guy a lot of NCAA coaches probably see now and wonder why they never offered him a scholarship.

Billy Dee’s hard hitting, take no prisoners attitude has got him in a bit trouble with the league in recent years (this year getting nailed with a multi-game suspension for making contact with an official during a dust-up with Blaine Manning) but that same style has also added an element to Buffalo’s D that makes them so hard to beat in their own end. READ MORE »