NLL Insider

NLL Top 50

NLL Insider Top 50: Nick Inch #50

Nick Inch (Photo: Dave Sanders)

Just like in ‘08, NLL Insider will be counting down our National Lacrosse League Top 50 this off-season, looking at who we deem to be the best 50 players in the NLL today leading into the 2010 season.

So just a quick rehash of some of the criteria… No one that missed the previous NLL season or is expected to miss the upcoming season will be included. Although we’ll definitely take into consideration what guys did during the summer, rankings will be weighted heavily on the ‘09 NLL season. Players won’t be ranked on reps or accomplishments previous to ‘09. This is about what they did this past year, not ten years before. 2010 rookies, so guys like Sid Smith or Ilija Gajic, will not be included. And finally, no hair pulling, fish-hooking, whining or crying (emphasis on crying), and that’s about it. So after the jump, check out our #50 baller, Minnesota Swarm pure defender, Nick Inch. READ MORE »

NLL, NLL Top 50, Rookie Report

National Lacrosse League (NLL) Rookie Report: Starting Goaltenders

We noted early in this National Lacrosse League (NLL) season to keep an eye out for six of this year’s young goaltenders. All of those keepers have seen action in 2009, with San Jose’s Tyler Richards potentially earning a starting position and Portland’s two young goaltenders being forced into starts. READ MORE »

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NLL Video Hits: Top hits and goals from Week 7

Happy Hump Day NLL fans. I got your highlight videos from last weekend’s action right here. Once again its split into two videos, the biggest hits and the best goals.

Some of my favorite hits include Geoff Snider knockin’ the helmet off Boston’s Kyle Ross and a pile-up including a banana, raccoon, and a couple lottery balls. Huh? READ MORE »

NLL Top 50

NLL Insider Top 50: Colin Doyle #1

There are few in the sport that have refined their game to the extent that Colin Doyle has since he first broke into the NLL with the Ontario Raiders in 1998.

Doyle went from being an inside threat that took nasty beat-downs in his early days with the Raiders and Rock, to an outside scoring sensation that was threading needles against the league’s best D’s, and then finally transforming into one of the NLL’s greatest ever O leaders and set-up men.

What’s a team to do with a guy like that on their roster? READ MORE »

NLL Top 50

NLL Insider Top 50: Dan Dawson #2

In three previous tries, last year’s improbable Cup run donning a Portland Lumberjax sweater, was the closest Dan Dawson came to winning it all at this level of the game.

On a hat-trick and six helpers (leading the final in scoring), Dawson dragged the Jax to what would have been the most unlikely NLL championship win in league history, had they pulled it off.

Although Dawson played well in and leading up to the 2005 (vs. Toronto) and 2007 (vs. Rochester) finals, his play late in 2008 and then in last year’s playoffs was some of the best clutch performances we’ve seen from anyone over the last several years, regular or post-season. READ MORE »

NLL Top 50

NLL Insider Top 50: Athan Iannucci #3

Some have called Athan Iannucci’s 2008 season a “flash in the pan”.

Others have said it was the coming out party of a legend in the making.

No matter where you have Iannucci ranked in the grand scheme of the game, one thing you undoubtedly can’t deny, is the season he dropped on the sport last winter was definitely one for the ages.

Love him, hate him, don’t buy he’s got enough in the tank to continue his torrid pace? Who cares, cuz unless you’ve just had a lobotomy (and I wouldn’t rule that out for some of you), it’s next to impossible not to realize that what Athan Iannucci did in 2008 was something truly special. READ MORE »

NLL Top 50

NLL Insider Top 50: John Tavares #4

On reputation and past achievements alone, John Tavares is easily the best in the NLL right now.

Well, Gary Gait might have something to say about that statement now that he’s found his was back via Rochester, so how bout, best on rep and past AND not having taken a semi-retirement, in the game right now.

Tavares showed over 2008 that age has very little to do with his game, and although the recent Champion’s Cup winner might not be blasting single game and season records like he did in the past, few are as impactful as JT both on-and-off the court. READ MORE »

NLL Top 50

NLL Insider Top 50: The Final 4… JT, AI, DDD, & Popeye

Today was originally gonna be the day we dropped the four top dawgs in the NLL Insider Top 50.

Change of plans.

With a flurry of questions both emailed to us and posted on the boards, we wanted to set the record straight before naming our last four.

So, after the jump, your questions are answered… READ MORE »

NLL Top 50

NLL Insider Top 50: Jeff Zywicki #5

Last year the NLL ended up announcing the top three finalists for the MVP nod for the first time, with Athan Iannucci, John Tavares and Casey Powell being the trio that were up for the honour.

Although AI was practically everyone’s favorite, not having Jeff Zywicki in there was a bit of a crime considering the kinda year the UMass grad had in 2008 (and yeah, know it was based on votes, but it was still robbery).

In three short years in the NLL, Zywicki has already become one of the league’s top power forwards and is one of the league’s best off ball guys too. Few gut it out like Jeff and even fewer have the stats to go with it. READ MORE »

NLL Top 50

NLL Insider Top 50: Casey Powell #6

No one’s reputation has improved more than Casey Powell’s has over the last two winters.

After leaving the pro indoor game for a couple seasons, coincidentally coinciding with a head-shot courtesy of then Toronto Rock defender Pat Coyle, Powell was called every name in the book by box lacrosse purists.

They called him soft, weak, a wimp, a baby and worst of all, an American field laxer!! Yeah, they went there, and they did it time-and-time again, dragging Powell’s NLL rep through the thickest mud they could find. READ MORE »