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Shanny's Power Rankings

Shanny’s Power Rankings: Week 18

Last week I said it was possible, but unlikely, that five teams in the East would end tied at 9-7.

Well, that didn’t happen but it’s just as surprising that four teams finished at 10-6. And yes, the unthinkable happened: The defending champs, the Rocherster Knighthawks are out of the playoff picture. Don’t point to their loss on Saturday as the reason they are out. They played great lacrosse down the stretch and a number of coaches recently told me that despite their record, they wouldn’t be surprised if the Knighthawks had won out the rest of their games all the way to another championship.

Instead, the Knighthawks will be watching because of lackluster efforts mid-season when they lost games against the Edmonton Rush and the Chicago Shamrox.

But that’s enough talk of Rochester. We are starting the new season next week and if it’s anything like the regular season, we’re in for a great ride.

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Shanny's Power Rankings

Shanny’s Power Rankings: Week 17

Well, it’s going to come down to the last weekend of the National Lacrosse League to decide who make it to the playoffs in the East.

It won’t happen but it’s possible for five teams to finish at 9-7. It must be nervous time in Philadelphia. If Rochester beats New York on Saturday then the Wings have to beat the Rock in Toronto on Sunday or they are out. If only two teams are tied, the tiebreaker is record (and goals-for and goals-against) in head-to-head games.

If three or more teams are tied, then the tiebreaker gets complicated but my understanding is that the first tiebreaker is your record against divisional opponents. According to my addition (you’ll let me know if I’m wrong) Buffalo is 7-6 against the East, and if Rochester, Philly and New York ended at 9-7, their records against east division opponents would be 8-5 (Rochester), 6-7 for Philly and 8-5 for New York. I didn’t even check for Minnesota because Chicago won’t sweep them.

So according to my numbers, Philly would be out in a 3 or 4 way tie between those teams. And even though the National Lacrosse League standings say that Buffalo has clinched, it looks to me like they would be the odd man out in a three-way tie between Buffalo, Rochester and New York. Either way it’s the best regular season finish in the history of the NLL.

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Shanny’s Power Rankings: Week 16

In my 10 years of covering the NLL I’ve never seen a season like this one. Great starts by Philly, Minnesota and Colorado followed by mediocrity, and dismal starts by Edmonton , Chicago and Rochester followed by resurgence (except for Edmonton this weekend). At least we now know that we will not be having 12 teams finishing the season at 8 and 8 as a couple of teams (Philly, Minnesota) got their 9th victories and a couple (Edmonton, Portland) got their 9th losses. (I know, Calgary got theirs last weekend).

Only two weeks left and everyone still has playoff hopes. At this point every remaining game is meaningful but check out the match ups on the last weekend of the season. The playoffs will be on the line as New York hosts Rochester and Calgary visits Edmonton and first place will be up for grabs when Colorado meets the Stealth in San Jose. Back to the Power Rankings, you might be surprised at the new leader. READ MORE »

Shanny's Power Rankings

Shanny’s Power Rankings: Week 15

Only three weeks left and there is still so much to be determined in the National Lacrosse League playoff race.

Edmonton’s future looks a lot better than it did a few weeks ago. Despite the 8-5 record and last night’s victory there must be concerns in Philadelphia. I don’t ever remember a team with the league’s worst goals-against average ever doing well in the playoffs.

Every team in the league should be cheering against Knighthawks. Statistically they are strong in every part of the game and if they make it to the post-season they will be the most dangerous team.

As for the Power Rankings, sorry New York, you had your chance. Just ask Rochester how quickly you can move from the Penthouse to the outhouse.

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Shanny’s Power Rankings: Week 14

Wow. Again, another surprising weekend. Chicago beats Minnesota – not a huge surprise – but you have to like Chicago’s 10 goal run after a slow start. Rochester defeats Philly — not a surprise at all. The Rochester Knighthawks are a bundle of dynamite, it’s just that they often forget the matches to light the fuse. Edmonton stifles San Jose 12-5. Now that’s a shocker, especially after Edmonton’s lackluster game in Toronto last week. Who would have thought the Rush could shut down an offense with Colin Doyle, Jeff Zywicki and Luke Wiles.

It doesn’t look like the Power Rankings have changed much but try to use your imagination to picture this. A month ago the distance between number 1 and 12 was huge – you would have to scroll down your computer a long way to go from Philadelphia to Chicago. Today the distance between 1 and 12 is much smaller. If we could we would squish them on your computer screen today. It seems that all 12 teams are jockeying to finish the season at 8 and 8. That’s parity. READ MORE »

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Shanny’s Power Rankings: Week 13

What a weekend!! I’ve come to expect one or possibly two upsets a week but I can’t remember a weekend like this.

I’m not even thinking about the Portland victory over Colorado. Be honest. Did you really think that a tired Toronto Rock team could beat a rested Bandits team? Maybe Toronto’s victory over Edmonton was just too easy. Rochester loses their second game in a week against a team with only one victory. I’m not shocked that the Titans beat the Wings - but 20-13, are you kidding?

This is one of the most difficult weeks for Power Rankings. Just look at the East. Obviously Philly, and Buffalo lose some luster. Toronto and New York have earned the right to be called contenders and Rochester – well they’re just falling off the face off the earth. Get your daggers out now – there’s going to be a lot of name calling over this week’s rankings.

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Shanny’s Power Rankings: Week 12

Week 12

Not too impressed with my picks this week as I was wrong on 3 of 5 but I will take solace that my instincts were right on with the Edmonton Rochester game. Hamley’s got the boys believing in themselves and Saturday’s victory will impact the playoff race in both divisions. For now it will also cause some movement in the Power Rankings.

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Shanny’s Power Rankings: Week 11

Week 11

With the postponement of the Toronto Philly game it was even a quieter weekend with only 3 other games. But even though there were only 3 games, they were pivotal matchups that caused a major shakeup of rankings. I debated with myself about position 1 and 2. Check out what I’ve done - I’m sure the debating won’t stop.

Haven’t heard much complaining that Buffalo and Toronto each play 9 home and 7 road games. (New York could only get 6 home dates). I’m sure the whining will start soon.

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Shanny’s Power Rankings: Week 10

Week 10

You have to love the parity in the league this year. Probably more than any year in the past 10 there is no clear cut favorite at the half waypoint. Colorado, Minnesota and finally Philly have now tasted defeat. We expected a 5-way battle for the playoffs in the East but New York is making sure it’s a 6 way fight. In the West Bob Hamley has awoken the dead and Portland and Calgary better watch their backs. Every game next week will have huge implications in the standings with San Jose at Colorado, Minnesota at Buffalo, Portland at Calgary and Toronto at Philadelphia.

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Shanny’s Power Rankings: Week 9

Week 9

Just when you think you have things figured out you have a weekend like this. I thought Rochester had everything straightened out - they don’t. After Friday’s loss to Portland I was about to drop Calgary and they come up with a huge victory yesterday. The power rankings can only show so much. For example it doesn’t really show that Philadelphia has strengthened its hold on the number one position after their dominant victory over Minnesota. It also doesn’t show that many teams are virtually tied and teams like New York and Portland are so much better today than a few weeks ago. Rochester looked unimpressive again but until Toronto can beat them its very difficult to drop them below the Rock.

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Shanny’s Power Rankings: Week 8

Week 8

There’s a new team at number one. The Wings answered the challenge this weekend by winning their first game on the road, at the “visitor unfriendly” Pepsi Center, with a monster fourth quarter. Aside from that change to the Power rankings it also looks like the teams fall into 3 different groupings: the contenders, the pretenders and the cellar dwellers. Philly, Minnesota, Colorado, and Rochester are the true contenders today. The next four teams have yet to show that they are serious challengers for the championship. Buffalo and Calgary have had serious injury problems, San Jose hasn’t shown the necessary “killer” instinct and Toronto doesn’t have the depth to match the top teams. As for the cellar dwellers, the Titans have a good argument for moving up but I will wait for next week. Portland is going to make the playoffs anyhow and Chicago and Edmonton are going to have long seasons.

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Shanny’s Power Rankings: Week 7

Shanny’s Power Rankings: Week 7

Week 7

Ok, not much changed after last week. Ok nothing changed, as there were no victories that forced me to change last week’s ranking. I thought I would be moving Buffalo ahead of Rochester, but they lost to the Titans in New York. Other than Buffalo’s upset loss in New York and dominant victory in Calgary, all the other games this weekend were fairly predicable. Only the games involving Buffalo were a surprise. Next week looks to be much different, as we’ll have many match ups that could shake the current rankings including the two undefeated teams meeting as the Wings travel to Colorado.

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Shanny’s Power Rankings: Week 6

Week 6

It was a light weekend in the NLL with only three games as seven teams had the weekend off. There was not a lot of movement in the Power Rankings but there is a new leader on top. It shouldn’t be too hard to guess who.

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Shanny’s Power Rankings: Week 5

Week 5

Its time for a shakeup. For the first few weeks of the season, the scoring leaders and standings have little relevance, especially when some teams have played once and some teams 3 times. So when I’m doing a game on TV early in the season I would generally talk about last year’s numbers for the players and teams. However there comes a time when we move on. Last year is history and we’re talking about 2008. That time is now.

While I won’t ignore Rochester’s 14-2 record last year they no longer deserve to be on the perch atop the power rankings. No more resting on your reputation. Check out the new Power Rankings.

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Shanny’s Power Rankings: Week 4

Week 4

I spent the weekend in Philly. On Friday I watched the Wings game and spent the rest of the time at the US Lacrosse National Convention. I’ll talk about the convention in another article but here are my impressions from the Wings game.

The Wings are for real and they are a contender. For three quarters of the game they were the dominant team. I spoke to a number of players and they are really starting to believe in coach Huntley and themselves. Rochester’s confidence is a little fragile right now. Some of the players I spoke with said that something’s missing and it’s probably called Mike Accursi. I don’t believe it.

In the fourth quarter the Knighthawks were scary. John Grant scored one of the most beautiful goals I’ve ever seen. He threw about 4 fakes before he lobbed an over the shoulder shot over Blasdell on what looked like an impossible angle. Every one in the arena felt as if they just barely ran out of time.

While reading my power rankings, keep this in mind. They are my rankings based on where I think these teams stand in the long run. Currently Rochester is in 5th place in the East Division. Are they the 5th best team in the East? Not likely.

Anyhow, here they are.

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Shanny’s Power Rankings: Week 3

Week 3

Toronto looked poised for a victory with two minutes left on Friday when a couple of bad penalties turned it around and good weekend goes bad. Buffalo showed a lot of heart getting the split the hard way and the Philadelphia brass must be smiling for a change after a dominant weekend. New York’s win on the road is the biggest surprise for me but there are there are a lot more stories behind the stories. Stay tuned.

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Shanny’s Power Rankings: Week 2

Week 2

After only 2 games in the first two weeks there are no changes to the power rankings. Colorado’s late comeback in week one stopped me from shuffling them down the list and Toronto’s road victory in Chicago was much closer than I expected, considering Chicago’s suspensions and injuries. However, neither game has provided enough evidence to move any of the teams at this point. With serious injuries to Sean Greenhalgh and possibly Brett Bucktooth, I considered moving Buffalo down the list before even playing a game but I’ll wait to see how Tavares the Bandits respond.

I can’t wait for next weekend. With 8 games scheduled, there’s bound to be some surprises.
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Shanny’s Power Rankings: Week 1

Week 1

1 (1)	Rochester Knighthawks 0-0-0 Defending champs
2 (2)	Colorado Mammoth 1-0-0 Squeezed out opening game win.
3 (3)	Buffalo Bandits 0-0-0 How much will Greenhalgh’s injury hurt?
4 (4)	Calgary Roughnecks 0-1-0 One bad quarter Saturday.
5 (5)	San Jose Stealth 0-0-0 No surprise this year.
6 (6)	Philadelphia 0-0-0 If they don’t move up this year - they never will.
7 (7)	Toronto Rock 0-0-0 Looked good in pre-season. Might surprise.
8 (8)	Minnesota Swarm 0-0-0 Always tough. How good will Point be?
9 (9)	Edmonton Rush 0-0-0 Playoff bound?
10 (10)	Portland Lumberjax 0-0-0 Dawson might have something to say about this.
11 (11)	Chicago Shamrox 0-0-0 If anyone falters, Batley’s crew will pounce.
12 (12)	New York Titans 0-0-0 No where to go but up.

Shanny's Power Rankings

Shanny’s Take: 2008 NLL power rankings

This article appears in Volume 12, Issue 1 of Inside Lacrosse Magazine. To buy a copy of this issue, click here.

IL’s NLL editor Brian Shanahan offers up his preseason power rankings for the 2008 NLL season:

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Shanny's Power Rankings

Shanny’s Take: 2008 season predictions, awards

This article appears in Volume 12, Issue 1 of Inside Lacrosse Magazine. To buy a copy of this issue, click here.

Once thought to be a lost cause due to an ongoing labor dispute between the league and the PLPA, the start of the 2008 NLL season is now just 12 days away. With that in mind, IL’s NLL editor Brian Shanahan offers up his predictions for how things will shake out in the East and West Division standings during the regular season, his 2008 playoff prognosications, and his preseason list of All-Pros and award winners.

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