NLL Insider

The Buzz

NLL Jersey Battles: Calgary Roughnecks vs. New York Titans

Sure, last week saw the San Jose Stealth smacked with their most embarrassing loss of the season, courtesy of the Rush, but thanks to all of my intrepid jersey battle voters they can take solace in the fact that their jersey is more highly regarded than the barbed wire extravaganza Edmonton routinely puts on the floor. A hearty congratulations to the Stealth.

Usually in the jersey battles I like to pair off teams when they’re playing against each other so that I can capitalize on the rivalry between fans and also (mostly) because it makes writing my opening sentences easier. But seeing as we’ve only got four teams left in the elimination round and I’m saving the big Knighthawks-Bandits clash for next week when they face-off, this week I am forced, FORCED, to pit the Calgary Roughnecks against the New York Titans — a match-up you won’t be seeing in this regular season of the National Lacrosse League. I hope you can handle it.

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The Buzz

Let NLL ‘fight’ for a good cause

I was able to go check out the James Bay Athletic Association fight night last night. It consists of players from the association’s two different local rugby teams, the Premier Division team and the 1st division team in a tough-man competition of sorts.

It’s three, one-minute rounds and the fighters use 16-ounce gloves, head gear and mouth guards, of course. The fans have their favorites, cheer every big looping haymaker and boo any sort of pushing, holding or cowardice. The ring is made up of the fans sitting at ring side, so if you are one of those lucky people, don’t wear your Sunday best! Everyone has a great time and I was a virgin last night and was amazed at the 200-plus people who crammed every corner of the JBAA clubhouse.

All the proceeds go to help keep the club alive, and it got me to thinking. Wouldn’t it be great if we had our own version, an NLL tough-man competition with all the proceeds going to the Les Bartley Foundation and cancer research? So here is my fight card!
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The Buzz

Why is Gary Gait a warrior?

Everyone who’s anyone in the world of lacrosse knows the answer to that question, but it doesn’t hurt to revisit the question now and then. That’s what ESPN The Magazine did in its story, “The Jordan … of lacrosse.”

Mann Cups, NLL titles, MLL titles, NCAA titles, MILL titles … it’s a veritable alphabet soup of titles for the man who gave us Air Gait during his days at Syracuse.

“I didn’t play hockey because my parents didn’t want to get up early,” Gait tells the magazine. “The great thing about lacrosse is that if you can master the stick, you don’t have to be as physically dominating. But I lucked out. I was also a good size and I could run pretty well.”

True that. In the debates of lacrosse greats, it’s never long before Gary’s name enters the conversation and even though dude’s 40 years old, he’s far from finished. After his brief NLL coaching sting in Colorado, Gait is back in Central New York, coaching the SU women’s team to a 9-2 record and a No. 5 national ranking heading into this weekend’s contest with No. 6 Georgetown.

• Vote for Caelee or Erin today: NLLInsider.com
• Hofstra’s Card to be in IL’s Fan Zone: NLLInsider.com
• Don’t forget about the NLL Offensive Challenge: WingsZone.com

The Buzz

Much-improved Titans can’t sneak up on anyone in the NLL anymore

The calendar has turned to April and the race for the NLL Champion’s Cup is in full swing. As Chief Operating Officer of the New York Titans I try to make just about every road trip I can with the squad and this weekend is no exception as we fly to Minnesota to take on the 7-4 Swarm.

The Titans had a tough loss out there in February but that was during some early season growing pains and before we really gelled and came together. Since that loss in Minny the Titans have reeled off 5 wins in the last 6 games to bring the franchise to 6-5 this season and above .500% for the first time in our brief history.

The real challenge now is that we aren’t sneaking up on teams anymore, they know we can play. The race for the playoffs in the East is about as tight as it can get with the Titans sitting a half-game behind Buffalo for that final playoff spot and only 1.5 games out of first place. The boys are playing better and with more confidence every week and have shown some real character having played 8 of 11 games on the road thus far due to scheduling conflicts.

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The Buzz

Knighthawks put it all together in fight to stay alive for NLL playoffs

The Rochester Knighthawks kept their National Lacrosse League playoff hopes alive with a dominating 20-12 win over division leading Philadelphia last Saturday night. Unlikely hero Ken Millin took home game MVP honors after scoring three goals and dishing out four assists.

Rochester was led by Millin, John Grant’s eight points and 13 loose balls, Scott Evans’ seven points and Pat O’Toole’s 36 saves on 48 shots. Philadelphia was led by Jake Bergey’s five points, Athan Iannucci’s four points, and Geoff Snider’s five points and domination of the face off circle, winning 25 of 30.

This has been an up and down season for the defending champs. After two straight losses to league basement dwellers Chicago and Edmonton, it appeared that Rochester had nothing left. A convincing win over a likely playoff bound team will do great things to boast your confidence.

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The Buzz

Sneak peek at the Rochester Knighthawks’ camo jerseys

Well, with the way the Knighthawks have been playing lately, can you blame them for wanting to go a little incognito? Here’s a first look at a sketch of the Knighthawks planned camo jerseys for their annual jersey auction — military night, Saturday April 12th vs. the Buffalo Bandits. Proceeds will go to Foodlink, a Rochester-area food bank that serves over 550 human service programs. The Knighthawks recently raised over $2,600 for CURE Childhood Cancer Association with their second annual teddy bear auction.

The Buzz

Mammoth-Wings are on TV

If you’ve got satellite TV, you’re all set.

If you don’t, make friends real fast with someone who does.

The Colorado Mammoth (5-0) put their unbeaten record on the line Friday night against another unbeaten squad, the Philadelphia Wings (3-0) and if you have satellite TV, you can watch it all live. It’s a 9 p.m. start on the East Coast and it’ll be aired live on Altitude, which is Ch. 644 on DirecTV and Ch. 410 on the Dish Network. If you’re in Philly and have Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia, the game will be broadcast on a tape-delay, starting at 10:30 p.m. It’s a Friday night, so you know you’re gonna be awake that late, so stay up and watch it.

If you’re gonna be on the road and have satellite radio, you won’t have to miss the game. It’s the SIRIUS Game of the Week, live on Ch. 143. Coverage starts at 8 p.m. with Casey Powell’s “Inside the NLL with Casey Powell” show, followed by the game at 9.

Of course, if the game you wanna see isn’t on a cable or satellite station, you can always plug into the B2 network to catch your favorite tilt.

The Buzz

NLL Source: Glenn Clark Suspension Lifted

NLL Insider has learned from a source close to the National Lacrosse League that the NLL has lifted the suspension on Toronto Rock head coach Glenn Clark, effective immediately. An announcement will be made by the NLL Wednesday.

Clark missed four games after being suspended indefinitely by the league following an altercation with Minneosta forward Sean Pollock after the Toronto-Swarm game Jan. 11 at the Air Canada Centre. Assault charges were initially laid on Clark, but were subsequently dropped Feb. 5.

The 38-year-old NLL veteran is in his second season as Toronto’s head coach; he was replaced by assistant Terry Bullen on the Rock bench over the past four games.

Toronto stands 3-3 in the stacked East Division. Clark is expected to return to the Rock bench this Friday for Toronto’s big division tilt with Buffalo at the ACC. Stay tuned to NLLInsider.com for more on this breaking story.

NLL Insider, The Buzz

Report from Titans-Bandits Game at Madison Square Garden

New York Titans Dance Team

I went to the New York Titans game Sunday at Madison Square Garden. Pretty exciting afternoon of lacrosse. New York went up, fell apart and then hung on to win in overtime on a Jordan Hall goal against Buffalo. HUGE win for New York.

I already voted for the All-Star Game but since you can vote once a day I might have to vote again every day from now until Feb. 28 to guarantee Jarett Park makes the East squad. I heard from my man Paul Tutka that Park got blown up last weekend in a fight against Jon Harasym, so I didn’t know if the former ’Cuse star would be a bit shell-shocked this week against the Bandits.

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The Buzz

At the end of the first quarter …

Well, we are a quarter of the way through and who would have EVER thought the NLL would look like this when we got here?! Sure, the fans in Philly and Minny “knew” they would be undefeated, but let’s be honest here: Top to bottom, the league is all shook up!

When the season started, I went WAY out on a limb and said my former team, the Rush, would surprise all and make triumphant run to the Cup. Somebody hit the gong please, I was way off. Not to say they won’t make a N.Y. Giants run to finish but, I just don’t see it happening. Somebody posted on the message boards that it’s possible, that both Edmonton and Portland could continue losing games and we may see a 2-14 team make the playoffs. CAN YOU IMAGINE THAT?!?  That’s just stupid. Come on fellas, we all know you can play, get out there and smash some heads!

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The Buzz

Merrill or a package of players?

This week’s column is brought to you courtesy of Saturday’s Roughnecks/Lumberjax game.

The lopsided 13-6 Calgary win gave me plenty of things to talk about.

The first was the opportunity to revisit a debate that raged 2 1/2 years ago when Portland won the expansion lottery and received the coveted first-overall pick.

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The Buzz

JT: A Humble Champion

Well, it’s been a wild week in the NLL. Well, OK, it hasn’t been as wild as the week before but that’s WAY in the past already.

There have been countless articles and stories and blogs and posts congratulating John Tavares on his record-breaking performance, but not many have gone deeper into the man. I’m not saying I’m a JT expert or anything, but having been able to play a few seasons with him I got know him quite a bit.

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The Buzz

A.I. show in Philly

I spent last weekend in Philadelphia and was able to catch the Wings vs. Knighthawks game at the Wachovia Center. I arrived at the arena excited about the chance to watch John Grant Jr. and his Rochester squad in action.

So much has been said and written about their offensive prowess that I walked in last Friday fully expecting to be awed by Grant, Scott Evans, Shawn Evans, Steve Toll and Shawn Williams. What I got instead was the Athan Iannucci show and a new respect for the Philadelphia Wings and head coach Dave Huntley.

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The Buzz

A Win in a Loss?

It’s hard being in the business end of the game.  When you’re playing, it’s simple win or lose.  Things get more complicated when your primary job is putting butts in seats.

The Portland LumberJax had a great crowd for the opener in Portland on Saturday night.  We had been bashed around a little by the local media for canceling the season and many people were having trouble getting over our 10-game losing streak and last place finish in 2007.  But when the curtain came up on the 2008 season there were over 10,000 screaming fans in the Rose Garden Arena and the energy was as high as I have seen for a Jax game. 

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From the Stands, The Buzz

Wings Versus Shamrox Analysis

At the end of last season, Philadelphia Wings owner Russ Cline guaranteed a victory in their final home game.  In front of 12,000 people he offered a free ticket to their ‘08 home opener if he was wrong. 

Well, the Wings lost and I am not sure what happened to the free entry promise, but it appears that last year’s Nightmare on Broad Street, Part V, might be the end of long and painful series.  The 19–11 final score in Saturday’s opening night game accurately summarized the inequalities between the Wings and the Shamrox, in spite of the fact that Chicago only trailed by 3 early in the fourth quarter.

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The Buzz

Home advantage (not), and other notes

It was a wild weekend in the difficult-to-predict world of the NLL. Normally, you would think that playing on your home turf would give you some advantage.

Apparently not. Only three home teams (Minnesota, Philadelphia and Colorado) managed to come away with victories in an eight-game slate.

With the first two games of the season being split (Chicago losing at home and Colorado winning), that makes it six visiting-team wins and only four home-team wins to date (two of those by Colorado). What’s the reason?

A number of things, I suppose. First and foremost — and this is a very good thing for the league — is parity.

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The Buzz

Rock GM calls out Swarm taunter

It doesn’t get much uglier than a coach punching an opposing player, but that’s apparently what happened Friday night in Toronto and at least one member of the Rock is laying the blame on Minnesota.

“All I want to say is that if the Minnesota player had left his dressing room with his team, there would have been no incident,” Rock general manager Mike Kloepfer told The National Post of Toronto.  ”There is no reason for a member of the Minnesota Swarm to be approaching a member of the Toronto Rock in that situation.”

Sean Pollock, the player Toronto coach Glenn Clark apparently punched in the face two times, wasn’t even a factor in Minnesota’s victory. He’d been ejected in the first quarter of Friday’s game.

As NLLInsider.com reported yesterday, the league is well-aware of what happened, is investigating and is expected to hand down a ruling later this week.

The Buzz

Ode to the fan

My first two years in the league I had the honour and pleasure to play for one of the best organizations in the league, the Rochester Knighthawks. They have a sense of tradition and an air of confidence that does nothing but breed winners.

However, what I wasn’t prepared for was the hostility between two cities only a short 45-minute drive apart. The Bandits vs. K-Hawks rivalry is one of the best in sports.

The fans are die hard beyond belief, they are passionate and at any time willing to let everyone and anyone know who they cheer for. I saw a brawl in the HSBC Arena when Derek Malawsky dropped a league-record 11 dimes on the Bandits. Witnessed pandemonium after the Bandits knocked the Hawks out of the playoffs in Rochester, where they proceeded to have a “shirts-off” party at the post-game bar.

What more could you expect from two cities with such close ties?

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The Buzz

What’s Up in Philly?

Like most people around the league I am psyched to finally see a game in person.  I passed on the B2 games the last two weekends.  I guess I have better things to do on Saturday nights than to sit home and stare at my computer. 

Let’s hope next year brings a return of the game of the week on a national network.  In getting ready for the Wings home opener, I can’t help but think about the various pre-season predictions.  There has been a lot of hype about the return of the Rock.  I really don’t think anyone knows what to expect in Philly.  Many agree that they have some of the best young talent in the league … obviously over the past few years they have fallen short of expectations. 

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The Buzz

Raising the Roof

knighthawks

Not a lot of Knighthawks fans got to see it happen in person, but on Saturday night, they can celebrate it anyway.

One night after opening their season against the rival Buffalo Bandits in Buffalo the Rochester Knighthawks return home for their home opener to play the Bandits. Before that game, however, the Knighthawks will celebrate their 2007 NLL championship by raising a championship banner prior to the 7:35 p.m. faceoff.

Better hurry to get your tickets, though. The Knighthawks announced late Tuesday that just 2,500 tickets are left.

 Meanwhile, out West, the Lumberjax are ready to prove they’re not a 4-12 team: Portland Tribune
KSTC-TV to broadcast Swarm opener on tape delay: Minnesota Swarm