NLL Insider

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…)

Thought is was pretty cool for the NLL to reach out to fans last week while trying to figure out who should be included in the league’s next Hall of Fame class.

We over at NLL Insider put together a short list of players we thought should be included on a ballot for guys that might be on the radar for consideration.

After the jump, check out the cast we’d give a look for entry into the Hall. (Read More…)

The lacrosse world was shocked last week when well-respected Buffalo-area sportswriter Tom Borrelli passed away after sustaining significant injuries after a fall from All High Stadium.

Borrelli, the only member of the media enshrined in the NLL’s Hall of Fame (inducted in 2007), was 51 years old.

From the first report of his fall, tributes and well wishes flew in for the well-respected journalist, both from his colleagues at the Buffalo News and from various readers and friends via a Blog set up by the News for people to comment on and send their regards.

After Borrelli’s passing on Thursday, we began to get some emails expressing the profound loss to the lacrosse world that had just occurred, so we sent out some word to the Buffalo community to share their thoughts on the man they called ‘Ox’ and what he meant to the game. (Read More…)

While the National Lacrosse League is the pinnacle of professional lacrosse and its players are undoubtedly grateful to be here, there can be no denying that life as a pro laxer requires a lot of sacrifice. Handing every weekend over to a sport, flying across the continent, feeling a pinch on family time, and crossing fingers and hoping the boss is a lacrosse fan who won’t mind when you need to leave early. Almost everyone in the league is in that same boat, so it would take something pretty drastic for one of these players to stand out from the rest in terms of how far he’ll go to chase his dream. Lacrosse fans, meet Keith Nyberg.

Nyberg originally signed with the Calgary Roughnecks prior to the 2008 season, but when the season was briefly cancelled he was forced to forego his plans of an NLL tryout. Because he lives in Australia. One year later his dream hasn’t died so he’s reported to the Roughnecks training camp at Spay Lakes Sawmills Family Sports Centre in Cochrane. Well Keith, as they say in Australia: good luck.

In other news:

• In addition to busting his butt on the floor, Nyberg along with Jeff Shattler will be shaving his head in support of the Epilepsy Association of Calgary: calgaryroughnecks.com
• Not everyone can handle the lacrosse lifestyle. That’s why Mississauga Jr. A Tomahawks alumnus and Knighthawks draft pick Matt Moulson opted for professional hockey, right? Rochester D&C
• Coming in from Connecticut, one more goodbye to Tom Borelli: Connecticut Post

Truth of the matter is, they’re jumpin’ in Beantown to get the season going. How do we know?

When you see Dan Dawson, Mitch Belisle and Sean Morris sportin’ some bowling shoes and throwin’ down at the local center, you just know they’re doing anything to scratch that competitive itch. That’s not a knock on bowling, but you gotta admit that when fellas are accustomed to the intensity of lacrosse and they turn to bowling, something’s up. Then again, it could all be for a good cause and that’s exactly why the Blazers trio was spotted at Kings Lanes in Boston. They were helping NBA baller Paul Pierce raise funds for “The Truth Strikes Again,” an organization that helps disadvantaged youth.

Injured Rochester Knighthawks superstar John Grant, Jr. is doing a lot of things with his free time while he recuperates, helping coach the team as well as the Six Nations Arrows, as well as writing a regular blog for the Knighthawks’ website. This is the second blog entry from Junior. To read the first, Click here

Welcome back lax nation, hope your week has been well. Blog number two has me thinking back to my collegiate years…yes, all seven of them. Sitting here, stumped, staring at a blank computer screen with good ole Pearl Jam blaring in the background. I now realize how little time I really did spend at my desk as a Phys. Ed. major. I guess I will become a more proficient typist as the weeks go by. Anyway, back to the task at hand, namely blogging about something of interest to anyone besides myself. (Read More…)

Seventh overall entry draft selection Matt Danowski took part in the Colorado Mammoth’s first training camp sessions last weekend in Denver and impressed to the point that Mammoth GM Steve Govett told NLL Insider this past week that the Duke legend “showed extremely well”.

Last weekend was really only the second time Danowski had played legit indoor ball, after impressing at this year’s combine game held during entry draft weekend.

The Mammoth dealt two of their mid second round selections to the Calgary Roughnecks in order to grab the seventh overall spot in September’s draft, allowing them to select Danowski in the first round.

“Matt has committed fully to indoor lacrosse,” added Govett, ”and it appears, has made a seamless transition.” (Read More…)

   

Best of 2008 Week 5 brings the top 10 shots at goal. Photos by John Mecionis, Abel Images, and Martin Allinson. 

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…)

Can ya believe the first game of the National Lacrosse League for the 2009 season is just a little more than one month away?

Well, if you’re not ready for the season, the Krew in Rochester might have enough enthusiasm for everyone. Two seasons ago, they were celebrating a Knighthawks championship. Last year, they weren’t invited to the postseason dance. So you can bet that optimism is in high gear in Rochester, and the Krew is kickin’ things off with a fan club party tomorrow night at the Stock Exchange at First Federal Plaza in downtown Rochester. The party starts at 7 p.m. and Knighthawks staff and players should be around for a meet and greet. The Stock Exchange also is gonna be the pre-game party location through the season, so get there Saturday to familiarize yourself with the digs, and bring your thirst.

Yesterday’s unfortunate news of the passing of Buffalo News reporter Tom Borrelli has sparked a flurry of coverage from not only local Buffalo media and lacrosse publications, but also well beyond simply those that dealt with the man, many affectionately referred to as ‘Ox’, on a day-to-day basis.

“Tom was a great guy who meant so much not only to the National Lacrosse League, but to the sport of lacrosse as a whole”, said NLL Commissioner Jim Jennings. “He was an inspiration to all of our writers around the league. We are grateful that Tom will have a place forever in the National Lacrosse League Hall of Fame, and will always be remembered. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family at this difficult time.”

Please check out the various articles, memories and reports on the loss of Borrelli, who will obviously never be forgotten as a writer, fan, sports enthusiast and amazing friend to so many, below…

• “He was probably one of the nicest guys I ever met.” Associated Press
• “Oversized and imposing on the outside but tender on the inside and downright hilarious.” Buffalo News
• “Tom died on the job, doing what he loved, covering a game.” Buffalo News
• “I’ll be forever thankful, for his friendship, for his guidance and for a stadium full of memories.” Press & Sun-Bulletin
• “He was such a passionate fan of the Bandits, but amidst the excitement and jubilation of the moment, he was still all business.” The Ultimate Sports Road Trip
• “I might still be inside the arena to this day had it not been for Tom giving me directions around the cavernous building.” Bob Chavez
• Share more memories and best wishes on WingsZone

If you’re not used to seeing Scott Stewart’s name in the headlines, it’s not because it doesn’t deserve to be there. Don’t let it be said that being the unsung hero doesn’t get a little old.

“Well, yeah it kind of frustrates me because at the beginning of my career I sort of started off as the guy in the headlines and then I stepped back and took on a different role,” he says. “To go from a goal-scorer to a guy who does more than scoring goals…you never get any credit for it, really.”

Frustrating or not, Stewart didn’t hesitate to slide into an entirely new role with the Portland Lumberjax. Head coach Derek Keenan didn’t hesitate to put him there. Stewart has now gone from goal-scorer to full-floor warrior, running end-to-end to dig out looseballs, push the transition, make big plays on the press and still occasionally employ his scoring touch. He became something that Dan Dawson last year labeled the X-factor. (Read More…)

Attention growing legion of Boston Blazers fans: if you’ve ever wanted to see a video of Mitch Belisle and Gary Bining going head-to-head in a game of basketball knockout, then 1) that is an oddly specific wish and 2) you’re in luck! With the Blazers training camp having been in full swing for the past couple weekends, the team took some time out to hit Reebok headquarters and flex their multi-sport muscles. If you go to the Blazers site and keep an eye on the video screen on the left-hand side, you’ll see a couple video options, one for the basketball and one for some training camp highlights, including a slo-mo diving goal from Brett Queener in black sweater number 4.

Continuing on with the theme of neat things the Blazers have done lately, the team handed out election-style signs at their first fan advisory council meeting. Council members please be advised that there are generally laws governing how long a candidate’s sign can be displayed on your lawn following an election. Believe you me the last thing you need is that cop who rides around on a bicycle knocking on your door to tell you that not only is your sign now considered litter, but Paul Reubens never ran for office in Canada.

In non-Boston news:

• If only everyone who has ever had an unpleasant run-in with Rudy Giuliani believed that lacrosse is a good sport for television, we might really have something here: Knowledge@Wharton

The news of Tom Borrelli’s passing this morning hit me. Hard. All day long, I’ve been asking why. Why him? Why now? Why at all? And perhaps the most frustrating and maddening aspect of it all is that those questions will never be answered.

It’s at times like this that we reflect. We think back on our own lives and take stock in what we’ve done, or not done, with our lives. Today, I find myself looking back at the times I spent with Tom Borrelli and because of our jobs, every one of my meetings with Tom was in a press box or at an athletic contest. I think back to the times Tom helped me and knowing him the way I did, he probably wouldn’t even remember helping me. Not because he didn’t want to remember those times, but because helping came naturally to Tom. It was who he was, and he never thought twice to extend his hand.

(Read More…)

Geoff Snider is arguably one of the toughest guys today in the Naitonal Lacrosse League.

He’s a monster on faceoffs, can finish on the offensive end and has a ton of cred when it comes to dropping the gloves. Turns out, he’s also in touch with his softer side. And when it comes down to it, can ya blame him? Rewind back to July when the Philadelphia Wings star returned home to Calgary to help the Northwest Hornets with a tournament. He thought he was gonna hand out medals and encourage the young fellas learning the game like he did with the Hornets nearly 20 years ago. Turns out, the Hornets surprised him with a ceremony to retire his jersey. “It caught me completely off guard. It really shook me up,” he told The Calgary Herald.

• NLL fans can nominate Hall of Fame candidates: NLL.com
• Toronto says it’s Rock solid: Toronto Sun
• Roughnecks sign Sanderson, Hartzell: CalgaryRoughnecks.com
• Krew unveils pre-game party plans for Rochester: AreYouKrew.net

NLL Insider has learned that Edmonton Rush forward Ben Prepchuk has decided to take a season off from playing in the NLL while shifting focus to a new business venture that will not allow him enough time to suit up for the Rush in 2009.

Prepchuk is a seven year pro vet that has seen time in New York, Calgary, Colorado and most recently Edmonton during the 2008 season.

The Rush traded for Prepchuk during the summer of 2007, dealing the team’s second round pick in the 2007 Entry Draft for Prepchuk’s services.

Prepchuk was a Champion’s Cup winner with the Mammoth in 2006 and a Mann Cup winner with the Brampton Excelsiors in 2002. A stud sniper as a junior with the Burnaby Lakers, where he also won a Minto Cup during the summer of 2000, Prepchuk was part of the Edmonton Outlaws team that were crowned President’s Cup champs two years ago.

 We all know the world of lacrosse is ever expanding and growth of the game is higher than it has ever been. The lacrosse family is getting bigger and bigger each year and that not only has to do with the exposure the NLL and MLL is getting but is also due to the fact that we are seeing more and more exposure of the game. When was the last time you heard about the Czech National Box League? The Alese Hrebesk Memorial Tournament is helded every year in Prague and in the past two years teams from Canada and the US have attended and won. Prague has even been slated as the next host for the World Indoor Championships in 2011. It’s easy to see that box lacrosse is slowly turning into a small forest fire of excitement and all we need is a little gust of wind to help us along.

(Read More…)

It is with unbelievable sadness that NLL Insider reports that lacrosse journalist and Buffalo News sports reporter Tom Borrelli passed away early Thursday morning due to complications from injuries sustained after falling down a set of stairs at a Buffalo stadium earlier this month.

The Buffalo News reports that Borrelli passed at 5:30AM this morning at Eric County Medical Center, where he’d been since sustaining the now fatal injuries.

On November 8th, while covering a high school football game at Robert Rich All High Stadium, Borrelli fell down a series of approximately twelve steps, striking his head repeatedly to the point that onlookers couldn’t even recognize the highly respected journalist, due to the massive bruising and swelling that occurred on the scene. (Read More…)

 In one of my recent blogs I mentioned that the only NLL player who had logged more air miles than Anthony Cosmo since 2005 is Portland’s Pat Jones who has commuted from Oshawa  Ontario to the West coast since he joined the Anaheim Storm in 2005. (Read More…)

As a two-time finalist for the Tewaaraton Trophy, winner of the Inside Lacrosse Laxie Award for Player of the Year, and one of the most highly-touted Americans to ever be drafted into the National Lacrosse League, you can call Paul Rabil’s entry to the indoor game a lot of things.

Don’t call it easy.

With his humble indoor beginnings currently being overshadowed by rumblings of his San Jose Stealth incompatibility, the big Maryland middie is once again getting acquainted with the downside of being in the spotlight.

“Being just off a national championship game, signing with Under Armour and getting drafted in both pro leagues has given me significant exposure. However, I have also been exposed to the more daunting side of the media throughout my tenure at Hopkins,” said Rabil. (Read More…)