The NLL had a one-in-a-kind weekend. John Grant Jr. joined the 600-plus club (call AARP!), Curtis Dickson was the man for the Roughnecks, and Matt Vinc gave the Knighthawks an awesome victory over the Bandits.
First Star: John Grant Jr.—600th Career Goal
I’m personally a fan of awards and record breaking. The Colorado Mammoth pulled off the unthinkable and made it to the playoffs. Not that they’re a bad team, but they weren’t producing results for the first half of the season.
Grant joins John Tavares and Gary Gait as the only three NLL players to ever score 600-plus career goals. The performance by him and his teammates propelled the Mammoth past the Swarm in a devastating loss (for Minnesota).
Second Star: Curtis Dickson—made OT goal to give Roughnecks the win over Rush
Up until Week 15, the Edmonton Rush were the team to beat. Having broken multiple NLL records, and setting new ones (longer schedule) they went 14-0 before being halted.
Curtis Dickson is the reason the Calgary Roughnecks made that two losses for the Rush. In the never ending battle for Alberta, the game went into overtime. Dickson found the back of the net at 4:17 in OT, and the ‘Necks won 14-13. Dickson tallied up seven goals in that one game.
Third Star: Matt Vinc—Knighthawks goaltender
The Rochester Knighthawks have once again had quiet a stellar season. Matt Vinc has been on fire in goal, like a cave man protecting his home.
On the other side of western New York, Buffalo’s Bandits have experienced an inconsistent and odd transition in coaching. At first, everything seemed to fit perfectly on paper. The season started out rough, then picked up.
Now, thanks to the K’hawks the Bandits have a new franchise record seven straight losses in one regular season. Vinc totaled 45 saves and had a game-save percentage of .918. That deserves a record book spot!
