As the final buzzer went off last week, so did the Philadelphia Wings chances of making the 2014 NLL Playoffs. The Wings fell 10-9 to the Toronto Rock giving them the final playoff spot in the east. When the Wings started the 2014 season their was already questions. Goaltender Brandon Miller was a holdout for the first seven games of the season. The Wings would lose players to team USA for the FIL World Lacrosse Championships.
Paul Rabil, Brendan Mundorf, Jeff Reynolds, Max Seibald would pass on the 2014 NLL season to train and stay healthy for the WLC in Denver July 10-19. Then you had the trade of Drew Westervelt to Colorado. This trade enabled the Wings to get goaltender Evan Kirk from Minnesota. In the draft the Wings selected A.J.Masson (12th), James Delaney (18th), Tucker Durkin (19th), Don Alton (33rd), and Rob Pannell (50th). As of today not one of these players are on the active or practice squad roster. Masson was released during camp, Delaney made it to the last cut.
Don Alton was on the roster from day one but released prior to the March 18th playoff roster deadline. Durkin and Pannell were excused from camp to tryout for team USA and with limited roster space, seemed the right move. So I would expect to see these two in camp for next season. Pannell has been tagged as an American player that has the skills and talent to make it in the indoor game. Durkin is a defensemen who will bring size and strength should he make the roster. Since the last title back in 2001, the Wings have made the playoffs 4 times in 13 seasons and haven’t hosted a home playoff game. (2002 was defaulted to them due to attendance). They finished in 2nd in 2002 (8-8), 2008 (10-6, 4th due to tie breakers) and 2012-2013 4th (7-9). All these years they were eliminated in the first round, and since. From 2003-2007 they missed the playoffs and the decline in attendance and season ticket holders started to drop. In 2008 they made the playoffs at 10-6, but had a fourth seed as they lost tie breakers to Rochester, Buffalo and Toronto. In 2012 they finished in third at 7-9 tied with Rochester and Buffalo, but after losing a tie breaker with Rochester they received a third seed and a trip on the road to Rochester.
This season was no different. The Wings go 3-9 in there division and losing the tie breaker to every team in there division. Rochester (0-3), Buffalo, Toronto and Minnesota (1-2). You must also play 60 hard minutes every game and not have so many lapses in the game. Your special teams must be above average. Penalty killing is a must, when you lose a game by 3 and allow the opponent to go 5-5 on the power play thats a big lapse. In this league you can not lose 75% of divisional games and all tie-breakers and expect to get into the playoffs. Next season looks like another roster roll over.
Players that are on Team USA for the WLC, Rabil, Mundorf, Reynolds, Seibald could be invited back, Pannell and Durkin whose rights they still have, along with this seasons draft pick and signings we could see another 7+ players turnover. With about 5 months til the draft the Wings will have a lot to review. First thing on the agenda should be to get a qualified back-up goaltender. Don Alton needs some indoor playing time, and Kevin Croswell is not the answer.
With all this happening, fans have already been saying they will not be renewing their season tickets for next season. The Jungle is no longer “The Jungle”, it’s become a walk in the park for opponents, and if things don’t start to turn around for the better, we could be counting the days until one of the oldest franchises is no more.
