“…one of the most memorable performances in NLL history.” -Stephen Stamp
“It was one of those moments where you’ll remember where you were when it happened.” -Adam Levi
“There are only two words for that performance: IN. SANE.” -Graeme Perrow
“Dane Dobbie cannot be human!” –Teddy Jenner X
“Dobbie was on another level” @NLL X
Player of the Week – Dane Dobbie
Usually, the purpose of this column is to write a game recap of Saturday night’s matchup between the Calgary Roughnecks and Albany FireWolves. However, with no disrespect to Albany, the lacrosse world was treated to a generational performance by one of the game’s grittiest players. Calgary’s Dane Dobbie did something none of us had ever seen before – starting in the 4th quarter, he scored eight – yes eight – straight goals including the OT winner lifting his Roughnecks to an improbable 13-12 victory.
He never missed in the final quarter. Period. Eight goals on eight shots.
Wait… that’s not entirely true. He did miss… sort of. With three minutes left, Dobbie cut to the net and scored on a crease dive which was called no goal on the floor because of a crease violation. No matter. With each goal, you could feel that something special was happening. The excitement in Brendan Glasheen and Dan Bahl’s voice. The look on the faces of the Roughnecks. The look on Glenn Clark’s face. The strange quietness of the MVP arena crowd. Shivers.
After being held off the scoresheet for the first three quarters and Albany holding a comfortable 9-5 lead on their home turf, Dobbie began his assault on the record books. Just like Alexander Ovechkin loves to score from the red circle, Dobbie started his run with three goals from his trademark shooter spot on the floor. Then he went inside and scored. Then back outside and scored. Each shot confidently stroked with the conviction of a shooter knowing he wasn’t going to miss.
Down by one with 1:46 to go. How about a 40-foot stinger to the top right corner to tie it up? Done.
Like all great performances, you need a worthy opponent to make it truly special and full credit to the FireWolves. Despite what was unfolding, Albany somehow shook it off and scored the go-ahead goal with only 1:22 remaining. But that’s what makes this achievement even more remarkable. With only 48 seconds left in the game, Dobbie came screaming off the bench and caught a 140-foot pass from goalie Cam MacLeod and promptly buried it far side on Doug Jamieson to force overtime. Goal number 7 – an NLL record for goals in a quarter.
There was only one thing that could happen in overtime, (courtesy of Brendan Glasheen):
“Next goal wins. Dobbie cutting through the middle… and he scores again! Dane Dobbie wins it. A magical night by Dane Dobbie!”
Goosebumps.
