The Edmonton Rush set an NLL record for consecutive wins in 2014 en route to winning the West Division in the regular season. Unfortunately, their storybook season came to an abrupt end in the playoffs when the Calgary Roughnecks took them out in the Division Finals. So how do they improve on so much success and get back to the Champion’s Cup? Even before they’ve started the draft, the second-best…
The Calgary Roughnecks came within five minutes of winning their third Champion’s Cup in franchise history in the 2014 playoffs but ultimately fell just shy. Although that means the Calgary head office has gone back to the drawing board trying to find ways to improve to get over that final hump, is there realistically much more help they can find in the upcoming draft? Actually, it is a possibility. The…
The Toronto Rock struggled for consistency through much of the 2014 season before finally going on a 4-0 run to wrap up the schedule. And then, after such a strong finish, they were upset by the Buffalo Bandits in the first round of the playoffs. Toronto management identified defense as an issue, feeling the Bandits were able to push them around and impose their will in the postseason. They’ve already…
A few more free agents were locked down in the past week as NLL teams continue to re-sign their players, but the biggest newsmaker was a trade between the Toronto Rock and the unnamed Connecticut franchise that saw transition Brodie Merrill moved to the Rock for two players and three draft picks. After remaining quiet on the transaction front for almost the entire first month of the free agent period,…
After a couple busy weeks of signings in the NLL. this past week was fairly quiet, with only a handful of free agent signings while the Toronto Rock and Minnesota Swarm swapped transition players. The Vancouver Stealth locked down Chris O’Dougherty, Tim Henderson and Brandan Smith, all with one-year contracts. O’Dougherty played in five games last season, picking up five assists and 33 loose balls along the way. Smith has…
The NLL free agency period is well underway now, with teams steadily locking down their outstanding players. The Colorado Mammoth have been very busy, signing Eric Law, John Gallant, Nick Carlson, Ian Hawksbee, Jake Crans, Dan Ball and Michael Simon all to one year contracts and Colin Boucher to a two-year deal. They have also acquired restricted free agent Alex Turner from the Minnesota Swarm after the Swarm declined to…
The Calgary Roughnecks made a bit of a splash before the free agent period in the NLL got underway as they announced a two-year contract extension for goaltender Mike Poulin, who would have become a restricted free agent otherwise. Locking down their all-time leader in minutes played the day before the free-agency period began takes one headache out of the equation as the busy part of the offseason gets going. Calgary…
The 36th annual Canada Day tournament was hosted by the Subway South Soccer Centre in Calgary this weekend, making it the longest-running box lacrosse tournament on Earth. The tournament gives kids from the Novice, Pee Wee, Bantam and Midget levels from across North America the chance to showcase their skills. In previous years future NLL stars such as local heroes Kaleb Toth and Geoff Snider have competed in this tournament,…
There are five games scheduled in the WLA this weekend, featuring all seven teams. With the season about halfway done, there is still plenty of time for the teams at the bottom of the standings to move up and plenty of time for the frontrunners to extend their leads. The Burnaby Lakers host the Maple Ridge Burrards in the first game of the weekend. The Lakers are only two points behind…
The Calgary Roughnecks came up about five minutes short of winning their third Champion’s Cup in franchise history. ln the tie-breaking mini-game for all the marbles, the Roughnecks built up a 2-0 lead, then gave up three straight goals in the dying moments to see the Rochester Knighthawks take the trophy. Still, in a season that saw a number of ups and downs, it’s hard to call the season a…