The Edmonton Rush set an NLL record for consecutive wins during the 2014 season, but faltered at the end and found themselves eliminated from the playoffs during the West Division Finals, leaving them short of their goal of getting to their second Champion’s Cup. So although the season has to be thought of as a successful one, it looks like there may still be some room to improve going forward….
Going into the 2014 NLL Draft, the Calgary Roughnecks had three picks in the first two rounds and appeared to be positioned to add more blue-chip youth to their roster. Instead, they traded their two first-round picks as well as their two third-round picks to the New England Black Wolves in exchange for a first-round pick next year and a third rounder in 2016. “We entered the draft without a…
In his rookie season, Riley Loewen made an immediate impact on the Edmonton Rush’s offense. He contributed 17 goals and 19 assists to a team that needed help after the loss of Corey Small to a knee injury in the offseason. Small had been third on the team in scoring in 2013 with 64 points so there were question marks about whether Edmonton’s offense could remain competitive in 2014 without…
The Vancouver Stealth finished the 2014 NLL season tied for the worst record in the league, a disappointing 4-14. They were second-worst in goals for (181) and second-worst in goals against (223). Quite the fall for a team that came a goal shy of winning the Champion’s Cup just a year earlier. Over the summer the Stealth suffered another blow when head coach Chris Hall stepped down due to health…
This week we will be focusing on NLL breakout players for the 2015 season. We begin with Calgary transition player Karsen Leung. Leading up to the 2013 NLL Draft, the Calgary Roughnecks traded forward Joe Resetarits and the 15th pick overall for the 10th pick and a second round pick in 2015. With that 10th pick, the Roughnecks grabbed transition Karsen Leung. The decision to let go of a talented…
The Rochester Knighthawks have won an unprecedented three Champion’s Cups in a row, arguably making them one of the greatest dynasties in NLL history. More impressively, they’ve improved in each season during the three-peat run. In 2012, the Knighthawks stumbled into the playoffs with an unremarkable 7-9 record before getting white hot in the postseason and taking the championship. In 2013, they improved to 8-8 before making their playoff run…
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,…