This NLL offseason, we will be examining some of the trades that shaped the 2015 season. The biggest blockbuster of the NLL season came at the draft. The Rochester Knighthawks, coming off of three championships in a row, decided to shake up their roster. Johnny Powless, who has been in the NLL since he was 18 years old, had been an important piece for the Hawks but hadn’t been the…
This NLL offseason, we will be examining some of the trades that shaped the 2015 season. The Toronto Rock and Minnesota Swarm had vastly different paths in 2015. Minnesota, despite several first round picks, missed the playoffs once again and then they moved to Georgia. Toronto fought through adversity and injury to become the top seeded team in the NLL playoffs and become the eastern representative in the finals. In…
The term “breakout player” is so vague that it is hard to define who truly have broken out this season in Major League Lacrosse. The way we’ve gone about it is selecting players playing better than expected and making more of an impact than they have for their team in the past. Obviously, rookies who came aboard two weeks ago cannot be considered. Davey Emala- Boston Cannons The Cannons were…
One of the most polarizing stories in lacrosse over the past two weeks have been the story of the Edmonton Rush. This comes at a time where we’ve seen a Tewaaraton winner, the MLL all star game, Canadian season opening, and the Minnesota Swarm moving south. Still, the Rush have captured our attention. They announced they might move from the city while playing in the western conference finals, then they…
As Major League Lacrosse heads into the All-Star break, check out our three stars from the weekend that was. 3) Jake Bernhardt (Ohio) – 3 goals, 3 groundballs There were several tremendous candidates this week, but Jake Bernhardt gets the third star not for the quantity of goals, but importance. Jordan Wolf of Rochester and his seven points deserve an honorable mention, but that came in a 13-6 win. Bernhardt…
Major Series Lacrosse has another deal that has gone down. Aaron Wilson has been traded to the Kitchener Waterloo Kodiaks in exchange for a 2016 fifth round draft pick going back to the Peterborough Lakers. Wilson was acquired by the Lakers last season in exchange for goaltender Davide DiRuscio, who has been the starting goalie for the Kodiaks this season. While with the Lakers, Wilson had a solid run. He…
Drafting is one of the keys to team building in any sport. There are many examples of this; the current two Stanley Cup teams, the Tampa Bay Lightning and Chicago Blackhawks, have had some of the best drafting in the NHL to get to this point. In the National Lacrosse League, the champion Edmonton Rush built their team around first overall picks Ben McIntosh and Mark Matthews. Major League Lacrosse…
The Boston Cannons had an opportunity to separate from the pack with a win in Rochester this weekend. Instead, it was the Rochester Rattlers who did just that with a 13-6 victory over Boston. Rochester is now tied with Ohio for second place in the league behind undefeated New York. The Cannons are now 4-4, tied with the Chesapeake Bayhawks and slumping Denver Outlaws for the final playoff seed. Jordan…
The Edmonton Rush are finally National Lacrosse League champions after winning their first title in their ten year existence. They defeated the Toronto Rock to win the 2015 title just two years after falling to the Rochester Knighthawks in the Champions Cup. The other day we took a look at how the Rush built their roster, and we saw they have drafted exceptionally. Of course, having two first overall picks…
Every team in the National Lacrosse League goes through adversity in a season. We highlighted yesterday how the Edmonton Rush lost Curtis Knight for the season. The Toronto Rock, however, may have seen the most adversity. They lost their star scorer Garrett Billings, who was traded due to a contractual dispute after he was out with a torn ACL. Captain Colin Doyle missed most of the season. Rob Hallyer, who…