On Saturday April 5th, the Colorado Mammoth (5-9) return to Rexall Place in Edmonton to face the undefeated Edmonton Rush (13-0). Colorado is coming off a tough loss against the Philadelphia Wings at home on March 29th, by the score of 14-12. The Mammoth are looking to hold onto that final play-off spot in the NLL Western Division where their rivals the Rush hold a commanding lead, and have already locked in their spot for the 2014 play-offs. Colorado is only a half-game ahead of the Vancouver Stealth (4-9) so this game is critical if the Mammoth want to stay in the race for the 2014 post-season.
Each of the last two meetings of these teams were home-openers for the clubs. The first was the Mammoth’s home-opener on December 28, 2013 where the Rush came away victorious albeit a close game with the final score 13-10. The second was the Rush’s home-opener on January 11th, where they crushed the Mammoth by the score 17-6. Up until then, all the Mammoth games were decided by 3 goals or less.
The Mammoth have had a rough go this season, with the eight-week loss of forward Adam Jones on February 1st, and a major upheaval in the coaching staff on March 4th, when Mammoth GM Steve Govett announced that head coach Bob Hamley, assistants Ed Comeau and Sean Ferris were relieved of their coaching duties. They were replaced by former Mammoth players Pat Coyle, Chris Gill, and Dan Stroup. Another blow to the team came when Casey Powell who has been spectacular, was placed on the short-term hold-out list on March 29th.
Since that time, the Mammoth have had momentum in the majority of their games, but have had a problem playing a full 60 minutes of quality lacrosse, which has cost them in the end.
The Mammoth definitely have stellar players on their squad. In fact, according to the NLL.com Top 10 Plays of the Week, they dominated this past weekend where they held three of those top spots. Number six went to net-minder Dillon Ward who made a spectacular save against Wings forward Pat Saunders; number three went to forward Adam Jones who had an amazing spin and dodge move against Wings defensemen John Ranagan, then scored a goal on crease; and number two went to forward Athan Iannucci when his shovel shot past Wings transition Kyle Sweeney hit net, although Iannucci paid the price when Wings defensemen Stephen Hoar sent him to the floor.
Leaders for the Mammoth include: forward John Grant Jr., 30 G, 48 A, 54 LB, 10 PPG, 2 SHG, 151 SOG, and a .137 shot percentage; forward Drew Westervelt, 27 G, 25 A, 27 LB, 6 PPG, 100 SOG, and a .199 shot percentage; forward Adam Jones, (who has only played nine games this season) 27 G, 18 A, 40 LB, 5 PPG, 1 SHG, 87 SOG, and a .241 shot percentage; and forward Sean Pollock, 18 G, 20 A, 38 LB, 4 PPG, 1 SHG, 69 SOG, and a .178 shot percentage.
Leaders for the Rush include: forward Mark Matthews, 23 G, 37 A, 33 LB, 6 PPG, 129 SOG, and a .127 shot percentage; forward Curtis Knight, 24 G, 25 A, 57 LB, 8 PPG, 89 SOG, and a .211 shot percentage; forward Cory Conway, 15 G, 34 A, 24 LB, 7 PPG, 48 SOG, and a .242 shot percentage; and transition Zack Greer, 23 G, 19 A, 34 LB, 4 PPG, 1 SHG, 106 SOG, and a .154 shot percentage.
The net-minder stats for each team:
Mammoth: Dillon Ward #45 – 5 W, 6 L, 131 GA, 11.767 GAA, 424 saves, and a save percentage of .764
Rush: Aaron Bold #77 – 12 W, zero L, 102 GA, 8.309 GAA, 521 saves, and a save percentage of .804
Each of the two teams has players in the top five NLL.com League Leader categories:
Mammoth:
#24 John Grant Jr. – four-way tie for first in PPG with 10; first in SOG with 151; third in points with 78; fourth in assists with 48; and fifth in goals with 30
#41 Bob Snider – second in FOW with 216
Rush:
#4 Kyle Rubisch – first in FTO with 38
#77 Aaron Bold – first in wins with 12; and first in GAA 8.31
#74 Jeremy Thompson – fourth in FOW with 169; and fifth in LB with 126
#42 Mark Matthews – fifth in SOG with 129
The Mammoth need to keep their eye on Kyle Rubisch who is the two-time defending NLL Defender of the Year, and is on pace for his third due to his league leading 38 FTO. Chris Corbeil leads all NLL defensemen in goals, and is first in the league with five short-handed goals.
The Rush are second in the league averaging 12.46 goals per game, while allowing only 8.15 goals per game, which tops the league. They are extremely strong on power-play opportunities, which boils down to the Mammoth staying out of the penalty box and not allowing the Rush to go man-up.
They have one player amongst the league’s top-10 scorers, defending NLL Rookie of the Year Mark Matthews, sitting in the 10th spot with 60 points. Their top-three goal-scorers are within one of each other: Curtis Knight at 24; followed by Matthews and Zack Greer both at 23. There are a total of five Rush players who have over 40 points.
The Colorado Mammoth have a tough game ahead of them when they go up against the undefeated Edmonton Rush. This will be the third meeting of the two teams this season. The Mammoth will host their final home game of the season against the Rush on April 11th for “Fan Appreciation Night”.
The question is how bad do the Mammoth want this win, and will they be the first team this season to beat Edmonton giving them their first loss of this record breaking season.
