The Colorado Mammoth have been busy the past couple weeks with off season trades and the NLL Draft.
Prior to the draft, the Mammoth have picked up Carter Bender from Buffalo, Bob Snider, face-off man from Vancouver, and the big 6’5″ forward from Philadelphia, Drew Westervelt, who is also now a member of the Denver Outlaws.
Leaving Colorado was Rory Smith in the Bender trade, Ilija Gajic for Snider, and Ryan Hotaling in exchange for Westervelt.
On draft day, just hours until the draft, Colorado went and secured the rights to Jackson Decker, a transition player for Calgary. The Mammoth acquired the third overall selection and went with goaltender, Dillon Ward. He will join The Belanger between the pipes and make things difficult of other NLL teams to get anything in the back of the net. Ward won the Robert Melville Award as the top goalie in Junior “A”, while being labeled the Canadian Player & Goalie of the Year in 2010 and is the first and only All-American to come out of Bellarmine. Between the pipes was a struggle for Colorado early on last season, adding Ward will help deplete those problems. It will be interesting to see who gets the start between the pipes.
Their next pick didn’t come until the fourth round with the 31st and 32nd overall picks, drafting Cody McMahon and Cameron Mann. McMahon is a lefty transition player, who has been with the Orangeville Junior Northmen. This past season with Orangeville, he recorded 12 goals, 33 assists and went 3-12 on face-off’s. Mann is out of Jacksonville University, is a native to Hamilton, ON. He’s defender, a little on the small side at 5’8″, but has played box for years, giving him a boost in the coaches eyes. He most recently played with Kitch-Water of the MSL, recording five points. In his time spent with Burlington in the Junior “A”, Mann picked up 99 points over five years. Size isn’t everything and Mann will give his opponent a challenge on the turf.
In the fifth round, Delaware alum Dom Sebastiani was picked up. Sebastiani will join fellow Blue Hen alum John Grant Jr in dawning the burgundy, black and white. He is a short stick defensive midfielder for the Chesapeake Bayhawks in the MLL. Dom will bring his scrappiness, toughness and athleticism to the indoor turf after winning the MLL Championship with the Bayhawks this past summer. His presence will be well known in Colorado as he has also been traded to the Outlaws, along with John Grant Jr and Westervelt.
Followed by Jake Widener in the sixth (49th overall). He was a member of the Elora Mohawks, where he recorded over one hundred points in back to back seasons, with 117 and 122. Widener eventually traveled up to the Brampton Excelsiors of Junior A and netted 46 goals with 38 assists.
The Mammoths focus seemed to be on defense and transition this year. They acquired some offensive studs, but as we saw last year, defense seemed to hurt them the most with inconsistent goalie play being the most rigorous test. December 28 is the season-opener for Colorado vs the Edmonton Rush at the Pepsi Center. Their training camp starts in November, giving the front office a good amount of time to put together a strong squad that could make it to the NLL Championship game and de-throne the Rochester Knighthawks.
