Edmonton Rush forward Corey Small missed the entire 2014 NLL season. During the WLA playoffs in the summer of 2013 Small tore his ACL while playing for the Victoria Shamrocks. As a result he had to sit on the sidelines while the Rush set an NLL record by winning 14 straight games to start 2014.
Things should be a little different in 2015.
Back with the Shamrocks over the summer, “Kitten” cored 34 regular season goals, tying with Rhys Duch for the team lead in points (76). He also had eight goals and eight assists in the postseason, just a single point off Duch’s team-leading 17 points.
All signs therefore point to Small being ready to return to the Rush with a vengeance.
The lefty scored 28 goals and added 36 assists with the Rush in 2013 and, based on his work this year with the Shamrocks, there is no reason to think he can’t produce similar—or even better—numbers in 2015. His only challenge will be re-establishing his presence in an offensive group that scored the second-most goals in the NLL last year (220).
Small will be fighting for time with Mark Matthews (78 PTS), Riley Loewen (36 PTS) and Zack Greer (53 PTS) to find a spot in the rotation on left-handed shots.
At 5’9″, Small isn’t the biggest guy on the floor, but his post-injury performance seems to indicate he won’t have any trouble meeting the challenge of earning his share of floor time.
