In the 2014 Champion’s Cup finals, the Calgary Roughnecks came within five minutes of winning their third NLL title in team history. So it comes as a bit of a shocker to say that this year, these same Roughnecks have gotten off to an 0-4 start for the first time in franchise history.
While the Roughnecks still have 14 more game to play to earn a spot in the postseason, they are currently in a position they haven’t had to deal with in a long, long time, as a squad on the outside looking in. So the question is, does this put head coach Curt Malawsky in the hot seat?
There are a couple indicators that might suggest that he isn’t.
First and foremost is the fact that Calgary signed Malawsky to a long-term deal only days after the team fell to 0-2. Clearly the front office remains confident in Mouse’s ability to right the ship.
The fact that two of the Roughnecks’ four losses have been by a single goal—one in overtime during a Week 2 matchup against the first-place Colorado Mammoth and one last weekend when the Toronto Rock scored late to squeak out the win—suggests that the team is close to turning the corner.
And even in the two big losses this year it wasn’t all bad news. Calgary was actually ahead 9-7 at halftime in the season opener against the Vancouver Stealth before the wheels fell off in the third quarter; they were only behind by two at the half against the Edmonton Rush in their third game before collapsing in the second half.
Another interesting point is that Malawsky might have found a bit of a solution to the goalie problems the team was having earlier in the year. Frankie Scigliano got the start on Saturday, went the distance, and posted a solid .769 save percentage in the loss, a dramatic improvement on the performance he and Mike Poulin had given to that point.
With that start, Scigliano finds himself in the middle of the pack in the NLL for goals against average (12.57), just behind Matt Vinc (12.47). Pretty good company to keep.
Look for Big Frankie to get another start this weekend when the Roughnecks host the Buffalo Bandits.
Meanwhile, Shawn Evans is having another stellar season offensively. He’s currently second in the league in points (32) and goals (13), with games in hand on the leaders in both categories. Curtis Dickson (11 G) and Dane Dobbie (10 G) aren’t far behind either, so the Riggers offense is primed to go off one of these games.
And defensively, there are also signs of life. Dan McRae is currently third in the NLL in forced turnovers (8), Geoff Snider is once again leading the league in faceoff win percentage (73 percent), and the team as a whole is currently fourth in loose balls (272), with two teams ahead of them both having games in hand.
So all is not lost. Yet. While Coach Malawsky now has the unenviable task of having to answer a lot of uncomfortable questions, if Calgary can get themselves back on track as a team and play a full 60 minutes every night the rest of the way, they are in good shape to win more than they lose the rest of the way and earn yet another playoff berth.
