The nominees for the NLL Head Coach of the Year Award—also known as the Les Bartley Award—have been announced and now it’s a matter of waiting until September to see who the winner is. The nominees for 2015 are Mike Hasen of the Rochester Knighthawks, Derek Keenan of the Edmonton Rush, and John Lovell of the Toronto Rock. Lovell and Keenan faced each other in the Champion’s Cup this year,…
Although the Rookie of the Year nominees won’t be revealed until tomorrow, we can still take an educated guess at to who the candidates will be. Third pick overall Miles Thompson had a great rookie season for the Minnesota Swarm with 27 goals and 62 points. Thompson was second on the Swarm in both categories and 28th overall in the NLL. His strong rookie campaign bodes well for his ability…
As the offseason continues, the NLL is continuing to release the candidates for the league’s various top honours. On Thursday the Goaltender of the Year nominees were revealed. For the second year in a row, Aaron Bold of the Edmonton Rush was nominated. For the second straight year, Bold led the league in goals against average, at 9.44, and wins, with 12. Brandon Miller of the Toronto Rock was nominated…
In spite of a challenging regular season in which they just barely squeaked into the playoffs, the Calgary Roughnecks were leading the tie-breaker of the West Division Final with less than seven minutes remaining on the clock. The Edmonton Rush would go on to win the tie-breaker 4-1 and then sweep the Champion’s Cup. All things considered it was a bittersweet ending that still has to be considered a success, but…
With the NLL season now in the record books, thoughts now turn to awards season. Although there is likely one clear leader for the Most Valuable Player award, there are some other worthy candidates to consider as well. Mark Matthews—Edmonton Rush Matthews was a beast for the Rush in 2015, leading them to the best record in the West Division during the regular season and then helping the Rush earn…
Matthew Dinsdale was acquired by the Edmonton Rush from their arch-rivals, the Calgary Roughnecks, at the trade deadline in exchange for a third round draft pick later this year. Little did either team know that Dinsdale would go on to score the Champion’s Cup winning goal in Game 2 of the finals, sealing the Rush’s first ever title. That goal capped what turned out to be the best season…
The Edmonton Rush won the Champion’s Cup this weekend, their first title in their 10-year history. And so ends the 2015 NLL season. So let’s now have a look back at the season that was, and some of the highlights along the way. The season got off to an unexpected start in the first two weeks of the schedule when the three-time defending champion Rochester Knighthawks lost two straight,…
Following a decisive 15-9 win over the Toronto Rock in Game 1 of the Champion’s Cup, the Edmonton Rush return home to host the second contest of the best-of-three series. The Rock took a quick 2-0 in Game 1, but the Rush responded by scoring the next six goals and they never looked back, holding at least a two-goal lead the rest of the way. The net result is that…
The Edmonton Rush struggled at times, but got it right when it mattered most to advance to the Champion’s Cup. After losing Game 2 of their West Division Final to the Calgary Roughnecks by a 12-9 score, they easily won the tie-breaking mini-game 4-1. The win puts the Rush into the NLL finals for the second time in their 10-year existence as a team, the first time coming four years…
From my perspective as an NLL fanatic the opening volley of the Division Finals was nothing short of spectacular. Both Game Ones were decided in the final three minutes of play, both featured hard hits, spectacular goals, spectacular saves, everything a sports fan could want. The Edmonton Rush withstood a big comeback from the Calgary Roughnecks to win 10-8…