Pat Saunders: A+ When Saunders got his three year deal to stay in New England, it was questioned if he could repeat his breakout 2015. When the Wolves’ reacquired Kevin Crowley and added Shawn Evans, it was questioned how often Saunders would get chances to score. Evidently, he could have an even bigger 2016 after putting up nine points in Vancouver on Saturday night. Shawn Evans: A Evans apparently is…
The Calgary Roughnecks today announced the retirement of Geoff Snider from the National Lacrosse League. “Geoff has been the ultimate competitor throughout his entire career,” said Roughnecks general manager Mike Board. “He always gave 100 per cent on the floor as a Roughneck and on the field representing Team Canada. Off the floor, Geoff has been an ambassador in the community for the Roughnecks organization and has worked extremely hard to grow…
For much of the first half of the game, the Vancouver Stealth competed with New England in a high-intensity game with a lot of back and forth between the two defenses. Goalies Eric Penney and Evan Kirk were both solid in the first quarter—Garrett Billings scored a rocket top corner on the power play, Rhys Duch found Joel McCready who slipped a pick and got over top of Evan Kirk…
A 12-7 beatdown on the Toronto Rock in front of 9,087 fans made history as the Swarm played their first ever game at the Infinite Energy Centre in Gwinnett County. Johnny Powless was unstoppable, scoring four highlight reel goals and adding an assist as first star of the game. Randy Staats had a hat trick and four assists. A five goal difference doesn’t usually mean a blowout, but the way…
Swarm Aren’t a Tease Last week I questioned the Georgia Swarm after their 16-15 loss to the Colorado Mammoth. Was that offensive output from such a young roster just a tease? Apparently, not so fast. The Swarm are just 1-1 on the season, but a 12-7 win over the Toronto Rock on Saturday night has left me more than a little impressed. Not only did the Swarm manage to put…
Third Star: Randy Staats—Georgia Swarm Randy Staats’ rookie campaign is off to a hot start as he totaled seven points (3 G, 4 A) in the Georgia Swarm’s impressive 12-7 win over the Toronto Rock on Saturday night. The 2016 first-round pick has 14 points and sits just one point behind the league leader Adam Jones. The former Syracuse Orange sniper has scored a hat trick in his first…
New NLL Commisioner Nick Sakiewicz addressed the media for the first time on Thursday and announced his goal to have the league expand to 16 teams at some point in the future. The National Lacrosse League is the third-highest attended arena sport in North America, according to Sakiewicz. The challenge then will be bringing in new teams that can draw similar or better crowds while maintaining the fan base in current locations….
The Minnesota Georgia Swarm showed a strong offensive mindset in their first game in their new home of Gwinnett, Georgia. The Swarm beat the Toronto Rock 12-7 in the game last night. Johnny Powless and Randy Staats led the way for the Swarm. The Swarm also showed a much better defense than they had a season ago. The Swarm started off slowly in the first quarter spotting the Rock a…
If someone were to show you a tape of the Vancouver Stealth’s 17-7 loss to the New England Black Wolves, you would have sworn you were watching tape of last year’s team. In a “no excuses” season for the Stealth, the team came out with a lackluster performance, falling to the visiting Black Wolves for their third season-opening loss in as many as years since relocating to Langley, B.C. Many…
The Buffalo Bandits celebratory 25th season as a franchise was in full swing Saturday night as the team faced off against the visiting Calgary Roughnecks in front of 14,286 screaming Banditland fans inside the First Niagara Center. Bandits forward Dhane Smith gave the fans definitely something to cheer about with a stunning stutter-step/fake of a shot past Roughnecks starting goaltender Frankie Scigliano in the closing two minutes of the game…