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…
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…
Tonight the Rochester Knighthawks open up year 22 of the franchise as they host the Colorado Mammoth. The Mammoth are coming off a New Year’s Day victory over the Georgia Swarm 16-15. Former Knighthawk John Grant Jr. scored the game winner. Five new Hawks will make their debut tonight—Brad Gillies, Derek Searle, Graeme Hossack and Adam Bomberry, all defensemen taken in this year’s draft made the 20 man active roster. …
Rocco Granato hosts the first episode of the National Lacrosse League pre game show of 2016 with guest Teddy Jenner of Inside Lacrosse. They preview the four games from the second week of the season and take a look at the two games from week one.
Both the New England Black Wolves and Vancouver Stealth will open their seasons tonight. They are the only National Lacrosse League teams this weekend to face each other where one has not played a game yet. Both these clubs also are two of the most improved teams in the league. New England traded Garrett Billings to Vancouver this off season, acquiring Tyler Digby in the process, of whom they traded…
This Saturday the Georgia Swarm make their home debut at the Infinite Energy Centre after moving from Minnesota in the offseason. The Swarm’s home opener will be a milestone for the team as they face some great competition in the Toronto Rock, who reached the league final last season and have retained most of their roster. It will be a test of old vs new, experience vs youth, and will…
Garrett Billings Billings will be playing his first game as a member of his hometown Vancouver Stealth, but he also faces his former team of half a season. Billings played for the New England Black Wolves for half of last year and was traded to the Stealth this offseason. He will be one of the leaders on offense, and it will be interesting to see how he works with the…