Today the Boston Cannons and New York Lizards open their seasons at 3:30pm in New York. Both teams are coming off of disappointing first round playoff exists, especially the Lizards, who blew a ten goal lead to lose to Denver in the first round.
Both teams are without the faces of their franchises. The Cannons are without former MLL MVP Paul Rabil, Kevin Buchanan, Kyle Sweeney and others while New York is without the newly acquired Mark Matthews. Colin Briggs makes his Cannons debut after an off season trade, and it looks like he will have to be a key piece for the Cannons offense today.
Mike Stone also seems to be ready to step up as a serious threat for the Cannons. The Wellesley native was arguably the MVP of the North American Lacrosse League with the Boston Rockhoppers this winter and was fifth on the Cannons in points in 2012. Can he score more than his career high of 28 points?
The big key to this game is the goaltending. Jordan Burke was the Steinfeld Cup MVP in 2012 but last season struggled in the playoff game against Chesapeake and in some of the last games of the season. Meanwhile, Drew Adams is in net for New York. Adams is arguably the best goaltender in the game and without their big guns, the Cannons will be hard pressed to score.
Last year’s Rookie of the Year Matt Gibson will also be out, playing with the NLL’s Minnesota Swarm. This means players like Tommy Palasek and Grant Catalino get a chance to step up, and Stephen Berger is back after a one year stint in Charlotte.
The game can be seen live on YouTube today at 3:30pm as both teams open their 2013 MLL campaigns.
