The Major League Lacrosse off season can be a long one, especially when you were one game away from making the playoffs. That is the story for the Rochester Rattlers, and we checked in with their owner Rob Clark about what this off season has been like as they prepare for the 2013 season.
Moves Made
“We made a series of key moves this offseason. The biggest issues we felt we had were improving at the face off position. We feel we have addressed that with John Ortolani coming in. I love the intensity and grit he brings not just to the team but in his everyday life being an MMA fighter. Really looking forward to seeing how John performs being “the man” this year. We are also very high on Bobby Dattilo. He was hurt last year with a bad shoulder injury, including throughout his senior collegiate season.
“Another pressing need was at midfield. Our plan has been to initiate Ned Crotty as a midfielder this year. To do that we needed another dynamic attackman to replace him and we feel Billy Bitter will fill that role. We also feel Billy Bitter can play midfield as well so look for those two players to switch back and forth at attack and midfield to create matchup issues for opponents.”
Draft Moves
“Going into the draft we really were looking for prospects and not so much starters. We did immense research and peeled several “layers” back evaluating talent this year that was available. I understand that some people have been skeptical of some of our draft picks however we feel we did extremely well and landed most, if not all, of our players we wanted to draft. We really needed another proven goaltender for depth and we achieved that with the best goaltender in the draft. Ryan Clarke is an enormous prospect with huge upside as is Brett Schmidt. We found value , steals throughout the draft. We went into the draft with a plan and feel we achieved what we were looking to do.”
Season Expectations
“I think the next step and certainly the expectation this year is to make not only the playoffs but the final. Anything less will be viewed as a disappointment in our office. Couch Soudan and I feel this is our year as a team and a culmination of our hard work over the past 2 seasons revamping the roster.”
Potential Break Outs
“Key players this year will certainly be Ned Crotty being dynamic from the midfield, Kevin Levielle needs to have a big year as does John Orlotani. The “sophomores” also need to blossom as well. I think the addition of expansion teams makes everyone’s job harder. When there’s 6 teams, the talent pool is very rich. As you continue to add new teams it spreads the talent and makes you work that much harder to continue to find success. I liken it much to the old NHL versus the NHL of today.”
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