So far this season the biggest three stories of the MLL have been the utter dominance of the Denver Outlaws and their pace to go undefeated, the return of “The Beast,” Greg Gurenlian, and the Boston Cannons turnaround from bottom of the heap to a playoff contender.
The story for the Boston Cannons has been one of a tale of two teams. The Cannons started the season out as one of the worst offenses in the league, only scoring 72 goals through their first six games in which they went 1-5. After the loss to the Rochester Rattlers the Cannons let go head coach Steve Duffy and promoted assistant coach John Tucker to the head job. Also at the deadline the Cannons acquired Stephen Berger from the New York Lizards. Berger and coach Tucker breathed new life into the struggling team. After the promotion and acquiring Berger the Cannons went on a four game, in which they beat Charlotte, twice, Ohio, and New York. They pushed themselves into a position to make the playoffs. At the moment the Cannons are really playing in a playoff mindset because if they lose this weekend to Ohio, who was eliminated from the playoffs talk on July 20, they will be eliminated from playoff contention. They may not be able to clinch this week but this is due or die for the boys from the Beanpot.
The most individual outstanding player has, without a doubt, been the “The Beast,” Greg Gurenlian. At a time when FOGOs are the best they’ve ever been, he has a face off wins percentage of 63.5 percent. Gurenlian sits atop the face off leaders, five percent higher than Chris Eck of Boston and six percent above Anthony Kelly in Denver. Gurenlian is on pace to break the all-time face off wins percentage record, at 63.3 percent held by Paul Cantabene formerly of the Baltimore Bayhawks. Through the 12 games so far this season he is winning an average of 16.25 face offs a game. Since coming off a torn ACL in 2011 Gurenlian has become a whole different kind of animal for the Lizards. He has a face off wins percentage of 61.6 percent, this is unheard of in the MLL which touts great face off men like Mike Poppleton, Tim Fallon, and Anthony Kelly. The return of “The Beast” is a feel good story, but it also shows the perseverance of a man to not let injury stand in his way. “The Beast” would be my vote for MVP even though the Lizards only have three wins and will not be in the playoffs.
Dominance is dominance, and in Denver that means and undefeated season. The Outlaws have 12 wins this season which ties the Single Season wins record and is the best start in MLL history. Denver’s dominance of the league started with a 21-16 win over the Charlotte Hounds and has continued since with notable wins over the Rattlers (20-7), the Nationals (22-9), and the Cannons (24-14). The team has three players with 40+ points, and three more with 25+, and a slew of players with 5 points to 24 points. They also happen to be one of the least penalized teams in the MLL which adds to the problem of beating them. The only team to get close to beating the Outlaws was the Chesapeake Bayhawks, and that took tell the third to last week of the season. The style that Denver plays is part east coast flash, part Midwest grind, and part plain old confidence. I do not see the Denver Outlaws losing a game tell possibly the Championship Game, but I have doubts that anyone will be able to beat them.
This season is coming down to the final two weeks of the season, and it has not disappointed the fans, the press, or the players.
