The National Lacrosse League is a little bit beyond the halfway point, so what we are going to do is grade the teams, coaches and three players on each team. Check it out below before the action tonight.
Buffalo Bandits: B-
Buffalo has had a bit of a rough time with some things this season. Their loaded right side hasn’t been as good as they thought, Anthony Cosmo has struggled and John Tavares has been hurt. But somehow they are a game out of first place and went into Toronto and won last night and are two games over the .500 mark, and there’s something to be said for that.
Head Coach Darris Kilgour: B-: Kilgour has some decisions questioned, such as not playing Derek Hopcroft, Tracey Kelusky seeing so much time despite struggling and signing Kurtis Wagar over Angus Goodleaf. But overall, the numbers speak for themselves and Buffalo is winning.
Three Up, Down and in the Middle: The player who is up here is Shawn Williams. Williams leads the Bandits in scoring with 37 points with 27 of them assists. He makes everyone else around him better. Another player we are giving an up is Aaron Wilson who’s had a pretty solid season for his first time in Buffalo. And down we have Luke Wiles with just 16 points and not practicing with the team most of this season.
Toronto Rock: B+
Other than their loss last night, Toronto has dominated almost all season long with a league leading six wins. Nick Rose has become a solid starter, they can score and their defense is almost second to none in all of lacrosse.
Head Coach Troy Cordingley: A: Not many decisions need to be made with a roster this tight. Cordingley does as well as any lacrosse coach with decisions, but he’s in a position where none of his are really questioned. His acquisition of Rose with Terry Sanderson has set up the goaltending situation long term and the offense is flying.
Three Up, Down and in the Middle: The first up is easy in Garrett Billings, having another amazing year with 59 points. He could be the MVP by the time this season is over. Josh Sanderson is another up with 17 goals on the season and also 21 assists. Down is going to Stephan LeBlanc, who has three turnovers and hasn’t exactly emerged as much as some thought he would.
Philadelphia Wings: C
The Wings are 4-3. That’s not bad. However, the decision making process is being questioned with all. Of. The. Americans. American players haven’t had a presence in the NLL since the 1990s, so the approach of the Wings is interesting. Will it work? Well, so far, you could say it has.
Head Coach Johnny Mouradian: C-: Mouradian hasn’t done a bad job, but a lot of Wings fans need to question trading away Dan Dawson for Paul Rabil. Rabil finally had a big week against Colorado, but Joel White has also struggled from that deal.
Three Up, Down and in the Middle: Up is Kevin Buchanan who is having a great bounce back year after struggling in Buffalo, second on the Wings in scoring. We have two downs here with Rabil and backup goalie Kevin Croswell. Rabil has not been as good as we have all hoped, and Croswell, who many Wings fans expected big things from, has a GAA over 20.
Rochester Knighthawks: C-
Rochester is coming off of a championship so expectations are always unrealistically high. However, when you add Casey Powell and Dan Dawson to Stephen Keogh, Cody Jamieson and Johnny Powless, that’s to be expected. Why have the Hawks struggled so much? Not enough ball to go around?
Head Coach Mike Hasen: B: Hasen is a good coach and he’s done a great job in Rochester. Powell came back and the team dealt for Dawson, he can only do so much to help with ball movement. Craig Point and Mike Accursi haven’t played a lot, but with only so much ball to go around, what can Hasen do more?
Three Up, Down and in the Middle: Dan Dawson is an up here. He improves any team he joins. He has 24 assists so far this season, and on a team like this, sharing the ball is important. Cody Jamieson is also an up leading the team with 40 points. Our down for Rochester is Mike Accursi with just ten points in six games.
Colorado Mammoth: D
Colorado is having a disastrous season. They can’t score and they’ve changed their goalie four times now. How does a team that was on top of the league go downhill so fast?
Head Coach Bob Hamley: C: I have a hard time blaming Hamley for a lot of this. It was Steve Govett’s decision to keep goaltenders Chris Levis and Matt Roik for so long. They’re 2-5 which is good for their situation. They have a chance to turn it around.
Three Up, Down and in the Middle: Up is Adam Jones having another terrific year off of his rookie campaign. He has 31 points in seven games. Now we get to the downs who are Joel Dalgarno and the goalies. The goalies are gone and Tye Belanger is now in. But in his season back, Dalgarno has just seven points in four games.
Washington Stealth: B+
Washington got off to a torrid start but slowed down, but to their credit, they had some injuries. They seem healthy now and the chemistry on offense is much stronger than it was last season.
Head Coach Chris Hall: A: Hall has done a great job bringing together the chemistry of this team, and you need to credit the Stealth for bringing in Nick Patterson as a backup goalie. He has filled in well when Tyler Richards has been out.
Three Up, Down and in the Middle: Rhys Duch has 51 points and has become an offensive leader with a team that has Lewis Ratcliff and Athan Iannucci. Another up will be Cliff Smith with 31 points, already reaching his career high in goals as well. For a down, we look at defender Jeff Moleski only because he has missed four games with injuries.
Calgary Roughnecks: B+
Calgary has been up and down at times, but we have seen what they can do when they are clicking as well as they can. Their offense is elite and their defense has also played strong. They should be able to take this division.
Head Coach Curt Malawsky: B+: Malawsky had big shoes to fill with Dave Pym gone, and overall he has done very well, evident by the team’s success.
Three Up, Down and in the Middle: Up is Curtis Dickson who has emerged as a star in the National Lacrosse League. He has 35 points on the season. Another up is Shawn Evans who has a whopping 60 points on the season. The only down goes to rookie Matthew Dinsdale with just three points in seven games.
Minnesota Swarm: C
Minnesota is a young team that might have hit a ceiling last season. They have had injuries though and their roster is still very inexperienced. They can win games in this league but are learning on the fly.
Head Coach Joe Sullivan: C-: Only reason Sullivan gets this grade is because he missed two games behind the bench for various reasons. This is a hard team to judge because of their age and injuries.
Three Up, Down and in the Middle: Up goes to rookie Shayne Jackson with 32 points so far this season. He was the fourth overall pick and is playing well. Downs go to Jay Card with just six points in seven games and Matt Gibson with just one game played.
Edmonton Rush: C
Edmonton was the west champions last season but they did have a record under .500. They lost some offense this season but added Mark Matthews. They are under .500 again this season, but we learned last year that means nothing for them.
Head Coach Derek Keenan: C: Keenan drafted Mark Matthews. That was a no brainer. He traded away Aaron Wilson and Shawn Williams. Will that come back to bite him?
Three Up, Down and in the Middle: Up is Matthews, obviously, who has rookie of the year locked up. He leads the team with 42 points. The other up goes to goaltender Aaron Bold who has a GAA of 10.64, and the down goes to Jeremy Thompson with just six points in nine games.
