NLL Pre Season: Stealth Face Mammoth in Langley

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The trimming of training camp rosters may come after this weekend for most NLL clubs, where across the league preseason scrimmages are underway to help coaches decide who stays and who goes on their individual teams. The Vancouver Stealth and Colorado Mammoth are no different, as they get set to meet for a Sunday morning matinee at the LEC Fieldhouse in Langley, B.C.

Colorado, who are practicing in Langley today ahead of the Sunday scrimmage, brought on a familiar face to those around the LEC, signing 6-foot-6 former Stealth Conrad Chapman to a one-year deal. The Mammoth cut six players on Nov. 25, including Alex Turner who had a quality season with the WLA’s Langley Thunder. Chapman stands to have a decent chance to crack the roster based on his prior experience with the Stealth, but will need to show well against his former teammates to prove he can bring something to the team.

Vancouver hasn’t made too many roster moves yet, but we should expect a few after tomorrow’s game. They have also been practicing, but still have around 35 guys, so we can expect some of the veterans to sit out tomorrow so players on the bubble can be properly evaluated by head coach Dan Perreault and general manager Doug Locker.

This should be a good opportunity for many of the Stealth’s younger players to make one more impression on the coaching staff in a game situation. Vancouver, who invested a lot of their draft picks in offensive-type players, are looking to fill a few holes on that end. They have around 12 guys that they are looking at offensively, an even six apiece on each side of the ball.

Evan Messenger had a strong outing in the Stealth’s first preseason tilt against Saskatchewan, scoring a goal and not backing down against some veteran opposition. Jordan Durston seems like a potential candidate to take Cliff Smith’s job as a depth lefty, but weighing against him may be travel considerations, seeing as he is from Ontario. Colton Clark was brought in during the offseason as a depth player on the right hand side, but has the opportunity to show he can be more than that with a strong performance. Hanging around is Clark’s Salmonbellie teammate Keegan Bal, rookie Shayne Adams and Marvin Curry, another Ontario product.

It does seem like one of the areas the Stealth seem confident in is their back-end, which includes a swath of veteran offseason signings and the return of Matt Beers. Could Finnish import Joakim Miller do enough to make Vancouver keep him around to develop throughout the season? He was good for Finland in the recent World Indoor Lacrosse Championships, but is probably on the bubble with a guy like Ryan Wagner.

Another thing to watch for for Stealth fans is how playing time is for goaltenders. Eric Penney seems all but locked in to the starter spot, which leaves Adam Shute, Cody Hagedorn and veteran Chris Levis to fight for the right to back up Penney. Hagedorn has the best resume of the three and is coming off a good year for the Mann Cup champion Victoria Shamrocks.

The game is set for an early start, 10:00 a.m. at the LEC Fieldhouse.

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