Calgary has had one of the best records in the NLL in all of the past three seasons, but has not made it to the NLL Championship. They have a new head coach and are in their second year under new ownership, and players feel now is the time for the team to step up.
Offense
The right side of the offense is built of Scott Ranger, Curtis Dickson and Shawn Evans to start, one of the best offensive sides in the league. Then add top pick Joe Resetarits and that side looks nearly unstoppable.
Rookies Matthew Dinsdale and Jackson Decker are also there, leaving veteran Kaleb Toth at the bottom of the depth chart.
On the left the Necks have Dane Dobbie, Jeff Shattler and Daryl Veltman, a strong but not deep side. They might want to work in another lefty shooter just for balance.
Defense
Andrew McBride, Jon Harnett, Scott and Mike Carnegie and Curtis Manning are some of the best in the league, and this defense is really terrific at forcing bad outside shots to their opponents.
Peter McFetridge, Micheal Kilby and Dan MacRae are strong candidates to make the team, but they will also look at Curtis Pridham and Dayne Michaud, rookies drafted this year. Michaud might have a good chance with not many lefty defenders. They are also trying out former Mammoth player Matt Leveque.
Transition
The Necks love their transition. Led by Geoff Snider, they have a ton of players working on the offensive and defensive side of the ball. Nolan Heavoner and Snider split the faceoffing duties but this unit also has Barclays Hickey, Greg Harnett and Travis Cornwall. Rookies Kyle Dexter, Andrew Murphy, Brad Richardson and Darren Kinnear also have a chance of making it.
Goaltending
Mike Poulin was the goalie of the year in 2012 so it is hard to go wrong. They liked Frankie Scigliano backing up last year but brought veterans Matt King and Matt Flindell into camp.
King was the Roughnecks starter a few years ago but spent a stint in Colorado before coming back to Calgary this off season. If they chose to go with an older backup, he might be a good option for them.
