After their offense began struggling midway through the 2013 NLL season, the Buffalo Bandits organization came to the conclusion that injecting some fresh offensive blood was needed to help bring the franchise back from the brink. Bandits General Manager Steve Dietrich and then-current head coach Darris Kilgour believed that the best place to start this new resurgence would be the upcoming 2013 NLL trade deadline. During the trade deadline, the…
Bandits Extend Benesch and Smith Long Term
Buffalo Bandits General Manager Steve Dietrich today announced the team has agreed to terms on three-year contracts with Ryan Benesch and Dhane Smith, and signed Jordan Dance, Jamie Rooney and Jerome Thompson to one-year deals. Benesch and Smith were first and third, respectively, in scoring last season for the Bandits. Their contracts are still pending league approval. In his first season with the Bandits, Benesch paced the team with 78…
Can the Rush Repeat Their 2014 Defensive Performance?
The Edmonton Rush gave up the fewest goals (157) in the NLL last season en route to a league-best 16-2 record. Although they came up shy in the playoffs, getting bested by the Calgary Roughnecks in the West Division finals, the Rush looked invincible at times, especially on the defensive end. Scarily enough, they could actually get better on the back end in 2015. Edmonton had at least one representative…
Offseason Check In: Penn State Looks Forward to BIG TEN Conference
One of the most talented recruiting classes is heading for the turf with Penn State’s 2015 team. This group is going to make a huge contribution to the Nittany Lions, especially as they are hoping to keep the strong team-centered momentum that the graduating seniors of 2014 worked so hard to create. It is looking as though Jack Donnelly and JP Burnside will be stepping up and taking the lead…
Offseason Check In: Fairfield Stags
A four year cycle of players is a unique thing amongst the collegiate level. For the Fairfield Stags, a team that went 12-4 last year, they are fortunate to have a handful of talented returners. The Stags find themselves looking back on a disappointing 2014 campaign. Fairfield was taken down by Air Force in the ECAC championship with a final score of 9-8. For the Stags it was a harsh…
Rookie Profile: Tyson Roe, Calgary Roughnecks
When the Calgary Roughnecks traded away their seventh overall selection it didn’t seem to hurt their draft quality at all, picking Tyson Roe 16th overall and to say they are happy with their selection is an understatement. The 6’10” and 250 lbs (Yes, you read that right—he’s a big dude) Nanaimo Timbermen product is NLL-ready out the gate and could easily compete for a roster spot in the 2015 season. A product…
Knighthawks Draft Class Needed to Replace Players Traded
The Rochester Knighthawks are officially into uncharted territory after winning their third consecutive championship last season. The league has seen back to back champions five times before. Three of those times the defending champs lost the championship game when going for the third, but the Knighthawks were able to avoid that fate. So the question that fans and other teams are wondering is: what will Owner and GM Curt Styres…
What Does Terry Ellis Bring to the Mammoth?
Photo Credit: Diane Miller On September 2, the Colorado Mammoth drafted Terry Ellis in the fifth round 42nd overall in this year’s NLL Entry Draft. So just what does Ellis bring to the Mammoth? He’s already played at the professional level having been drafted by the Denver Outlaws in the seventh round of the MLL Collegiate Draft held this January. He played two games for the Outlaws in 2014 and…
Rory Smith Brings Toughness to Stealth
Time to take a closer look on the draft day trade that sent Nick Weiss, and the 9th overall selection from the Vancouver Stealth to the Buffalo Bandits. In return the Stealth received lefty shooter Rory Smith, and goaltender Eric Penney. With the left side of the offense being somewhat of an issue for Vancouver, it came as no surprise that GM Doug Locker was looking to rebuild their offense…
Offseason Check In: Air Force Falcons
Our nation’s future airmen and sky monitors have also been quite busy this offseason preparing their 2015 roster for NCAA play. However, it may not be in the most traditional of ways. Every college team has offseason training and practices. They usually consist of line drills and basics/stamina exercising. If all the schools do it, it’s not worth mentioning. What is worth highlighting is Air Force’s brotherhood. There’s an obvious…