At the 2014 NLL trade deadline in March, the Toronto Rock were in the midst of a losing 6-8 record with starting goaltender Nick Rose struggling to keep the team afloat. This was the perfect opportunity for Toronto Rock General Manager Terry Sanderson to announce that the team had traded for Philadelphia Wings starting goaltender Brandon Miller. Sanderson hoped that by bringing Miller aboard, he would be able to assist…
Bandits Talk: Planning to Bring Back Tavares
This off season we plan on going one on one with every general manager in the National Lacrosse League to discuss the latest news. We spoke with Steve Dietrich about the Buffalo Bandits this week. Below are notes on four main areas of pre season talk with NLL teams. Free Agency: The plan is for John [Tavares] to play again in 2015 and we couldn’t be happier to have our captain…
Swarm Sign Dean Hill, Sam Bradman
The Minnesota Swarm today announced that the team has signed F Dean Hill, F Zach Palmer and D Ian Crawford to one-year deals as well as T Sam Bradman to a two-year contract. Minnesota also agreed to terms with Rory McDade to join the sidelines as an assistant coach for the ’15 season. McDade was a forward with the Swarm from 2006-09. Hill, 29, returns to the Swarm for his…
Mann Cup: Chiefs Pull Out With 3-2 Lead
For the first time all series the Victoria Shamrocks opened the scoring but that did little to stop Six Nations on this night as they went on a 4-0 scoring streak the rest of the period to end the first frame up 4-1 in game five of the Mann Cup. Jeff Shattler continued his hot stick for the Chiefs getting 6 points on the night (2G,4A) and Brandon Miller stood…
NLL Draft Needs: Rochester Knighthawks
The Rochester Knighthawks have won an unprecedented three Champion’s Cups in a row, arguably making them one of the greatest dynasties in NLL history. More impressively, they’ve improved in each season during the three-peat run. In 2012, the Knighthawks stumbled into the playoffs with an unremarkable 7-9 record before getting white hot in the postseason and taking the championship. In 2013, they improved to 8-8 before making their playoff run…
Controversial Face Off Rule Change by NCAA for Better of Sport
Photo Credit: Ian Neadle Let’s face it, draw rules change. Every. Single. Year. Everything has modified from no clamping, to different stances, down to different procedures. Now, the NCAA is saying that the faceoff midi cannot carry the ball in his stick after a faceoff. Immediately this has attracted controversial reactions for all around. Most saw a rule change coming, but few, I think, saw this happening. A shift in…
Penn State Gears Up for Blue and White Scrimmage
The Nittany Lions are gearing up for their annual Friends and Family Weekend that kicks off with a “Blue and White” scrimmage on Friday night in Happy Valley. This is going to be an exciting weekend for the team, as they get to display what they have been practicing since the spring season ended, and it will be a great opportunity to get the students and fans involved early-on in…
The Deal With the US Box Lacrosse Team
Team USA will have a team at the World Indoor Lacrosse Championships in 2015 at Buffalo. For the past four years we have been left to wonder how the team would be run. US indoor lacrosse has been going down hill for decades with less and less Americans transferring to the box game and playing in the NLL. Of course, this means that the quality of the team has suffered,…
Mann Cup: Chiefs Look to Take Lead Back
Tonight the Six Nations Chiefs will attempt to take a 3-2 series lead and build off their game four domination of the Shamrocks where they defeated them 12-6. The Chiefs will look to build on their momentum and try to put the Shamrocks one step closer to elimination. For the Chiefs they fixed the problem they had in game three as they got out to four goal lead but let…
Rock Steady: The Building of Toronto’s Defense
The Toronto Rock have made their defense and transition game stronger. Almost two weeks ago the Rock traded Craig England, Mike Burke, second round pick in 2014 draft, 1st round in 2015 and a 2nd round in 2016 for Brodie Merrill and a 2nd round selection in 2015. This was a move by the Connecticut organization to get back draft picks they never had from when they were the Wings….