I don’t care what the schedule says.
The 2015 Calgary Roughnecks’ defence of the western conference title they won last year starts today in an exhibition game against their provincial rival Edmonton Rush at the Scotiabank Saddledome.
Coming into the game both teams will look very much the same but with some differences with both teams adding depth. Calgarys roster is as follows:
Offence: Curtis Dickson, Matthew Dinsdale, Dane Dobbie, Jeff Shattler and Darryl Veltman.
Transtion: Travis Cornwall, Karsen Leung, Curtis Manning, Peter McFeteridge, and Geoff Snider.
Defencemen: Mike Carnegie, Scott Carnegie, Greg Harnett, Jon Harnett, Dan MacRae, Andrew McBride, Garrett McIntosh and Jeff Moleski.
Goalie: Mike Poulin (Starter) Frankie Scigliano (Back-up)
Although having great training camps, Connor Goodwin, Patrick O’Meara, Tor Reinholdt and newly drafted Tyson Roe didn’t crack the opening day roster but don’t be surprised if they see floor time in a long season that usually has injuries as a result. Scott Evans starts the year on the PUP list.
The Roughnecks went 12-6 last year before beating the Colorado Mammoth in the first round of the playoffs and then upsetting the number one seeded Edmonton Rush in the western conference finals to advance to the Champion’s Cup final losing to the Rochester Knighthawks in the 10 minute mini-game in the deciding game of the finals.
Getting that close has left a bitter taste in the mouths of the Roughnecks but one good thing is there wasn’t a lot of roster turnover having a lot of the team back from last year including leading scorer Dane Dobbie looking to find his scoring touch again after burying a team record 51 goals last year eclipsing the old record of 50 reached by now Vancouver Stealth Lewis Ratcliff.
With both Carnegies and Harnett brothers coming back and Captain Andrew McBride it will bring a calm to the defence that at times smothered offences and in Game One of the finals the Roughnecks played arguably the best defence they had in a couple seasons shutting down the potent sticks of Cody Jamieson, Dan Dawson and Johnny Powless. The Roughnecks will try to get back to that style of pressure offence facing Mark Matthews and Robert Church as well as the first overall pick Ben McIntosh who is a threat to score every time he’s on the floor trying to show his high scoring game he has proven he can do from his WLA team Maple Ridge Burrards and show he can do it in the NLL.
In goal, the Calgary Roughnecks look the exact same, and, why not? With the goaltending duo of Mike Poulin and Frankie Scigliano guarding the pipes this year they have nothing but more experience and strength. Mike Poulin looked great in the two preseason games he played in with the Roughnecks at the TRAC and he also had a great summer in the MSL with the Brooklin Redmen. But if he happens to have an off-night then head coach Curt Malawsky has no problem putting in Frankie Scigliano who had a stellar training camp and is coming off Rookie of the Year and Goalie of the Year honors in the WLA playing for the Maple Ridge Burrards.
The Roughnecks also finished second for only the first time in four seasons and didn’t seem to have the offensive domination we saw in previous season but I see that coming back after replacing retired Scott Ranger with Matthew Dinsdale. Dinsdale didn’t see as much floor time as he would have liked last year simply due to the numbers game but he will be looked upon to make up for lost points on the left side of the floor. He knows he has big shoes to fill but after coming up with impressive multi-point exhibition games against the Toronton Rock and Minnesota Swarm he will be looked upon to level out the offensive floor and not let teams key into a strong right side with Dane Dobbie, Shawn Evans and Jeff Shattler being threats every time they are on the floor and also help make room for Curtis Dickson to keep defence’s on their toes.
This game will be shown live on NLL.com with opening faceoff at 7 pm MT with the season opener Jan. 3 against the Vancouver Stealth at the Scotiabank Saddledome.
