After finishing second in the Western conference for only the second time in five years, the Roughnecks proved it’s no fluke with players like Andrew McBride and Scott Ranger. Since joining the team in 2002 as the fourth overall pick by the Calgary Roughnecks, Andrew McBride has shown how solid and consistent a stay-at-home defenseman (if there’s such a thing in the NLL these days), can be. He has missed a total of six games in the last four season due to injury and the team success has shown, he provides a consistent spark when in the lineup that fans love and new players feed off of. He is the type of player who makes players around him better with second-to-none leadership he pulls from winning two Champion’s Cups (’04/’09) and a Presidents Cup (Canadian Senior “B” Championship). He has proven time and time again he can win and play at the top level while also learning from the best, winning his second NLL championship playing alongside his now head coach Curt Malawsky. Not to mention Andrew also coaches the Okotoks Junior “A” Raiders of the Rocky Mountain Lacrosse League in the summer and led that squad to a 9-8-1 record and second respectively and leading them to the finals of the province two years in a row in Alberta to show his leadership skills off the floor are just as strong as on the floor.
Roughnecks Hoping to Keep Around Ranger and McBride
When you look at the career of Scott Ranger thus far, he is a pure example of consistency. He won’t score 50 goals like a Dane Dobbie and he doesn’t get 80 assists like Shawn Evans, but when he’s in the lineup he has proven he can swing the momentum of a game with one quick stick or clutch goal that few players possess. Due to work issues last year he only played in nine games but still managed a respectable 20 points in those games (6 G, 14 A) which is a far cry from his career high of 66 in ’08 season when he played a full 16-game schedule. When he won his only championship with the Calgary Roughnecks in 2009 he earned 51 points in 16 games (19 G, 32 A) just in the regular season and followed it up with a healthy 13 points (4 G,9 A) in three playoff games. Simply looking at the numbers and without stating the obvious he is another one of those players that makes his squad better when he’s in the lineup with great assists and timely goals to always keep his team in games and he has also proven he can lead his team to victories with his summer league team the Victoria Shamrocks (They are currently starting WLA playoffs in first overal with a 14-2-2 record) and he has his usual consistency there with 31 points in only 13 games (12 G,19 A). With his pass-first attitude and dedication to winning and desire for more who more could you want on a perennial contender in a very strong league?
Now after finishing the 2014 season with one win shy of the team’s third championship in their history (10 minutes technically) these two will be looked upon next year to bring their leadership back and get to the top like they are well aware is possible with effort and playing like they did when Scott was in the lineup for the last nine games of the season and showing it by handing a very strong Edmonton Rush squad losses three times and the eventual champion Rochester Knighthawks to prove we can beat the “big boys” and keep up with them.
