The CLax playoffs are here and there are just two weeks left in the NLL season. Here are the top ten stories we learned about this week.
Ohsweken’s regular season was book ended with two wins over Iroquois but they also suffered a loss against them mid-season. The Demons have had an up and down season and have probably been the most inconsistent team in the CLax. At times this season the Demons looked unbeatable but then the next game they’d be terrible; their regular season seemed to be a cycle of win two in a row, lose two in a row. They will need some consistency in the post season if they want to raise the Creator’s Cup in two weeks.
Major League Lacrosse (MLL) announced today the ESPN television schedule for the 2013 season. ESPN2 and WatchESPN will show six nationally televised games on ESPN2 in addition to 25 games on ESPN3.
“ESPN has been a strong partner for the last decade,” said MLL Commissioner David Gross. “We are thrilled to continue this partnership bringing some of the best league matchups to the world’s leading sports network.”
According to the team, the Oakville Rock have made their first trade with Terry Sanderson as their general manager. They picked up forward Brendan Thenhaus and a fourth round 2014 draft pick from the Kithcener-Waterloo Kodiaks in exchange for Craig England
Could Bandits be Eliminated?
With a loss to the Washington Stealth and a win from the Rochester Knighthawks this weekend, the Bandits will be the only team in the NLL out of the playoffs.
In a battle for Central New York lacrosse bragging rights, No. 8 Syracuse (8-2) rebounded from an early four-goal deficit to upset No. 2 Cornell, 13-12, on Wednesday, April 10 at Carrier Dome. The Orange rallied behind its first midfield line which combined for 11 points against the Big Red (10-2).
Kurtis Wagar Joins Lakers
The Peterborough Lakers signed goaltender Kurtis Wagar earlier in the week to shore up that position, but they might also be without John Grant Jr for most of the season.
For the second-straight week, the Minnesota Swarm had three players win awards in their respective categories, as they helped a resurgent Swarm team get back into the playoff mix with a weekend split, including a franchise record-setting offensive performance in their 21-7 win over the Buffalo Bandits.
If either Colorado or Minnesota wins both games, they’ll finish at 8-8 and could, hypothetically, catch one or two of the current front runners. Meanwhile, the team that drops both games in this scenario is in jeopardy of missing the playoffs entirely, should the Buffalo Bandits find a way to win their last two contests and climb out of the league’s cellar.
The last time these teams met was on March 16th in a game that Brampton led the entire way; it was actually 7-1 at one point in the first half. Durham started to make their come back in the second half but it was too late and Brampton went on to win that game 12-7. Pat Saunders has had Durham’s number all season. The Inferno power forward has accumulated 12 goals and 4 assists versus the TurfDogs including 7 goals in the Cobourg game.
The Toronto Rock (10-5) clinched the regular season eastern division title with a 10-9 win over the Rochester Knighthawks (6-7) Sunday afternoon at the Air Canada Centre. The game marked the third and final meeting between Rochester and Toronto this year, with the Rock taking the edge in the season series 2-1.
