The Minnesota Swarm’s season has come to a bitter end. The Swarm lost to Rochester on Saturday in what can only be called a true battle.
The Swarm finished the season with a 7-9 record. In spite of the losing record the Swarm were able to reach their second straight Divisional Final. Unfortunately like the first go round in the Divisional Final the Swarm lost in a close fought game.
The Swarm had a difficult season this year when it came to consistency from a number of players especially from their two goaltenders Tyler Carlson and Evan Kirk. Carlson got more time between the pipes this year and finished with a 4-6 record, just over 11 goals against average and a save percentage of 77.1%. Towards the end of the season Carlson’s play did pick up, along with the Swarm’s overall defense. Evan Kirk ended up coming in for Carlson during the hard times in the season. Kirk finished the year 3-3 with a GAA of 14.5 and a save percentage of 73.5%. Neither goalie really seemed inclined to step up and really grab the #1 spot, but Carlson did pick up the play in the playoffs and will probably be the one who gets the starting job come next season.
The Swarm were lead on the floor by the well known duo of Callum Crawford and Ryan Benesch. Crawford lead the team in assists and points this year (63a, 95p), while Benesch lead the team in goals and second in points and assists (34g, 50a, 84p).
Minnesota’s biggest weapon this year had to be their transition game lead by wily veteran Jordan MacIntosh. MacIntosh was Named the Transition Player of the year. He had 55 points which put him at 5th on the team. MacIntosh had 27 goals and 28 assists on the season and was one of the major contributing factors after the team lost Captain Andrew Suitor to an ACL tear.
The Swarm also had two of the best rookies this year in Shayne Jackson and Kiel Matisz. Both played in all 16 regular season games and both playoff games for the Swarm. Jackson finished the season third on the team in points with 63 points (24g, 39a), while Matisz finished one point behind him with 62 (29g, 33a). Jackson and Matisz were named to the Nll’s Rookie team. With these two and the number of assets the Swarm will look to get over the Divisional Final hump they seem to have.
