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Savilla Eliuk has met her match

With the tragic events of recent weeks, the lacrosse world is in need of a happy ending. Fortunately for us — and more importantly, for Savilla Eliuk — a man named Stephen has come through.

As you’ll likely recall, Savilla is suffering from a kidney disorder called IgA Nephropathy. In 2007 she went into complete renal failure. Even with the life-sustaining therapy of peritoneal dialysis, she is in dire need of a kidney transplant. Thanks largely to many of you, the money for her brother’s testing was raised but due to high blood pressure he was quickly ruled out as a potential donor. But sometimes when life closes a door, it busts down a wall, and somewhere in Las Vegas a complete stranger read Savilla’s story and underwent the donor testing process.

The transplant surgery will take place January 5th. READ MORE »

Inside the Numbers

The specialists on special teams & five on the floor kings

In at least this week’s final chapter on the importance of special teams scoring in today’s NLL (see PP vs SH, Special Teams = Cups, 08’s Chart Toppers) we’re going beyond just 2008’s digits and tracking back a few years to determine who not only some of the league’s best special teams scorers are, but since I appreciate the guys that do their thing 5v5, we’ll also take a look at the best even strength scorers too.

Just like earlier in the week, we’re looking at what percentage of a guy’s goal totals come from those two areas, not simply just a tally of what they’ve done over the years. We went as far back as 2005’s numbers.

Any guesses on who’ll lead in either category? Find out after the jump. READ MORE »

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NLL Best of 2008 Photos!

Hey be sure to check out the best Wipe outs from 2008!

NLL Top 50

NLL Insider Top 50: Shawn Nadelen #29

Now that we’re heading inside the 30 mark of the Top 50, most names will probably be pretty agreeable with fans across the board, cuz a lot of ‘em are gonna be as close to household names as we have in the sport.

Well, everyone except for maybe the guy in the pic to the left of this text.

There are few in the league that play textbook D like Philadelphia Wings’ defender Shawn Nadelen, and there are equally as few that get ignored as much as Nadelen does when talking about the best defenders in the sport today. READ MORE »

From the Stands

Fan Poll: Veltman and Finneran look like they could be HOFers in ‘09

This week’s fan poll proved a few things.

One, a couple dudes from Victoria and Ashton have way, way, way too much time on their hands. And two, Jim Veltman looks like an overwhelming favorite for entrance into the Hall of Fame in 2009.

After you scrape-away all the “extra” votes from the readers that really need to find a hobby, the former Rock captain and current team assistant coach got by far the most love.

The buzz is he’s also the guy the league is hearing about the most in their plea to the fans for who they’d like to see inducted this winter too. READ MORE »

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Rochester Knighthawks experiment with meta-marketing

Step one in marketing to college students: get college students to write your marketing plan. Rochester Knighthawks, you are brilliant.

The Rochester Lax Cup: a four team local college outdoor lacrosse competition. In-season Junior Hawks youth clinics. A club membership card for merchandise. Shuttle buses. Any of this stuff sound good to you? Thank Allan Pogroszewski’s Sports Marketing and Promotions class at St. John Fisher College.

The class was split into seven groups and instructed to come up with a marketing plan for bringing in college students to Knighthawks games. The students behind the top proposals will earn the label of unofficial advisers to the team’s marketing department.

“Forty percent of them were sort of new ideas,” said Rochester team president Lewis Staats. “They might have been an inkling in someone’s mind, but were never brought to the table in any way that mapped out and said that this is a good idea. So it was great that way. It was new ideas and new concepts coming in.” And now the team can put a hold on that big order of FREE BEER signs.

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In other news:

• What was Bob Matthews thankful for this year? Curt Styres selling a lot of cigarettes, John Grant Jr. making his way back to the game, and the city of Rochester being respected for anything, anything at all their standing in the lacrosse world: Rochester D&C
• Considering the seasons Lewis and Cayle Ratcliff have had lately, is it a surprise to anyone that they made a deal with the Devil(s)? BCLocalNews
• Okay, so as long as the giant shrine to Luke Wiles is in his own house, it’s not creepy? I didn’t mean to cause any trouble I just need someone to explain the rules to me here: Orillia Today

Inside the Numbers

Power-Play versus Short-Handed scoring, which secures the W’s and the Cups?

In keeping with the even strength versus special teams debate sparked by Shanny and myself this week, today we wanted to take a quick look at what special team scoring, extra or short-man, means to a team in the NLL when trying to grab that all important W every weekend and holy grail at the end of the year.

Like both Shanny and I eluded to this week, power-play scoring has taken over a lot of the game in the NLL these days.

Or has it? READ MORE »

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The Week That Was In The NLL

It’s been an up and down week in the NLL; one that is sure to have a lasting effect on a lot of people; good for some, not so much for others. Here is my little recap of the week that was in the NLL and a few other points of interest. READ MORE »

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Kelusky: Game face is already on

Tracey Kelusky and the Calgary Roughnecks opened training camp last weekend and TK rode in with a message: This town ain’t big enough for you AND your ego.

Check it at the door, the team captain says. “It doesn’t matter if you’re a nine-year veteran like myself or you’re a guy who just started to make a name for himself last year,” Kelusky told the Calgary Sun. “The message has always been that short. That you shouldn’t be comfortable — it doesn’t matter who you are — and that you need to continue to battle for your spot.” The ‘Necks have close to 40 bodies in camp, which should make for some intense competition, especially on defense where 15 players are gunning for spots. Shoring up that end is Mike Kilby, who signed a two-year deal with the team after he was acquired in a three-way deal with Colorado and Boston just last week.

The Sun also reported that Curtis Manning, the team’s first-round draft pick, opted not to sign this year and will return for to Simon Fraser University for another school year.