IL Indoor

Swarm fans can gather to watch their team make four first-round picks in Monday’s draft

With a league-high four first-round selections in the 2012 NLL Entry Draft, the Minnesota Swarm are set to re-write the history books on Monday in Toronto. The Swarm will make three consecutive selections with picks No. 2, 3 and 4, and by doing so, will become the first franchise in NLL history to hold three of the draft’s Top 4 picks. Minnesota closes out the first-round with the No. 10 overall pick.

The 2012 NLL Entry Draft can be seen live on NLL.com starting at 6 p.m. CT on Monday from The Westin Harbour Castle. Swarm fans are invited to watch the draft that evening at Joseph’s Grill in St. Paul during the team’s official viewing party. READ MORE »

PLL: Bullies spoil Rockets’ home debut with 11-10 overtime win

Editor’s Note: IL Indoor is pleased to welcome Jack Goods to the site. This is his first article as an intern with us. Goods has covered the PLL extensively throughout the hiccups on its way to coming into being. He will continue to cover the new league as well as other topics.

Although the home team still has yet to win a game in the Professional Lacrosse League, Reading Rockets fans who showed up to last night’s season opener got to see quite a show. The Jacksonville Bullies, who had not held the lead all night, roared back in the fourth quarter to send the game to overtime then sent the Rockets fans home disappointed by scoring the winning goal 30 seconds into the extra frame for an 11-10 win. READ MORE »

Kyle Hartzell playing in PLL to help fellow Americans learn the box game and get himself ready for NLL season

The Jacksonville Bullies head into Reading tonight to play their third Professional Lacrosse League game. It will be the first ever contest for the home Rockets. The game starts at 7 pm and can be watched live via UStream. Kyle Hartzell says he has no idea what to expect from the Pennsylvania squad but he’s enjoying the experience of taking a leadership role as perhaps the most experienced player in the league. “I’m happy to be a part of it. In practices we’ve had and in even games I try to help guys as much as possible,” he says. “I think it’s awesome that they have a league now where it’s mainly Americans. I think it’s going to be a good feeder program down the road for guys going into the National Lacrosse League.” READ MORE »

Combine gives players a chance to perform for National Lacrosse League coaches, GMs

The National Lacrosse League’s player combine Sunday is the first event in a three-day gathering of coaches, GMs and team officials in Toronto. The combine, which is not open to the public, will see 39 runners and 10 goalies going through strength and agility testing, a practice session and a scrimmage. It will give athletes a chance to show their stuff for the teams that will be drafting many of them and considering others as free agents leading up to the 2013 season. The 2012 NLL Entry Draft will be held Monday and Steve Dietrich’s Hall of Fame induction is Tuesday. READ MORE »

NLL Entry Draft: Hello, My Name Is…Kyle Buchanan

Here are Kyle Buchanan’s scoring totals for a year of Junior B lacrosse and four years of Junior A: 57, 55, 65, 64, 89. In his first two years of Senior A with the Brooklin Redmen, he got into 10 games and scored 25 points, then Buchanan posted 60 points in 2011, his first full season with the team. There’s a common theme: wherever he plays, Buchanan puts up a consistent stream of points. It’s never a torrent but nor does it slow to a trickle. That consistency probably has a lot to do with the way he plays the game. At 5′8” and 160 pounds, Buchanan won’t bludgeon anyone to get where he needs to go. He’s also not flashy. His game just isn’t about being obvious. READ MORE »

National Lacrosse League Entry Draft: IL Indoor’s Top 50 Prospects #1-10

The first four installments of the 2012 IL Indoor Top 50 Prospects list have served to demonstrate that this is probably the deepest draft in the league’s history. There are good players who didn’t make the list at all and there are plenty who would have sat much higher on the Top 50 lists for previous years. It’s a great draft for defenders and for right-shot forwards. There are plenty of big players and some smaller ones who can stand nose to nose with their bigger colleagues figuratively if not literally. READ MORE »

Life on TV imitates art on lacrosse floors

This past winter, I became immersed in a television show on FX called Sons of Anarchy or SOA. Two things about myself quickly: I’m not a TV guy and never have been but since I stopped playing and started having kids it has been non-existent. Motorcycles, Harley Davidsons and the biker scene have never been my bag. At the urging from a friend, I started with a show called Hung, about a Detroit area high school teacher and coach. This series of an ex minor league baseball player turned teacher and then being forced into other work when layoffs hit gets pretty funny. I obviously related to some of this show with my sporting background and the memories I’ve acquired. In this era of downloads I covered 3 seasons in short work. Then I started jonesing for something new. READ MORE »

NLL Entry Draft: Hello, My Name Is … Michael Cudmore

You aren’t named captain of your team if you don’t have the respect of teammates and Michael Cudmore had that. The University of Hartford Hawks named the 6-foot-1, 205-pound midfielder out of Ashburn, Ontario, one of the team’s leaders before the 2011 season but it wasn’t because he put up a ton of points. It was because of his determination, his grit and his tenacity. And that was before a knee injury cut short his season and before he worked and rehabbed and willed his way back to the lineup for a 2012 redshirt season. So yeah, he’s got the drive and the determination, along with plenty of field experience. But what about the indoor game? A summer with Brooklin and 3-plus with the Junior A Whitby Warriors answers that for any NLL suit planning to call Cudmore’s name at the Oct. 1 entry draft in Toronto. READ MORE »

Edmonton Rush sign franchise players Ryan Ward and Aaron Wilson, goalie MacDonald

The defending West Division champion Edmonton Rush have announced that they’ve signed forwards Ryan Ward and Aaron Wilson as franchise players for 2013. They also inked backup goalie Brodie MacDonald to a one-year contract. Ward is the team’s leading returning scorer with the trade of Shawn Williams to Buffalo. Ward scored 57 points (19, 38a) last year, his fourth in the National Lacrosse League. Wilson scored 31 points last season in his first year with the Rush after coming over from Minnesota. MacDonald helped lead the Langley Thunder to the Mann Cup finals this summer.

National Lacrosse League Draft: IL Indoor’s Top 50 Prospects #11-20

With the National Lacrosse League draft just three days away (Monday, Oct 1), IL Indoor’s Top 50 Prospects for 2012 is moving into the elite range. Today’s group of the 11th-to-20th rated players are a tremendous lot, any of whom could slip into the first round and not be a bad pick. The defensive side of the ball has the majority is this cohort, with five defenders/transition players and the highest-rated goalie in the entire list. There are some scorers, too, as you’ll see after the jump. READ MORE »