IL Indoor

National Lacrosse League Power Rankings: Week 13

There were five games in the NLL this weekend. The Toronto Rock split their weekend getting an 18-11 win over the Buffalo Bandits on Friday while losing to Matt Vinc and the Rochester Knighthawks 12-8 on Saturday. The Philadelphia Wings lost both of their games this weekend to the Minnesota Swarm and Colorado Mammoth, by scores of 20-11 and 10-9. With the Edmonton Rush having the weekend off the Calgary Roughnecks and Washington Stealth battled to take a share of first place in the west with Calgary ending up victorious by a score of 13-11. There was not much changing at the top of the Power Rankings but there sure was a lot of movement at the bottom.

Let’s check it out. READ MORE »

Batley accepts responsibility for Lakers role in Mann Cup shenanigans, promises better in the future

At a press conference held at the entrance to the Peterborough Sports Hall of Fame at the Memorial Centre, with pictures of Lakers Mann Cup championship teams as a backdrop, Head Coach and GM Jamie Batley acknowledged that he and his team could have handled the doping testing situation at the 2012 Mann Cup better and vowed that he will make sure his players and staff are ready to do so in the future.

“We stopped the people from going into the room so we stopped them from doing their job,” Batley told the assembled members of the media, as reported by the Peterborough Examiner. “There was some argumentation and some raising of voices and there was some swearing. All of that could have been not done. Because of that, those are CLA Code of Conduct violations, that you have to be respectful. We weren’t respectful,” he said. READ MORE »

Niagara Locks Monsters keep setting records left and right

It’s no surprise that the Niagara Lock Monsters now boast the two highest-scoring players in the short history of the Canadian Lacrosse League. The Lock Monsters hit the 20-goal mark for the fifth time this season as they dumped the Barrie Blizzard 21-9 Saturday for their eleventh win, also the top total CLax has seen. They’re the only team to have scored 20 or more this year [Editor's note: correction. Ohsweken beat Barrie 20-7 on March 10] after three teams managed the feat once each in CLax’s first season in 2012 (Brampton, Ohsweken and Iroquois)  The big scoring totals have been fuelled largely by lefty Andrew Potter and righty Corey Fowler, who sit one-two atop the league’s all-time single-season scoring chart now after they scored 16 points between them yesterday. READ MORE »

First-place tie out west, five-way tie for final spot keep NLL playoff race intriguing

One night after putting up a perfectly horrible second half, the Philadelphia Wings came that close to pulling off a perfect one, but their inspired comeback fell just short as they lost 10-9 to the Colorado Mammoth. The Wings were tied 5-5 at intermission Friday night then got blown apart for 15 second-half goals in a 20-11 loss to Minnesota. It looked like the same thing was happening, just earlier, when a 3-3 first-quarter tie in Denver was followed by a 7-1 Mammoth second that left Philly trailing 10-4 heading into the break. But then Brandon Miller became unbeatable and the Kevins got into gear, and the Wings outscored Colorado 5-0 over the final 30 minutes.

It still wasn’t enough, though, as the Mammoth (5-8) held on and kept pace with Minnesota (5-7) for fourth place in points in the West Division and created a logjam in the battle over who will miss the playoffs. The Wings (5-7), fell into a three-way tie in the East Division wins column with Rochester (5-6) and Buffalo (5-8). If you’ve been paying attention to the records, you’ve noticed that means a five-way tie at five wins and a barn-burner of a playoff race to play out over the final three weeks of the season. READ MORE »

Video: Play of the Night–Manney’s quick thinking and quick stick save a goal

It wasn’t just the play of the night in the National Lacrosse League. Brett Manney’s goal-saving dive was selected by ESPN as the SportsCenter Play of the Night Friday. Callum Crawford took a shot that caught some of Philadelphia goalie Angus Dineley (and for those of you wondering about the pronunciation of his name, it’s DIE-nuh-lee) but squeaked through. Manney saw it slow-hopping towards pay dirt and sprang into action, getting his stick on top of it just in time to keep the ball on the goal line but not over, as is evidenced in the video review.

CLax: VanEvery sets new goals record, Demons win a squeaker

Wayne VanEvery scored 6 goals to set the single-season Canadian Lacrosse League record and his Ohsweken Demons needed every one of them to pull out a 15-14 win over the Iroquois Ironmen Friday. VanEvery’s 41-goal total breaks the mark set in last year’s inaugural CLax season when Chris Attwood scored 35. VanEvery fell 3 short of Attwood’s points record of 71, although that is likely to fall in the season’s final couple of weeks. Both Corey Fowley (67) and Andrew Potter (65) are within reach of the mark with a pair of game’s to play, including a matchup with the Barrie Blizzard at 2 pm this afternoon that can be viewed live via a JVI webcast. READ MORE »

Off the Crossebar Podcast – Mammoth GM Steve Govett steps up for the 4th instalment of the GM talks

He’s been the main man behind the model National Lacrosse League franchise since day one but he quickly denies all the credit. Colorado Mammoth GM Steve Govett is quick to point out that while he’s made some very good moves in his time as general manager he’s also made some really bad ones. But that’s life in pro sports and that’s the challenge that continually sparks Govett’s passion for the game of lacrosse in hopes of launching the game  into the upper echelon of sports.

In the mile-high city, the Mammoth have had success both on and off the floor. Sure, that’s not all Govett’s doing, but he’s certainly had his hand in it all. He’s also on the NLL Board of Governors, the NLL competition committee, he’s run Team USA and Team Canada and as far as we can tell, he’s the only GM with a fake twitter account. This week on the Off the Crossebar Podcast we speak with the guy who was crazy brave enough to let John Grant fire a ball at his head, the GM of the Colorado Mammoth, Steve Govett.

READ MORE »

Toronto Rock and Minnesota Swarm win in a pair of NLL blowouts

A fifth straight loss has left the Buffalo Bandits looking for answers. The Bandits were in the thick of a close National Lacrosse League game with Toronto, trailing the Rock 7-6 at the half, then gave up 5 goals in the first six minutes of the third en route to being outscored 7-0 in the quarter and dropping an 18-11 decision. Head Coach Darris Kilgour didn’t hold back his frustration after the game.

“We laid down for them,” he said. “ When you give up 7 goals in a quarter there wasn’t a lot of good decisions. That’s our M.O. That’s what we do, fight hard to keep it close then make a whole bunch of bad decisions then lay down after we get down by four or five. That’s our M.O. That’s this team.” READ MORE »

Dane Dobbie says he’s trying to let his playmaking abilities to the talking for him

Dane Dobbie admits it. He was one of “those” guys. Flapping his gums on the floor may have helped relieve the tension building up inside, but he found he also had more time to think about it in the penalty box if a National Lacrosse League referee had gotten his fill. And too often, he did. “I’m trying to stop talking,” the Roughnecks forward told The Province. “It’s mostly with the referees. I’m not trying to get on their good side. I’m just trying to stay off their bad side. I want them not looking for me. I want to just play my game.” It’s working, too. He’s putting up the numbers he usually puts up, except when it comes to PIM. He’s been whistled for just 19 in 10 games and coach Curt Malawsky has noticed. “Dobes has realized if he channels that emotional energy in a positive, productive way, and he lets his play do the talking, he gives his team the best chance to win.”

NLL Week 13 Staff Picks

This weekend there are five National Lacrosse League games featuring eight of the nine teams. On Friday night, the Toronto Rock (8-4) host the Buffalo Bandits (5-7) for the second time this season. The two have faced off twice so far in 2013, each with a road win. Also on Friday, in the first of their week 13 and 14 home and home series, the Philadelphia Wings (5-5) head to Minnesota to face the Swarm (4-7).

In the first of three Saturday evening games, the Rock head east to play the second of three games this season against the Rochester Knighthawks (4-6). The Rock won the first matchup; the two will meet against next weekend. In their second game of the weekend, the Philadelphia Wings continue west to play the Colorado Mammoth (4-8) in a rematch of their week 8 battle. READ MORE »