IL Indoor

Off the Crosse-Bar Podcast with 4x Hall of Fame member Tom ‘Hollywood’ Marechek

His lacrosse career spans both coasts, has taken him all over the world and allowed him to play in some of the biggest venues in lacrosse, played for some of the biggest trophies, with the best of the best and managed to score a highlight real goal or two. He gave goaltenders fits and brought fans, especially those in Victoria and Philadelphia to their feet over and over again with his patented behind the back shot.

Now the Victoria, BC native who resides just outside of Baltimore continues to mold future lacrosse stars at the Friends of Baltimore school as well as with his All-Pro lacrosse camps for over a decade. You could debate for hours who’s the greatest to ever play the game, and there are many factors to each argument however when it comes to creativity and stick skills, Marechek is right at the top of everyone’s list. This week on the OTCB podcast we go one-on-one with Hollywood! READ MORE »

The Top 50: Number one and the next nine

With the 2011 National Lacrosse League season just hours away from dropping, IL Indoor announces our final ten in our now third edition of The Top 50, looking at who we deem the best 50 lacrosse players on the planet based on their past season (previewing their upcoming one too). Colin Doyle was named #1 just prior to the start of the 2009 season, Dan Dawson at the top of the list at this time last year. Did either get named numero uno again; Doyle leading a down in the dumps Toronto Rock franchise to almost Champion’s Cup glory, Dawson having a pretty impactful 2010 himself with not only the Boston Blazers but the Brampton Excelsiors, Toronto Nationals and Team Canada? After the jump, find out who took this year’s title, and then getcha popcorn ready for the NLL’s 25th chapter, both the Rock and Philadelphia Wings hosting 7PM (EST) clashes to kick things off. READ MORE »

Insider Top 50: The Just Outsiders

Every week Insider will release our next series of National Lacrosse League ball players ranked in our 2011 Top 50, our number one ranked player announced on the eve of the NLL season opener. Click here for a breakdown to find out what goes into selecting our Top 50, and check out this week’s next best below and after the jump.

20 (27) Jeff Zywicki, Washington Stealth
Injury issues (lower body) kept Zywicki from playing a full 16-game regular season in 2010, but he was legitimate first-half MVP candidate previous to being put on the shelf. Never afraid to take punishment inside, one of the sport’s best finishers, and one of the most impressive full-post-season performances last year (13-points in three games), Zywicki was one of 2010’s top power forwards yet again. READ MORE »

Insider Top 50: Midsection Edition, Part II

Every week Insider will release our next series of National Lacrosse League ball players ranked in our 2011 Top 50, our number one ranked player announced on the eve of the NLL season opener. Click here for a breakdown to find out what goes into selecting our Top 50, and check out this week’s next best below and after the jump.

25 (NR) Craig Point, Rochester Knighthawks
A bounce back would be putting it mildly. 2010 saw former NLL Rookie of the Year Criag Point revamping, renewing and reestablishing himself as an elite scorer at the highest level of the sport, crippling his sophomore slump of a season with career best goal scoring numbers 12 months later, considered by many, including his own team, to be the Knighthawks’s top ball player a year ago. Point also stepped up and took a gig at the Hawks’ face-off circle, taking a majority of Rochester’s draws in 2010 after taking just one with the K’Hawks a year before. READ MORE »

Insider Top 50: Midsection Edition, Part I

Every week Insider will release our next series of National Lacrosse League ball players ranked in our 2011 Top 50, our number one ranked player announced on the eve of the NLL season opener. Click here for a breakdown to find out what goes into selecting our Top 50, and check out this week’s next best below and after the jump.

30 (18) Andrew McBride, Calgary Roughnecks
While 2010 wasn’t the Cup winning repeat performance the Roughnecks were looking for, McBride gave Calgary another strong season while leading their still impressive defensive unit, a unit that led the West in goals against (169), a better team total than the eventual champion Washington Stealth (179). READ MORE »

Insider Top 50: A ball hawk, a Gaiter, Rock rookies, and a multi-Cup clincher

Every week Insider will release our next series of National Lacrosse League ball players ranked in our 2011 Top 50, our number one ranked player announced on the eve of the NLL season opener. Click here for a breakdown to find out what goes into selecting our Top 50, and check out this week’s next best below and after the jump.

35 (34) Ian Hawksbee, Edmonton Rush
Two more wins during either the National Lacrosse League (Rush lost West Final vs. Washington in OT) or Canadian Lacrosse Association (New West lost in six games to Peterborough) seasons and Ian Hawksbee would have been a Champion’s and Mann Cup winner in 2010. READ MORE »

Insider Top 50: A Cup keep, an Athletic, a blue collar defender, a “comeback”, and a show stopper

Every Tuesday Insider will release our next series of National Lacrosse League ball players ranked in our 2011 Top 50, our number one ranked player announced on the eve of the NLL season opener. Click here for a breakdown to find out what goes into selecting our Top 50, and check out this week’s next best below and after the jump.

40 (NR) Matt Roik, Washington Stealth
His numbers aren’t overwhelming, in large part due to his split clock with steady partner Tyler Richards, but Matt Roik was very much an impact goalie in 2010, a Cup winner in the NLL and a finalist again in Mann play. READ MORE »

Insider Top 50: An empowering power forward, a toothless leader, a quiet defender, a sexy beast, and a Mann’s man

Every Tuesday Insider will release our next series of National Lacrosse League ball players ranked in our 2011 Top 50, our number one ranked player announced on the eve of the NLL season opener. Click here for a breakdown to find out what goes into selecting our Top 50, and check out this week’s next best below and after the jump.

45 (NR) Drew Westervelt, Philadelphia Wings
Westervelt’s 72-points last year was one of the highest totals for the Wings franchise from over the past several seasons, right up there with Athan Iannucci’s epic 2008 campaign. READ MORE »

Insider Top 50: A brawler, an improvement, a versatile stud, the other brother, and the ultimate ‘C’

It’s that time of year again. Insider’s National Lacrosse League Top 50, counting down the best 50 players from over the past year, number one dropped on the eve of the NLL’s season opener in January.

As always, the greatest emphasis is put on player’s previous pro season, but we also take into consideration work they’ve done across the board in leagues like Major Series Lacrosse, the Western Lacrosse Association and anywhere else they’ve impacted the sport. Players that were injured (or just didn’t play in the NLL in 2010) for all of or a majority of the past season will not be included, as are the ball players anticipated to be missing sizable time over the next NLL campaign (ie. Billy Dee Smith). Although reputations and past accomplishments might be mentioned, it’s what ball players did in 2010 that matters in Insider’s rundown. So after the jump, check out our first five, and check back every Tuesday for the next group. READ MORE »

NLL Insider Top 50: The Final Five

This is it. The final five ball players in this year’s Insider Top 50.

Last year, Colin Doyle was named our best on the eve of the ‘09 National Lacrosse League season. This year, the Toronto Rock’s latest captain remains, but is joined by NLL transition player of the year Brodie Merrill, ‘09 double Cup winner Josh Sanderson, NLL MVP Dan Dawson and the Orlando Titans’ clutch captain and American box lacrosse icon, Casey Powell. After the jump, relive the breakdown of the past 45 ball players that made the grade this year and find out who is named Insider’s #1 pro player heading into the 2010 NLL season. READ MORE »