IL Indoor

Buffalo Bandits, Calgary Roughnecks, Colorado Mammoth, Edmonton Rush, Minnesota Swarm, National Lacrosse League, Philadelphia Wings, Rochester Knighthawks, Toronto Rock, Washington Stealth

NLL announces All-Green Team ambassadors for green initiatives

The National Lacrosse League has announced the first-ever NLL All-Green Team. The players were selected by their respective teams to serve as ambassadors for green initiatives for their leadership qualities both on and off the field along with their commitment to making a difference in their team’s local community while promoting environmental awareness.

“It’s important that we do our part to raise awareness for greening efforts in order to protect our natural resources,” said NLL Commissioner George Daniel. “We’re pleased to announce a select group of players that will help us raise awareness in their home team markets and beyond.”

The All-Green Team is part of the league’s partnership with the Green Sports Alliance, a non-profit organization with a mission to help sports teams, venues and leagues enhance their environmental performance. The league’s partnership with Green Sports Alliance began in 2011. READ MORE »

Behind the Scenes, Toronto Rock

Video: Don Cherry’s tribute to Colby Hancock

The death of young Colby Hancock has been difficult for his family and for everyone in the lacrosse family. Hockey Night in Canada commentator Don Cherry provided a moving tribute to Toronto Rock media coordinator Mike Hancock’s son on his Coach’s Corner segment the other night. The thoughts and prayers of everyone at IL Indoor and throughout the game continue to be with the Hancocks.

National Lacrosse League, Toronto Rock

Cordingley out, Lovell in as Head Coach of Toronto Rock

Toronto Rock General Manager Terry Sanderson announced today that Troy Cordingley has been relieved of his duties as Head Coach of the Toronto Rock.  Assistant Coach John Lovell has been promoted to the position of Head Coach.

“Troy was an integral part of the success the Rock achieved over the last four seasons including a championship in 2011,” said Sanderson.  “I felt the team needed new bench leadership to get the franchise back to another championship.”

Sanderson, an assistant coach for the past four seasons, also noted that he will step down from the bench as the team’s defensive coach. READ MORE »

National Lacrosse League, Toronto Rock

Jamie Dawick wins NLL Executive of the Year award

Jamie Dawick

The National Lacrosse League has announced that Jamie Dawick, the Owner, President and Governor of the Toronto Rock, has won the NLL Executive of the Year award for the 2013 season.

“Jamie’s goal is to make the Rock a world-class sports franchise,” said NLL Commissioner George Daniel. “He’s very passionate about his team, our league and the sport as a whole. He deserves this recognition and award by his peers.”

Dawick has made tremendous contributions to the team, league and sport over the past 12 months as hisefforts have resulted in the Rock’s on-field success in addition to a state-of-the-art training facility, high attendance figures and television contracts, all of which have helped grow the game. READ MORE »

Calgary Roughnecks, Colorado Mammoth, Edmonton Rush, IL Indoor, National Lacrosse League, Rochester Knighthawks, Toronto Rock, Washington Stealth

IL Indoor Awards: Shawn Evans is named Offensive Player of the Year

Shawn Evans (left) is the unanimous winner of IL Indoor's Offensive Player of the Year. (Photo: Brad Watson)

It’s hard to reach unanimity when you have 10 people voting for awards based on largely subjective criteria. But unanimity is just what IL Indoor’s staffers wound up with when it came to the voting on the National Lacrosse League’s Offensive Player of the Year. Shawn Evans just had that good of a season and that big of an impact.

His 112 points was the fifth-most in NLL history. His 80 assists is one of the all-time great set-up seasons as well.Evans is so impressive because he is so difficult to stop. He’s small, but it’s nearly impossible to pound him out of his game with big defenders; he’ll just hit somebody in the mesh with a flip pass as you’re knocking him to the ground. If you leave him room to shoot, he’ll bury a bounce shot or rip a low to high under the cross-bar. Let him come out from behind the net and he has the best spinning release in the game. READ MORE »

Calgary Roughnecks, Colorado Mammoth, Edmonton Rush, Minnesota Swarm, National Lacrosse League, Philadelphia Wings, Rochester Knighthawks, Toronto Rock, Washington Stealth

NLL 2013 All-Pro Teams Announced

Callum Crawford earned his first NLL All-Pro nod after a big 2013 campaign.

The National Lacrosse League has announced the NLL All-Pro Teams for the 2013 season. Six of the 12 players honored are first-time selections, four teams had two All-Pros and three honorees will play in the 2013 NLL Championship Game presented by Reebok this weekend.

The 2013 NLL All-Pro First Team consists of Toronto Rock forward Garrett Billings, Washington Stealth forward Rhys Duch, Calgary Roughnecks forward Shawn Evans, Minnesota Swarm transition player Jordan MacIntosh, Edmonton Rush defenseman Kyle Rubisch, and Rochester Knighthawks goaltender Matt Vinc. READ MORE »

Calgary Roughnecks, Colorado Mammoth, Edmonton Rush, Minnesota Swarm, National Lacrosse League, Philadelphia Wings, Rochester Knighthawks, Toronto Rock, Washington Stealth

IL Indoor Roundtable: What were the weekend’s surprises other than the Swarm, and what’s going on with the Rush?

Callum Crawford and the Swarm will hope to capture the same magic they had last week. (Photo: Graig Abel)

Ahh, the playoffs. The first weekend saw four games with plenty of storylines. Matt Vinc continued his run of dominance as the Knighthawks downed the Wings to return to the East Division final. Out west, Colorado looked good for the first half and really not good for the second half against Calgary, as the Roughnecks rebounded from last year’s first-round loss to get back to the West Division final. Washington had a remarkable comeback to down the Rush. But the story that sticks out like a sore thumb is the surprising domination of the Rock by the Swarm. What other surprises did the IL Indoor Roundtable group of Bob Chavez, Teddy Jenner, Ty Pilson and Stephen Stamp see? Also, whither the Rush? What do we think of their flirtations with Saskatoon? Make the jump to find out. READ MORE »

National Lacrosse League, Toronto Rock

National Lacrosse League Coach of the Year: Troy Cordingley

The National Lacrosse League has announced that Troy Cordingley from the Toronto Rock has won the Les Bartley Award as the Head Coach of the Year for the 2013 NLL season.

Behind the Scenes, Calgary Roughnecks, Colorado Mammoth, Edmonton Rush, Minnesota Swarm, National Lacrosse League, Philadelphia Wings, Rochester Knighthawks, Toronto Rock, Washington Stealth

Let the Playoffs begin: three games tonight, one Sunday in National Lacrosse League post-season opening weekend

It’s playoff time in the National Lacrosse League. Everything is amplified just that little bit. Every goal seems bigger. Every save seems more important. Around the NLL, final preparations are being put in place for the opening weekend of playoffs. Judging by Facebook and Twitter comments, it’s hard to say who’s more excited between the players and the fans. So today, we’ll help you get ready with a giant-sized helping of press releases and stories from around the league to whet your appetite for the games in Calgary and Washington tonight then tomorrow’s Sunday matinee in Toronto. There’s going to be a lot of ink spilled below, but we’ll break it down by game so you can navigate your way through. Feel free to scroll down to the coverage of your favourite team’s game. And if you make it all the way through, kudos. Enjoy the coverage and the games. It’s playoff time in the NLL and we can hardly wait for the games. READ MORE »

Calgary Roughnecks, Colorado Mammoth, Edmonton Rush, IL Indoor, Minnesota Swarm, National Lacrosse League, Philadelphia Wings, Rochester Knighthawks, Staff Pick 'Em, Toronto Rock, Washington Stealth

NLL Divisional Semifinals – Staff Picks

Defending champs, the Rochester Knighthawks host the Philadelphia Wings as the 2013 playoffs commence Saturday night (Photo: Larry Palumbo)

There are no strangers as the National Lacrosse League divisional semifinals kick off on Saturday evening; Minnesota and Toronto have met twice previously and all others have faced off three times in 2013.

You don’t need to love stats as much as I do to find the previous match-ups between these playoff pairings oddly fascinating.  The K‘hawks have doubled up twice on the Wings; in each of the three Rush-Stealth games, the losing team scored 10 goals; when Colorado and Calgary met, the home team scored 12 goals; and in both Swarm-Rock games, the winner scored 13 and the loser 12. READ MORE »