NLL Insider

 I’m going to go ahead and say that this weekend’s three games were probably some of the best opening games we have seen in the NLL in quite some time! All three were highly contested; full of back and forth scoring, great action and the league has to be quite happy with the turnout at all three venues. Sure, the 5,700 in Florida is below what they were ultimately hoping for but with two major bowl games and the Dolphins play-off game you have to be impressed with that number. More importantly, the league was centre stage with all three games free for all to view via the leagues website.

I watched more of the Buffalo-Philadelphia game than the Florida Cup match-up, and then was able to watch all of the Portland-Minnesota game. Here are a few things that caught my eye Saturday night. (Read More…)

Who will be '09 NLL Rookie of the Year?

The 2008 National Lacrosse League (NLL) Entry Draft made history with the percentage of American field lacrosse players being drafted into the league higher than in any previous year. Highlighting the list of marquee names were Paul Rabil and Matt Danowski, respectively the No. 1 and No. 2 overall selections in the latest Major League Lacrosse (MLL) Entry Draft. But how good will these guys be indoors, and who are the top NLL rookies to watch in ’09?

Last season we predicted four of six ‘08 All-Rookie Team members in our Top 6 selections, including Rookie of the Year winner Craig Point. Hit the jump to see who we’ve projected to be the Top 10 NLL Rookies in 2009. (Read More…)

On reputation and past achievements alone, John Tavares is easily the best in the NLL right now.

Well, Gary Gait might have something to say about that statement now that he’s found his was back via Rochester, so how bout, best on rep and past AND not having taken a semi-retirement, in the game right now.

Tavares showed over 2008 that age has very little to do with his game, and although the recent Champion’s Cup winner might not be blasting single game and season records like he did in the past, few are as impactful as JT both on-and-off the court. (Read More…)

(photo by Martin Allinson)

We’ll be bringing you the top photos from the NLL all season long. Be sure and check out photos from week one.

Even though the season opened with just three games this past week, we’re gonna start-up The Money Ballers anyways since there were some super clutch performances in both Buffalo and Florida on Saturday night.

For those that are new to the site or didn’t follow The Money Ballers either during the NLL season or CLA Junior A season, after the jump check out what it is and how we figure out who the best clutch performer in the game is. (Read More…)

Every week this season at NLLinsider.com we’re going to be putting our heads together to argue and exchange threats over email in order to bring to you the All-NLLinsider Team of the Week. Quite simply, the All-NLLinsider Team will consist of the six best players to step foot on the floor every weekend. 3 F, 1 T, 1 D, 1 G, all awesome. For a look at whose week one efforts made the cut for the first All-NLLinsider Team, read on. (Read More…)

Tim Soudan, Paul Day and Duane Jacobs will get their place in the Rochester Knighthawks pantheon as they make up the first class in the K-Hawk’s new Hall of Fame. Soudan was a hometown here, born in Fairport, N.Y., and played 11 years for Rochester, ranking fifth in goals, sixth in assists and sixth in points.

Jacobs played 93 games for Rochester and ranks third in team history in goals, fourth in assists and third in points. Day is the franchise’s all-time leader in coaching victories with a 75-39 career record.
(Read More…)

 Its time for the 2009 power rankings. Love ‘em or hate ‘em - we know you like to read them.  2008 was a great season of lacrosse in the NLL and this year it looks like it will be just as competitive.

The hardest part of the Power rankings is merging the east and west teams, especially when most games are interdivisional. Obviously I have to make a call on which division is stronger and last year there is no doubt that the East was tougher with 7 teams fighting for 4 playoff spots. In the West there were only 5 teams last year and Edmonton’s brutal start meant that Calgary and Portland could sleepwalk into the playoffs.  (Before you say I only watch East games think again. Last year I saw the San Jose Stealth play live 9 times).

Minnesota’s move to the East changes things this year. In fact in my initial Power Rankings that I’ve put three Western teams ahead of everyone in the East except for Buffalo. In the East there is no doubt that Buffalo is number one but after that nobody overwhelms me. I spoke to one coach yesterday who felt that Toronto and Rochester would be out again and Boston would be the “Titans” of 2009.  While Boston has a stronger roster than any expansion team we’ve seen in a while they are no weak teams in the league like there has been during other expansion seasons. They’ll be in a dog fight like everyone else.
(Read More…)

It got a little heated in Florida last night as the clash between the New York Titans and Toronto Rock came down to last-minute theatrics with Bob Watson slapping down a potential game-winner and Blaine Manning grabbing the reigns on the other end of the floor to score the actual game-winner with 37.5 seconds remaining. In the 15-14 win Lewis Ratcliff had three goals and five assists, Luke Wiles three and four in his Rock debut, Manning had another three goals and two assists in addition to his GWG, and Jason Crosbie scored one and helped out on six. Bob Watson stopped 44 in the win. Casey Powell notched a massive six goals and four assists.

Out in Portland, number two Minnesota netminder Kevin Croswell got a chance to showcase his skills, stopping 42 of 49 in an 11-7 win. (Read More…)

You’ll have to excuse the Buffalo Bandits if they had a little something in their eye last night en route to their 15-11 2009 debut victory over the Philadelphia Wings.

After a Championship banner-raising and a emotional tribute to the late great Tom Borrelli in front of a sell-out crowd, it was the Philadelphia Wings who came out on fire, taking the early 1-0 lead after Drew Westervelt snagged a Geoff Snider pass off the face-off to open scoring in the 2009 NLL season 10 seconds into the game. That lead held for nearly a full ten minutes until Mark Steenhuis pumped in his first of four goals. John Tavares scored next just under a minute and a half later, but it would be Taylor Wray replying for the Wings at 12:37. Roger Vyse and Kyle Wailes each found the back of the net in the first for a 3-3 tie. (Read More…)

Today was originally gonna be the day we dropped the four top dawgs in the NLL Insider Top 50.

Change of plans.

With a flurry of questions both emailed to us and posted on the boards, we wanted to set the record straight before naming our last four.

So, after the jump, your questions are answered… (Read More…)

Like we did earlier this week with the East, today we’re ripping through the NLL’s Western Division, breaking down each team as they head into 2009.

The Minnesota Swarm and Portland Lumberjax start-up what should be a heated Western Division this winter, when the Swarm roll into Portland on Saturday night against a Jax team that will definitely wanna show the league that the team is more than simply, well, you know who.

Over the last few weeks, NLL Insider has also checked in with about 100 NLL players, asking them who they felt the four teams from both the East and West would be to make it to this year’s post-season. Teams are ranked based on the player’s votes, with the percentage of how many players voted for each individual team also included.

So after the jump, check-out how the West might play out this year and who to keep your eye on heading into 2009. (Read More…)

Athan Iannucci is out with an injury, sidelined perhaps for the entire season.

John Grant and Scott Evans are injured, as well.

On the other hand, Gary Gait is back and John Tavares is, well, Johnny T. Dan Dawson has a new address and Colin Doyle has some new faces to pass the ball to.

So, who will win the scoring championship this season and the all-but-certain MVP nod that comes with?

(Read More…)

The New York Titans just added one more gun to their lineup by signing last year’s team leader in scoring, Casey Powell.

Titans coach Ed Comeau confirmed early Friday afternoon that Powell is signed and will play in Saturday night’s National Lacrosse League’s Florida Lacrosse Cup against the Toronto Rock. It’s the season-opener for both teams, and Powell’s scoring ability and floor vision, a vital part of New York’s success last season, will be a welcome addition to New York’s bench. “”He’s signed and will play,” said Comeau. “There’s an agreement. Let’s put it that way.” In other words, there’s still some details to sort, but the bottom line is that CP’s gonna be dressed in the orange and blue and “we’re excited, he’s excited and the team’s excited,” said Comeau. “We’re just happy to get our focus on the first game.”

The Titans still will be without defender Rory Smith, who’s serving a two-game suspension that came down at the end of last season.

Last year the NLL ended up announcing the top three finalists for the MVP nod for the first time, with Athan Iannucci, John Tavares and Casey Powell being the trio that were up for the honour.

Although AI was practically everyone’s favorite, not having Jeff Zywicki in there was a bit of a crime considering the kinda year the UMass grad had in 2008 (and yeah, know it was based on votes, but it was still robbery).

In three short years in the NLL, Zywicki has already become one of the league’s top power forwards and is one of the league’s best off ball guys too. Few gut it out like Jeff and even fewer have the stats to go with it. (Read More…)

Every week we’re going to pop up a quick post to let you know where and when you can catch each and every one of the weekend’s upcoming NLL games. Unfortunately this weekend there is no TV coverage to report, so this is just a reminder (not that you need one) to head over to NLL.com tomorrow for live webcasts at 7:30 PM EST for the Philly vs. Buffalo match-up, 8:00 PM EST for the Florida Cup featuring the Toronto Rock and New York Titans, and 10:30 PM EST to see the Swarm take on the Portland Lumberjax. All games are free of charge. The only way the league could have done better on this one is if the webcasts could get up, go to the fridge, and get you a beer. In addition to the league’s live webcasts, all Bandit games will be broadcast on WWKB 1520 AM in Buffalo (KB 1520) with John Gurtler doing play by play.

Ready or not, here we come. The NLLInsiders are back to predict weekly winners in the National Lacrosse League, all the while dropping some serious knowledge on your face. So it’s best you watch carefully to see how it’s done.

By now, you’re either laughing or shaking your puny fist at the monitor in a rage. If you’re laughing at the weak attempt at humor, welcome to my punk sense of humor. If you’re actually angry at what you read in the first paragraph, settle down and think about a visit to a therapist. We did the staff pick ‘em thing here last season and had a ton o fun with it, the same plan we have for the 2009 season. And lemme tell ya, we are all absolutely STOKED that the season kicks off tomorrow night.

So who’s on the panel and what do they have to say for the first set of games for Week 1? Take the jump and find out.

(Read More…)

Mark Steenhuis looks to lead the Bandits to a back-to-back finals run (Martin Allinson)

The Buffalo Bandits enter 2009 slightly healthier than last winter, but likely just as hungry as Darris Kilgour amps up his crew for what should be another strong run at the Champion’s Cup.

Although the loss of Brett Bucktooth and likely Pat McCready for the season will hurt, the team finally gets Sean Greenhalgh in the lineup after missing him for all of 2008 with a blown knee, and should also benefit immensely from Dispersal Draft pick-ups Cody Jacobs and Tom Montour.

Can they patch-up some minor holes and have guys step-up entering the year banged up for the second straight winter? Find out after the jump. (Read More…)

Well, it’s finally here. Opening weekend of the National Lacrosse League’s 2009 season and there isn’t a thing to talk about.

Ha. Of course that’s a joke. Problem is, as we try to calm our excited nerves and get ready for the opening faceoffs of the three Saturday night games, where do we start? Toronto’s playing New York in Florida, Buffalo opens defense of its title at home against Philadelphia, and Minnesota is amped to take its shot at Portland, last season’s runner-up. Is Athan Iannucci gonna play? How are the LumberJax gonna roll without Dangerous Dan Dawson in the lineup? How’s Sean Greenhalgh looking in Buffalo? Are all the new faces in Toronto gonna make a difference against a New York team that’s locked and loaded for a run at the Champion’s Cup?

Worthy questions, all, and they were all discussed earlier this week as the participating coaches gathered for the league’s conference call.

(Read More…)

No one’s reputation has improved more than Casey Powell’s has over the last two winters.

After leaving the pro indoor game for a couple seasons, coincidentally coinciding with a head-shot courtesy of then Toronto Rock defender Pat Coyle, Powell was called every name in the book by box lacrosse purists.

They called him soft, weak, a wimp, a baby and worst of all, an American field laxer!! Yeah, they went there, and they did it time-and-time again, dragging Powell’s NLL rep through the thickest mud they could find. (Read More…)