Boston Blazers.. Is This Their Year?

(photo credit: NLL.com)

When the Boston Blazers first acquired Casey Powell, I thought they became the favorites in the East. When they acquired Josh Sanderson, I thought so even more. The Blazers certainly have what looks to be a powerhouse offense, with those additions along with Dan Dawson. But did the Blazers address their biggest need? And are there more teams to worry about in the East?
Looking at the Blazers roster up-to-down, it looks pretty solid. Along with their big three they have Scott Campbell, John Orsen, Greg Downing, Gary Bining, Kevin Buchanan, Sean Morris, and Dan Teat. Those are some pretty good complementary players to Sanderson, Dawson and Powell. And on the goaltending front, you cannot go wrong with Anthony Cosmo. So again, on paper this team looked solid.
I feel they did address their biggest problem, which was second half scoring. After teams would adjust to Dan Dawson, the Blazers did not have enough players to pick up the slack. They tried to fix this by acquiring Mat Giles, and he was ok, but he was also not their scoring solution.
By getting Powell and later Sanderson, that should solve the issue. Teams cannot double cover all three players. Especially Powell, who has had a history of good second halves.
While credit to Boston for improving the issue, Powell kind of fell right into their lap. Thanks to the Giles trade of the previous season, Boston was left with the #2 pick of the Titans dispersal. With Colorado snatching up Matt Vinc, Powell was left open for the Blazers. They did have to surrender a few players for Sanderson, but it was well worth getting the former MVP.
The rest of their additions look like good support players, like Dan Teat, who is 20th all time in NLL scoring. And then Kevin Buchanan, who looks to score a few goals.
But other teams are improving too. Toronto has a really solid roster, with Blaine Manning, Colin Doyle, Garret Billings and Wade LeBlanc. The Rock, I have always thought, would be able to contend with Boston. But with the recent additions of Rochester, the Knighthawks might jump into that mix. And it is not so much Vinc, as they always had Pat O'Toole in net.
But even with the loss of John Grant, they have Cody Jaimeson, Jordon Hall, Craig Point, Steve Toll, Shawn Evans, and Matt Zash. With a few more roster moves, they also have Brad Self and Matt Danowski.
So with the Knighthawks and Rock in the mix, that leaves the Blazers with some tough opponents. Back to the Blazers, is their still a weakness on this team? They improved their problems from last year, but that does not mean they won't have problems somewhere else.
I think the Blazers acquired some good defensive players with Orsen and Campbell, but they lost Paul Dawson, who is one of the best in the league. While those two may make up for the loss, the acquisition of Kyle Rubisch was supposed to as well. However he remains unsigned, and it is unknown if Boston will have to trade him.

Top Games---- #15 Orlando Titans vs Boston Blazers

A first round playoff matchup between the #1 Orlando Titans and #4 Boston Blazers. Boston dominated the early half of the game, but Orlando made a terrific comeback on the shoulders of Casey Powell.
As I attended this game, my only of the year, this does hold a special place in my heart. So here is you #15 game of the year....

The Titans were the favorites going into the game, the #1 seed in the east with the #1 player in the world, Casey Powell. Boston came in as a good team that struggled at times in second halfs, with their #1 player Dan Dawson.
The Blazers had a problem in the second half of the season; Teams made a halftime adjustment to double-cover Dawson. Boston had some other good scorers, Daryl Veltman, Ryan Hotaling, Mat Giles and Gary Bining. But none good enough to take the double-cover off one of the best players in the game.
Boston played a terrific second half, dominating an Orlando team that had not been dominated, and carried a 7-4 lead into halftime.
But remember, Phil Jackson, Boston lovvves to blow a lead in the fourth quarter.
Casey Powell went on a rampage, scoring five goals to lead the game in goals and named game MVP.
Dawson, though scoring was shut down, did dish out 7 assists to go along with one goal.
Orlando tied the game 8-8 late in the third period, but Boston battled back and took the lead, 9-8. But it wasn't over there. In the fourth quarter, Casey Powell scored two goals to make it 10-9 Orlando before Jarret Park scored a goal to make it 11-9.
Boston continued to battle and tied it at 11 with one minute remaining and possession, but a turnover got the ball to the Titans and Jordon Hall scored the game winning goal. Matt Vinc had 35 saves in Orlando's comeback win.
Now, this could be an odd pick to some people. But like I said, because I was at this game it holds a special place in my heart. But this game was also one of the best in the NLL all season. Orlando made a terrific comeback, tying the game and then taking the lead, it was a classic back and forth.
Our #14 game will be the MLL All-Star game on Friday.

Media:
NLL Insider Coverage
Game Recap from The Lacrosse Blog

Game Stats:
Blazers
PLAYERS Pos. G A SOG S LB PIM FO
4Cosmo, Anthony G 0 0 0 0 0 0 0/0
66 Rose, Nick G 0 0 0 0 0 0 0/0
2 Dawson, Paul D 0 0 0 0 7 0 0/0
6 Dawson, Dan F 1 7 4 10 5 0 0/0
8Downing, Greg T 0 0 0 1 11 0 0/0
9 Bining, Gary F 2 1 4 4 3 0 0/0
12 Durno, Jon D 0 0 0 0 1 2 0/0
16Veltman, Daryl F 3 3 10 14 4 0 0/0
18 Reid, Jack D 0 0 0 0 3 2 2/2
20Hotaling, Ryan T0 2 2 2 3 0 17/25
23Queener, Brett T0 0 0 0 0 2 0/0
26 Kirk, Mike D 0 0 0 0 6 0 0/0
27 Giles, Mat F 1 4 8 9 7 2 0/0
33Harnett, Jon D 0 0 1 1 5 2 0/0
37Cotter, Nick F 2 0 9 11 6 4 0/0
85Belisle, Mitch D0 1 1 1 12 0 0/0
90Rooney, Jamie F 2 1 7 9 1 0 0/0
97 Ross, Kyle T 0 0 0 0 2 0 0/0
TEAM 11 46 62 76 14 19/27

Titans
PLAYERS Pos. G A SOG S LB PIM FO
3 Wagar, Kurtis G 0 0 0 0 0 0 0/0
48 Vinc, Matt G 0 0 0 0 1 0 0/0
3 Alrich, Matt F 0 0 7 9 4 0 0/0
6 Bigas, Jeff D 0 0 0 0 2 0 0/0
10 Zash, Matt D 1 1 3 3 7 0 2/6
12 ark, Jarett T 1 0 1 1 7 2 0/0
14 Boyle, Ryan F 0 1 1 4 0 0 0/0
15 MacLeod, Mat F 0 1 1 1 3 0 0/0
16 Merrill, Pat D 0 1 2 2 2 2 0/1
17 Greer, Bill D 1 0 1 1 3 0 0/0
19McLellan, Mike F1 1 6 8 2 0 0/0
20 Peyser, Greg D 0 2 0 1 10 2 6/20
21Koneczny, Chet D 0 1 2 2 3 0 0/0
22 Powell, Casey F 5 2 12 14 2 0 0/0
24 Smith, Rory D 0 0 0 0 2 2 0/0
42Maddalena, Pat F 1 4 4 8 4 0 0/0
44 Hall, Jordan T 1 2 9 12 5 2 0/0
56 Orsen, John T 1 1 0 0 10 0 0/0
TEAM 12 49 66 67 10 8/27


Other Notes:
Shots on Goal: Bos: 46 Orl: 49
PP: Bos: 1-3 Orl: 1-4
FO: Bos: 19 of 27 Orl: 8 of 27

Player Preview: Casey Powell

Casey Powell is arguably the best player in lacrosse. He is the reigning NLL MVP, and was acquired by the Boston Blazers in the Orlando Titans dispersal. Powell finished only 14th in scoring, but he is going to be playing side by side with the man who finished first, Josh Sanderson.
Powell is coming into a great situation in Boston, playing with two former MVPs in Sanderson and Dan Dawson. How will this affect Powell's numbers? It should in ways both good and bad. His point totals will go up, but his goal totals may go down. He will be double covered more than Sanderson or Dawson, but his assist numbers will go through the roofs playing with a finisher like Sanderson. But how did this all begin for Powell? How did he become the best player in the NLL?
Let's take a first look at his MLL career. In 2001 he was drafted by the Long Island Lizards, and led the Lizards to the first ever MLL championship. He led them to a championship again in 2003, and was then sent to the Rochester Rattlers in a blockbuster deal. In 2005, Powell was named offensive player of the week three times in the final four weeks of the season.
Powell was named MLL offensive player of the year in 2007. Powell is considered the best player in MLL history.
In the NLL, Powell has also had a storied career. Powell was drafted by the Rochester Knighthawks in 1998, and was traded to Buffalo two years later. He never reported, and was then traded to the Anaheim Storm where he made his mark. Powell was selected by the Portland LumberJaxx in the Storm dispersal, but elected again not to play. Powell was later traded to the New York Titans, and eventually Boston when the Orlando Titans dispersed.
His career year points wise in the NLL was 2008 when he scored 86 points. Something tells me he might overtake that mark this season in Boston.

NLL Player Preview: Josh Sanderson

After all the NLL team previews, we will now look at some player previews. We will look at some of the more intriguing players in the NLL. It will be a total of 20 players, with at least one from each team. This series will stretch until January.

Right now, it's Josh Sanderson.
Sanderson was originally drafted by the Rochester Knighthawks in 1998. In his rookie year, he played in four games and scored four points. The next he played five and then Rochester traded him to the Albany Attack. With the Attack in 2002, he scored 103 points with 35 goals. That was his peak in Albany, while he scored 76 and 89 points, the last year with San Jose before the franchise moved on from him and he went to Toronto. With the Rock he broke out, scoring 102, 98 and 85 points before being traded to Calgary. With Calgary, he had only 16 points in an injury plagued season and ended up back in Toronto. He scored only 50 points in 11 games that year before he was shipped back out to the Roughnecks, for Lewis Ratcliff. He then scored 103 and 104 points, leading the league last season and was second the year before. He was also named MVP of the 2009 Champions Cup with Calgary.
In the offseason, he was traded to the Boston Blazers, where he will play alongside Casey Powell and Dan Dawson.
Josh Sanderson is related to the goaltender, Chris Sanderson, who was an all-time goaltending great in the MLL. He recently returned from brain cancer and played in the FIL for team Canada.

Sanderson has won two NLL Champions Cups, with Calgary and Toronto. In 2002 he won the MVP of the Mann Cup in Major Series Lacrosse. He has been an all-pro in 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2010. He was also a starter for the 2009 NLL all-star game. Sanderson was MVP of Calgary's Championship. He also played in the Bowhunter Cup.

The Next Player Preview will be Ryan Powell at some time this month. If you have any ideas of who you want to see next in this series, write it in the comments.

Boston Blazers Preview

The NLL Draft will be soon upon us. The NLL season is now only a few months away, and it's time to preview them.

The Boston Blazers bounced back last season from a devastating defeat to the Buffalo Bandits in the playoffs. They made the playoffs on the final day of the season, beating out the Rochester Knighthawks, but they barely backed in. They lost to Buffalo that night and needed Washington to defeat Rochester. Lucky for them, they did. But it once again proved Boston's inconsistencies with a season full of them.
Boston had one issue all season long; If Dan Dawson was shut down, so were the Blazers. They had some good players in Daryl Veltman and they went out and acquired Mat Giles, but it was not enough. They relied on Dawson and their goaltender Anthony Cosmo to get it done.
Boston finished fourth in the east and had to travel to Orlando for their playoff showdown. They lost similarly to the rest of their regular season: They had a lead, but Orlando adjusted to shutting down Boston's top scorer. Well, the Blazers were full aware of this flaw and used a golden opportunity to fix it.
The Blazers have lucked out on dispersal drafts their entire existence, having the number one pick to steal Dawson from Arizona and Cosmo from Chicago. This year they had a number two pick for the Orlando Titan's dispersal, and they drafted league MVP Casey Powell. Now with Dawson and Powell on offense, that was sure to fix a flawed offense. But even better, Boston made one of the bigger blockbusters of the last few years and acquired Josh Sanderson, the 2009 playoffs MVP. Similar to the Boston Celtics big three, the Blazers look to take this opportunity and win the whole thing.
With the best team in the east, Orlando, out of the league, their only real competition will be Toronto and maybe Buffalo might be a surprise team. But Boston has a real golden opportunity to make this their year.

Draft Recap

Not much information is out yet on who acquired who, but this is what I have so far.
The Boston Blazers, as expected, got 2010 NLL MVP Casey Powell and defenseman John Orson. The Blazers will become the favorites to win the ast with Powell, Mat Giles, Dan Dawson and Daryl Veltman on offense, and new acquisitions Orson and Scott Campbell on defense.
The Colorado Mammoth also got their guy, goaltender Matt Vinc. They also picked up Jarret Park, Marc Burton, Chad Thompson, and Bryan Barrett. Park is a transition player and a veteran of five years who can help the Mammoth with their scoring. Thompson is also a transition player. Barret and Burton will see limited roles.
Here are the rest of the results:
Rochester: Jordon Hall
Minnesota: Rory Smith
Philadelphia: Brenden Mundorf
Edmonton: Bill Greer
Philadelphia: Ryan Boyle
Toronto: Mike McLelen
Washington: Chet Konezey

Round 2:
Colorado: Jarret Park
Philadelphia: Stehpen Peyser
Rochester: Dan Hardy
Minnesota: Tim O'Brian
Boston: Greg Peyser
Buffalo: Jesse Guerin
Edmonton: Matt Alrich
Calgary: Curtis Wager
Toronto: Mat MacLeod
Washington: Matt Zash

Round 3:
Colorado: Chad Thompson
Philadelphia: Jeff Bigias
Rochester: Kenny Nims
Minnesota: Matt Bocklet
Boston: Matt Ammann
Buffalo: Matt Brown
Edmonton: Pass
Calgary: Kieth Cromwell
Toronto: Pass
Washington: Pass

Round 4:
Colorado: Marc Burton
Philadelphia: Dan Cocoziello
Rochester: Mike Evens
Minnesota: Pass
Boston: Chris Passavia
Buffalo: Pass
Calgary: Rob Smith

Round 5:
Colorado: Bryan Barret
Philadelphia: Pass
Rochester: Bobby Horsey
Boston: Pass
Calgary: Brian Spallina
(end of draft)

Boston looks like the most improved team in the draft, but Colorado and Calgary look to have improved also. Minnesota does not appear to have done much to improve though, if I were a Swarm fan I would be disapointed.

Titans confirm Hiatus, Mammoth hint at selecting Vinc?

The Orlando Titans have confirmed their hiatus from the NLL, while Pat Merril and Pat Maddalena were given their rights to free agency.
Meanwhile, the dispersal draft is expected to be held later this week, with the Colorado Mammoth holding the first pick. We all know they need goaltending, and the Mammoth all but confirmed they will select 2010 goalie of the year Matt Vinc.

“We have certain needs that we are going to address,” Govett said on the team’s web site. “[Orlando goalie] Matt Vinc is arguably the best goalie in the league and that could be an answer for us for years to come. They also have Casey Powell, who is an all-time great player; a future Hall of Famer. Then there is Jordan Hall, who is probably the best offensive transition player in the league. There are three options there where we just couldn’t go wrong.”

If they do select Vinc, that leaves Casey Powell wide open for the Boston Blazers who continue to luck out on dispersal drafts. Two years ago they drafted Dan Dawson and Anthony Cosmo from Arizona and Chicago respectively.
If the Mammoth were to change their mind and select Powell, the Blazers would likely select Jordon Hall, as they do not need goaltending.
Mock draft:

Mammoth: Matt Vinc
Blazers: Casey Powell
Knighthawks: Jordon Hall
Swarm: Ryan Boyle
Wings: John Orson
Bandits: Dan Hardy
Rush: Rory Smith
Roughnecks: Matt Zash
Rock: Stephen Peyser
Stealth: Jarret Park

That is subject top change, obviously. Let's look into this a bit deeper;
If the Blazers were to draft Powell, they would be a force to reckon with in the East Division. Imagine a team with Dawson and Powell? This team would be a goal scoring machine.
If the Mammoth were to get Vinc, as we think, they might turn into contenders in the West. Remember they got hot at the end of last year as well.

A look at the MLL so far:

This MLL season has been an exciting one, with teams such as Boston and Denver proving to be powerhouse teams.
The current standings on this FIL break look like this:

Boston 6-3
Denver 6-3
Chicago 4-5 2 GB
Cheasapeake 4-5 2GB
Long Island 4-5 2 GB
Toronto 3-6 3 GB.

The disappointment of the year is obviously the Toronto Nationals, the world champions of last season. With players like Garret Billings, Dan Dawson, and John Grant Jr, they still have potential to be a force if they squeeze their way into the tight playoff race. After winning three in a row, it looked like the Nationals were alive, but it will be tough to rebound from a tough one goal loss to Denver two weeks ago.

Long Island also has an interesting case. They started the season off poorly as well, but have played decent in the last few weeks, and are now tied with Chicago, who started off the season real well. Led by Matt Danowski and Zack Greer, the Lizards are a team that can make some noise.

The Cannons are having a terrific year pushing for their first ever title, led by not only Paul Rabil but Matt Poskay leading the MLL is scoring. A 34 goal scorer two years ago, Poskay had a disappointing season last year playing only 7 games and scoring 15 goals. If the Cannons want to continue their run, they are going to need Poskay to stay hot as the new all-time Cannons scoring leader.

Later in the week I will look at Denver, Chicago, and Chesapeake.

NLL Playoffs Round One: Recaps

What an exciting night in the NLL! I was there first hand to see the Orlando Titans beat out the Boston Blazers in a thriller, 12-11. Here are your recaps:

* Toronto beat Buffalo, 13-11

* Edmonton beat Calgary 11-7.

* Washington beat Minnesota 14-10

* The Titans did a great job of containing Dan Dawson all night, only allowing one goal from the Blazers superstar. Meanwhile, Casey Powell scored five goals and lit up the Blazers defense.

* Matt Disher stopped 60 shots for Edmonton, leading them to their first playoff win ever.

* Ryan Ward had eight assists for the Rush

* Rhys Duch scored six goals for the Stealth.

* Stehphen LeBlanc scored five goals for Toronto.

* Games next week will be Toronto @ Orlando at 7:35 pm and Edmonton @ Washington at 10:30.

* Predictions: Edmonton and Toronto win.

Game Preveiw: Boston @ Colorado

photo credit: NLL.com
Preview: Boston faces another must win in Colorado tonight, tied with the Bandits and Knighthawks for the final playoff spot. The good news is Buffalo is playing the east's top team, the Orlando Titans. The Knighthawks play the Rock tonight, with the winner clinching a playoff berth. Meanwhile, Colorado needs a win to keep their playoff hopes alive. They are only a game back of the Minnesota Swarm for the last spot in the west.

Leading Scorer: Boston: Dan Dawson, 73 pts
Colorado: Jamie Shewchuk, 62 pts

Goaltender: Boston: Anthony Cosmo, 9.47 GAA, .801 S%
Colorado: Andrew Layshon, 13.38 GAA, .716 S%

Injuries: Boston: None
Colorado: Ilija Gajic (Illness)

Game Notes: * The Mammoth power play is 2 for it's last 10 attempts.

* The Mammoth can clinch a playoff spot with two wins and two Minnesota losses.

* The Mammoth win over Edmonton last week was their first in regulation.

* The Blazers can clinch a playoff spot with two wins, a win and two Rochester losses, or beating Buffalo next week and Buffalo losing this week to Orlando.

* 17% of the Blazers goals this season have come on the power play.

* The game can be seen at NLL.com at 9pm.

Dan Dawson's Amazing Goal

If you haven't seen this yet, you have to.

NLL Game Reveiws

Last night five NLL games took place. The Orlando Titans beat the Boston Blazers, 13-10, the Toronto Rock beat the Philadelphia Wings, 13-6, the Calgary Roughnecks beat the Rochester Knighthawks, 11-9, The Edmonton Rush beat the Minnesota Swarm, 14-13, and the Colorado Mammoth beat the Buffalo Bandits, 12-11. Two games went to overtime, with the Rush and Mammoth prevailing. Here are the notes from a fun night in the NLL.

Current Standings after this weekend:

East:
Orlando 8-4 (4 games remaining)
Toronto 8-6 (2) 1 game back
Boston 6-7 (3) 2.5
Buffalo 6-7 (3) 2.5
Rochester 5-7 (4) 3
Philadelphia 4-9 (3) 4.5

Toronto swept their weekend, which got them out of their six game funk. They beat Calgary and Philadelphia to move ahead of Boston and one game behind the Titans. Orlando won to extend their lead over Boston. Buffalo lost in OT to the lowly Mammoth, missing an opportunity to move up in the standings. With Rochester's loss, they themselves missed an opportunity with both Boston and Buffalo losing.

West:
Washington* 9-4 (3 games remaining)
Edmonton* 9-4 (3)
Calgary 7-6 (3) 2
Minnesota 5-7 (4) 3.5
Colorado (4) 5.5

Colorado won on a night that Minnesota lost, and now move two games behind them. Minnesota and Colorado both have four games remaining, that's a game in hand over Edmonton and Washington. The Swarm losing does not help them, as they would have had a chance to clinch. Calgary split their weekend, winning last night in Rochester. Edmonton tied Washington for first place in the West.

Notes: *Dan Dawson (5) scored half of the Blazers goals himself.

* The Rush tie the Stealth for first place.

* Alex Gajic continued his tear with four goals for the Mammoth.

* Colorado won for the first time in seven games.

* The Blazers scored only one goal in the fourth quarter.

* Philadelphia did not score in the first quarter.

* The Knighthawks have lost four staright home games.

* The next action in the NLL is Friday when the Knighthawks go to Minnesota, and the Mammoth take on the Rush.

NLL Game Preveiw: Titans @ Blazers

photo credit: NLL.com
Preveiw: The Boston Blazers face a must win situation at home vs the top seed Orlando Titans. With the Rock winning and the Bandits facing the league worst Colorado Mammoth, the Blazers need a win to hold on to second. Meanwhile the Titans look to win their second straight after beating Toronto last week.

Leading Goal Scorer: Boston: Dan Dawson, 60 pts
Orlando: Jordan Hall, 56 pts

Goaltender: Boston: Anthoney Cosmo, 9.29 GAA, .803 S%
Orlando: Matt Vinc, 9.09 GAA, .821 S%

Injuries: Boston: Bubba Durano and Jamie Roony will return tonight for the Blazers.
Orlando: Jordon Hall, Hamstring

Notes: * The last time the Blazers and Titans met, they went to Double OT in the longest game in NLL history.

* Hall will likley be out vs the Blazers.

* Vinc leads the NLL in GAA.

* Dan Dawson of the Blazers scored five points last game for Boston.

* Blazer's Paul Dawson shaved his head yesterday for Locks of Love.

* The game is at 7:30 pm and can be seen at NLL.com Network

NLL News Update-4/2

photo credit: NLL.com
Here is your Friday NLL News Update.

NLL commissiner Geroge Daniel said in a confernece call that the NLL will release it's first video game since 2001 with NLL 2010 for Xbox360. Boston's Dan Dawson, Minnesota's Zach Greer, Buffalo's Mark Steenhuis, Orlando's Matt Alrich, and Edmonton's Brodie Merrill will be the "cover boys". NLL Lacrosse 2010 will feature all 11 teams and all their players.

Daniel also said that there would not be any expansion in 2011 and that it would wait until 2012. There was rumor that Daniel wanted to expand to Califonia or Montreal next year and possibly expand the schedule.

Tonight's games include Washington @ Edmonton and Calgary @ Toronto, big games for all teams.

Follow the Rush, Stealth, Roughnecks, and Rock tonight here for an NLL Open Thread. Follow and comment about the games.