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.

What Will the Knighthawks do with Pat O'Toole?

(photo credit: Knighthawks.net)

The Knighthawks may be one of the most improved teams in the NLL this season. But they also may have helped other teams improve. They traded their star player John Grant to Colorado with Mac Allen for Matt Vinc, Matt Zash and Brad Self. The case with Vinc has always been; What do you do with Pat O'Toole?
O'Toole is a very good goaltender in his own right. He was one of the best back in the 1990's and still is today. But with the K'Hawks likely committed to Vinc (they signed him to a three year deal) it seems O'Toole will soon be on the move. What teams are out there willing to take on O'Toole?
First off, the Knighthawks offense may take a hit with the loss of Grant and Allen. They did add on some good scoring players this offseason with Cody Jaimeson, Jordon Hall, Matt Zash and Brad Self. But Allen was one of the better transition players in the league and Grant a scorer. If O'Toole is to be moved, I imagine the price for a scorer would be high. Don't get me wrong, Rochester has scoring potential. But I just think they could probably add a big name if O'Toole is moved.
What teams may be interested? The Calgary Roughnecks may be, after trading Matt King their projected starting goaltender is Mike Poulin. They may be interested in O'Toole, but with a depleted roster from so many moves, they may not be a trade fit.
The Swarm a certainly a team Rochester could fish from. Minnesota's starting goaltender, Nick Patterson, ranked near the bottom of the league in all goaltender stats. They still do have Kevin Croswell, but with a pretty good offensive team they might be willing to trade a player for O'Toole.
An unlikely trade partner my be Buffalo, as they already have Mike Thompson and are going to compete with Rochester, but it might turn out to be a possibility. Another team in this category may be Philadelphia. But after a season in which Brandon Miller was awful, I can see the Wings willing to deal for O'Toole.
This will be a fascinating season of Knighthawks lacrosse, in a vastly improved east division. Now with Vinc to lead them, O'Toole may have a new home outside of Rochester, for the first time in 13 years.

Player Preview: Gajic Brothers

The Gajic brothers, Ilija, Nenard Alex, are in for an interesting season in Colorado with the new additions of John Grant and Mac Allen at their side. How is this going to affect their play, and how will their's affect the Colorado Mammoth? Here is your player preview, Alex, Nenard and Ilija Gajic.
Let's start off with Nenard, the oldest of the Gajic brothers. He was the #39 overall pick of the San Jose Stealth in the 2004 NLL draft. He became a free agent after he did not sign and sat out two seasons, as he wanted to pursue a hockey career at the University of Nebraska-Omaha. Before 2007, Nenard signed with the Colorado Mammoth. In 2007, he scored 37 points and was named to the all-rookie team and the all-star team. Nenard is also the captain of the New Westminster Salmonbellies in the Western Lacrosse Association, but he missed the entire 2009 season because of injury.
Alex, in his first NLL season, was 38th in the NLL in points. Alex was the #5 overall pick by the Mammoth in the 2009 entry draft. He played at Denver University and the Junior A Barnaby Lakers before the NLL. At DU, he played 13 games while scoring 16 goals and six assists. In Burnaby, he was named team MVP as he led them to two championships.
Last season on Colorado Alex scored 26 goals in 16 games with 22 assists and 57 loose balls.
Ilija was originally selected #2 overall by the Rochester Knighthawks in the 2009 NLL draft. He was traded to Colorado for lon time fan favorite Gavin Prount. Ilija joined his brother Alex as a rookie on Colorado. In ten games, he scored 16 goals with 11 assists and 54 loose balls. He also attended the University of Denver. Ilija suffered a few injuries during the season, which held him to only ten games.
The Mammoth have locked up all three Gajic brothers for the upcoming season, with Mammoth general manager Steve Govett saying, “We want the Gajic brothers to be an integral part of this team for years to come,”
The Gajic brothers look to be on a better offensive club this season, with the additions of John Grant and Mac Allen, as well as Jamie Shewchuck returning. As the two Gajic brothers return for their Sophomore season, and Nenard returns a veteran, the Mammoth as a whole look to return a better team.

Player Preview: John Grant

With the bloackbuster trade of Matt Vinc and John Grant last week, we had a Vinc player preview with his new team in upstate New York. Now, we look at the player moving from the only franchise he's ever known to Denver.
Grant was originally a third round pick for the Buffalo Bandits in 1995, but opted not to sign and to stay in college. He re-entered the draft four years later in 1999, and was selected first overall by the Rochester Knighthawks, and was named rookie of the year. In the next three years in Rochester, Grant scored 95, 105, and 99 points. The year where he scored 105 came in a 14 game season, and the year he scored 95 was in 12 games.
The next season, 2004, Grant was injured most of the year and was only able to score 35 points in 5 games.
In 2007, Grant set a National Lacrosse league record with 15 points in a single game in a win over the New York Titans. Grant was also named MVP that season, as well as Champions Cup MVP with the championship in Rochester. The record does not hold, as Mark Steenhius of the Buffalo Bandits broke it.
Grant missed the entire 2009 season with emergency knee surgery. He returned to play 15 out of the Knighthawks 16 games in 2010, but they did not make the playoffs after falling to the Washington Stealth in the last game of the season.
In the MLL, Grant was a member of the Rochester Rattlers in their inaugural season. He finished second in the league with 59 points, and won offensive player of the year.
He skipped the 2002-2004 seasons, but returned to the Rattlers in 2005. In 2007, he broke the single season points record with 71, and was again named offensive player of the year, and also the MVP. He again led the league in scoring in 2008, and was again names MVP.
With the Rattlers folded, Grant now plays on the Toronto Nationals. He has been to two championship games, one in Rochester and one in Toronto.
Grant also played in the Ontario Lacrosse Association, with the Peterbourogh Lakers in the junior OLA. He was the league's top scorer in 1993, 1994, and 1995, as well as MVP in 1994. In 1995, Grant moved up to Major Series Lacrosse, also with the Lakers, and won the Rookie of the Year award. In 2000, he won the league's MVP. In 2002 and 2003, Grant moved to the Western Lacrosse Association, with the Coquitlam Adanacs.
Grant returned to Peterbourough in 2005, and led his team to the Mann Cup Championship. He also won the championship with the Lakers in 2006 and 2007. Grant surprisingly played in 2009, after his knee surgery that kept out of the Knighthawks lineup. In 2010, the Lakers won the championship again.

Grant is about to write a whole new chapter to his lacrosse legacy in Colorado now, hoping to lead the Mammoth the the playoffs, and the Champions Cup.

Reaction to Matt Vinc trade

The Matt Vinc trade sure was interesting. Colorado trades their #1 overall pick when Casey Powell went right behind, that is what I don't get. Yeah, Vinc turned into John Grant and Mac Allen, but I mean, Casey Powell!
Colorado went and got Matt King from Calgary afterwords. There are rumors in Rochester that Vinc or Pat O'toole could be traded now, so keep an eye on those stories. Here is some reaction to yesterday.

Lacrosse Magazine talks about all the deals the Mammoth made yesterday.

Jody Gage says John Grant will always be a Knighthawk- NLLInsider

Grant happy to be in Denver- NLLInsider

What do fans think of this deal?

NLL.com talks about the blockbuster

Remember, tomorrow is the #14 game!

Too Bad This Wasn't My 100th Post! USA Wins Gold

Team USA went into the FIL Championships with a lot of holes and a team not many believed in. They had lost two exhibition games, and just barely squeaked by the MLL All-stars.
Meanwhile, Canada was looked at as a power house, and understandably so. I mean, look at that roster!
Don't get me wrong, we all knew it was going to be USA vs Canada. I just assumed Canada would win.
The USA struck first in the first quarter, with a goal by Matt Streibel beat Chris Sanderson at the 14:55 mark. About two minutes later, Paul Rabil the soon-to-be FIL MVP, shot a rocket past Sanderson to give the Americans a multi-goal lead. Rabil scored again at the 3:04 mark, but other than that Chris Sanderson was a shut-down goalie the rest of the period. Canada was able to score twice to make it only a one goal lead going into the second period.
Ryan Powell scored quickly into the quarter to make it 4-2, but John Grant made it a one goal game once again. About three minutes later, Lizards superstar Zack Greer tied it. USA scored the next two goals to make it a multi-goal game once again. It was 8-4 Americans going into the half. Canada came out fighting in the next period, scoring the next four goals to make it 8-8.
The drama was building. All knotted up going into the final period of the FIL tournament. Ryan McClay scored the go-ahead goal for Canada at the 16:53 mark.
It was far from over, though. Brenden Mundorf of the Outlaws knotted it back up for the Americans. Again, Canada would take the lead and the USA would tie it, but Ned Crotty and Max Seibald would score the two last goals to give Team USA the gold.
Paul Rabil won MVP for the FIL, and may be this MLL season's MVP with the now playoff bound Boston Cannons.

FIL Championships

The Iroquois Nationals learned yesterday they will be able to participate in this year's FIL championships. “It’s one thing to lose a world games medal to another team, it’s quite another to lose it to someone wearing a suit" said Delby Powless.
Meanwhile, Canada beat USA, 10-9. Rhys Duch and John Grant jr scored a hat trick a piece for team Canada. Mike Leveille and Drew Westervelt scored two goals each for the United States and Paul Rabil, Kyle Sweeney, Matt Striebel, Matt Zash, Kevin Cassese and Brendan Mundorf got one each.
The Americans led 3-2 after one quarter.
Canada's turning point was in the second quarter when Alex Smith intercepted a pass and scored. Grant scored a beautiful goal and Duch scored to put Canada up at halftime. USA tied it up at 6 to start the fourth, but Canada all but wrapped it up on Garret Billings goal to make it 8-6.
Canada (2-0) plays Australia (1-1) today at 2:30 pm.

Nationals best #1 Boston to get back in playoff picture

The Toronto Nationals won their third straight game to better their record this season to 3-5. The Cannons defeat moved their record to 5-3.
The game started very offensive, with Stephen Boyle scoring his first career MLL goal for the Cannons, and them taking a 2-0 lead. But Toronto came right back to take the lead, including a highlight reel goal by John Grant Jr. But MLL leading scorer Matt Poskay evened things up at the end of the quarter, but Mark Steenhuis took the lead for Toronto again.
At the half both teams were tied at 9. But it was an odd second period to get there. Seven seconds in, Geoff Snider won the face off and took it to the other end to score. The teams traded three goals after a rocket by Paul Rabil.
Jordon Burke replace Kip Turner in net for Boston to start the third. Matt Poskay got the Cannons the lead on a man-advantage, but Toronto came back to score back-to-back goals. But Paul Rabil scored from outside the arc to give the Cannons a 13-11 lead going into the last quarter of play.
The Cannons could not score a goal this period, and Toronto tied it almost immediately. Burke kept the Cannons in the game until the backbreaking goal by Jordon Hall that was the game winner.
This is the Cannons and Nationals last game before the all-star game this Thursday at Harvard stadium.

NLL Game Preveiw: Knighthawks @ Swarm

photo credit: NLL.com
Preview: The K'Hawks travel to Minnesota, desperate for a win after last week's loss to Calgary. Again, with a Buffalo or Boston loss, they can sneak into the playoff picture. Meanwhile, the Swarm look to clinch a spot in the 2010 NLL playoffs with a win and Colorado loss.

Leading Scorer: Minnesota: Callum Crawford 73 pts
Rochester: John Grant 60 pts

Goaltender: Minnesota: Nick Patterson 12.28 GAA, .754 S%
Rochester: Pat O'Toole 10.36 GAA, .767 S%

Injuries: Minnesota: None
Rochester: Gary Gait (leg)

Notes: * The Swarm is 0-3 when scoring first in a game.

* Nick Patterson made 53 saves last week in a losing cause

* The Knighthawks have lost four straight, all at home

* 24 of the Knighthawks 26 penalty minutes last game came in the first half

* You can listen to the game on WZNE 94.1 FM in Rochester. You can watch the game at NLL.com

NLL Game Preview: Calgary @ Rochester

photo credit: NLL.com
Preview: The Roughnecks continue their Eastern Division road trip tonight when they take on the Rochester Knighthawks. Calgary lost to Toronto last night, but with a win and Colorado loss they can clinch a playoff spot. Meanwhile Rochester tries to fight it's way into the playoffs, but it will not be easy with Toronto winning and the Bandits playing the Mammoth tonight.

Leading Goal Scorer: Calgary: Josh Sanderson, 80 pts
Rochester: John Grant, 55 pts

Goaltender: Calgary: Mike Poulin, 9.56 GAA, 7.84 S%
Rochester: Pat O'Toole, 10.28 GAA, .773 S%

Injuries: Calgary: None
Rochester: None

Notes: * This is Calgary's second game of the weekend

* Rochester is half a game behind Boston and Buffalo for a playoff spot. With a win and Boston or Buffalo loss, the Knighthawks could be back in the playoff picture.

* Mike Poulin or Matt King could get the start for the Roughnecks

* The game is in BlueCross Arena

* The game can be seen at NLL.com Network