NLL
NLL Champion’s Cup Division Finals: Part 1
Editor’s Note: Thanks to the help of the innovative team at SISU Guard, the Official Mouthguard of the NLL, we’ve beefing up our National Lacrosse League coverage! We hope you enjoy our look at the 2016 NLL season through a new lens with the aid of our partner SISU!
Could the first weekend of the 2016 NLL Champion’s Cup Playoffs been any crazier? We could have just as easily seen two different teams move on, but it was the Calgary Roughnecks and the New England Black Wolves both finding a way to get it done in overtime! Both squads have stepped up and are facing the NLL’s top seeds in a best of three series in the Division Finals. Game one for the West is on Saturday, the East plays on Monday and we’re here to get you up to speed!
Your NLL Super Post:
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Games of the Week
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Playoff Schedule
TV Schedule
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Get to the clickin’!
#1 Saskatchewan Rush at #3 Calgary Roughnecks
When: 5/14/2016 – 9:00 pm ET
Where: Scotiabank Saddledome – Calgary, Alberta
Watch: NLLtv.com
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[mks_one_half]Standing: 1st Seed in Western Conference
Points Leader: Mark Matthews – 40 goals, 69 assists
Where are they?
They’re heading to back to Alberta to take on the third seeded Roughneck for the first game of the West Division Finals. As the Rush captured the top seed in the West, securing the home field advantage for Game 2 and Game 3 (if necessary).
How’d they get here?
Finishing 13-5, the Rush were shoulder to shoulder with the Buffalo Bandits for the NLL’s top seed. Unfortunately for the Rush, the the two team’s only meeting in 2016, the Bandits closed out the overtime battle with their 19th goal coming in extra minutes. This will only matter if the two teams meet again in the NLL Champion’s Cup, but they still claimed the top spot in the West and have plenty to focus on until the Finals.
What’s next?
Winning the top seed in the West, the Rush return to Alberta for the 5th meeting between the rivals. This season Saskatchewan has taken down the Necks in all 4 meetings with only win coming through an overtime nail-biter. The Roughnecks haven’t put up more than 12 goals in a game against Aaron Bold this season, helping the veteran to regain footing after struggling to match previous season’s numbers. On the other end, Mark Matthews has consistently picked apart the Roughnecks defense and in between, the transition team ran over the Roughnecks, they had no answer for the do-it-all defense led by Chris Corbeil, Ryan Dilks, Jeff Cornwall and Brett Mydske. Those four are absolute lock-down guys that have the ability to burn anyone up the floor and bury a shot with confidence. When the offense needs a little breathing room, the transition/defensive group always has answer.
This clears a lot of room up for shooters like Robert Church, Zack Greer, Ben McIntosh and a handful of other forwards to step up to assist Matthews and fill in for looks of their own. Calgary struggles to contain the big man and they know he’s going to be the go-to guy, they’re going to slack off-ball and lose track of the backside. If they keep moving the ball like they have been, they should have a problem racking up the points, they’ve put up double-digits in all but one game the entire season. If Bold can stay in his groove and rely on his tight-knit defense to limit the shots they can fly back to Saskatoon up 1-0 to close the series in front of their home crowd.
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[mks_one_half]Standing: 3rd Seed in Western Conference
Points Leader: Curtis Dickson – 61 goals, 46 assists
Where are they?
With an 11-10 overtime win over the Colorado Mammoth, the Roughnecks have moved on to the West Division Finals against the #1 seed, the Saskatchewan Rush. They start by hosting the Rush in the best of 3 series starting on Saturday night in the Saddledome.
How’d they get here?
In what would end up the longest game in NLL Playoff history, a dagger from Dane Dobbie would finally seal the deal for the Roughnecks for the 4th-striaght season over the Mammoth. If you haven’t seen it, stop reading, if you have, again, stop reading…
Dobbie’s second goal, after 15 shots, would be the game-winner, but the real star on the offensive side was none other than Curtis Dickson. He did take 27 shots, but he sunk 5 of them and helped for another 4 assists. Dickson makes everything he does look so routine, that you may not even realize how some of his most basic passes set up the offense for scoring opportunities. My man Mike Poulin tore it up at the other end, doing everything he could to stave off the Mammoth for almost 70 minutes of playoff lacrosse. Posting a .848 save percentage on 66 shots on goal was more than they could’ve asked for, but if they get that kind of play moving forward, watch out Rush.
Tyler Digby was also clutch last weekend, scoring two goals in under 30 seconds to wash out an early 2-0 Swarm lead. He rang up another in the 4th quarter to help extend a lead for the Necks. Going almost unnoticed, face-off defenseman Tyler Burton won nearly 58% of his takes, scooped up a team-high 9 loose balls and caused 2 turnovers. This team is built on the grinders like these guys, now it’s about maintaining that attitude.
What’s next?
Game 1 of the West Division Finals start on Saturday night with their former neighbors, the Saskatchewan Rush, the West’s top seed. The Rush finished with an incredible 13-5 record and got the best of the Roughnecks all four times they squared off in the regular season. They say it’s hard to beat a team 3 times, let alone 4, so the Roughnecks have probability going for them when they host the Rush for the 5th meeting this year. All the games, except for a 17-11 final, have been fairly close in score, but the Necks never found an answer for the power of Mark Matthews, who had different partners in scoring each time around.
They’ve been putting way less shots on cage than the Rush this season, typically laying somewhere in the 40s range on the goalie while they’re expecting Poulin and Scigliano to keep out shots in the high 50s/low 60s. It was a similar story against Colorado last weekend, putting 19 less shots on goal and although its their MO to let Dickson and Dobbie just rattle them off, they need to get the ball through a few more sticks if they expect to break down one of the most well-rounded defensive groups in NLL history.
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#1 Buffalo Bandits at #2 New England Black Wolves
When: 5/16/2016 – 7:00 pm ET
Where: Mohegan Sun Arena – Uncasville, Connecticut
Watch: NLLtv.com
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[mks_one_half]Standing: 1st Seed in Eastern Conference
Points Leader: Dhane Smith – 72 goals, 65 assists
Where are they?
Buffalo clenched the NLL’s top seed and a bye in the first round of the playoffs. After the Black Wolves topped the Swarm last weekend, the Bandits were scheduled to head to New England for the Game 1 of the East Division Finals on Monday at 7 pm ET.
How’d they get here?
The Bandits absolutely dominated the 2016 regular season, finishing tied with Saskatchewan with a league’s best 13-5 record, yet an OT win over the Rush in their only meeting handed the top seed in the NLL to Buffalo. Led by scoring-champion and record-breaker Dhane Smith’s 137 points, the team rallied for 251 goals, the highest in the NLL. It was no fluke they finished the regular season as the league’s top team.
What’s next?
After having the bye week off to regroup and put the plan together, the Bandits will look to pick back up on the momentum they built for themselves from a 3 game win streak. Now they head east for the fourth meeting with the Black Wolves and they lead the series 2-1. When they met just a couple of weeks ago, it was Ryan Benesch and Mark Steenhuis padding their stats with 7 points each and big Dhane Smith a step behind with 6 of his own. It only takes three shooters to dismantle a defense, but the group gets a ton of love from the quick deep transition group.
Goaltender Anthony Cosmo finished with one of the best season’s in his 16 years in the league and the pressure will be on the towering tender to take care of the easy stuff. He’s backed by a strong group of veterans like Billy Dee Smith and Steve Priolo who do a good job of containing the stars, it’s going to be about maintaining consistency against a Black Wolves offense and transition group that have pulled a variety of tricks out of their sleeves this season. New England served up their first loss of the regular season, but the Bandits made sure to not let it happen again. If they can put the ball in Dhane Smith’s stick and clear some space, they should be heading back to Western New York 1-0 in the series and when it comes to the impact of Banditland, there’s no harder place to play for a visiting team.
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[mks_one_half]Standing: 2nd Seed in Eastern Conference
Playoff Points Leader: Kevin Crowley – 4 goals, 4 assists
Where are they?
The New England Black Wolves finished the season with a record of 10-8, good enough for the #2 seed in the East. Hosting the Georgia Swarm in the East Division Semi-finals, the Wolves found a way to get past and on to the final four. The East Finals start on Monday, also in New England, at 7 pm ET.
How’d they get here?
Well, it wasn’t just that, but Shawn Evans is clearly a hero and the greatest thing that’s ever happened to the Black Wolves franchise. Back on the floor after sitting a couple of games for an upper body injury, Shawn Evans was incredibly effective, packing in a total of 4 goals and working for another 2 assists. The win over the Swarm marked the first playoff win as the Black Wolves and the first for the entire franchise since 2001, the season the Philadelphia Wings won their last NLL Championship.
Believe it or not, Evans wasn’t the team points leader in the win, it was actually the much taller Kevin Crowley charing the Swarm for 4 goals of his own, including the game’s first, while hooking his team up for another 4 helpers. Lefty Kevin Buchanan was also clutch, netting the team’s only 2 goals of the 4th quarter, just enough to keep Lyle Thompson’s final dagger from being the game-winner. But let’s not keep all of the focus on the offense, veteran goaltender Evan Kirk, who finished 2016 with a league-high 620 saves and 9 wins in his best season to date, made 53 saves in the win, many coming from close proximity.
What’s next?
In their game against the Black Wolves struggled on the loose ball game (72-81), but cleaned up well on the face-off battles (17-31). The Bandits clean up well in both categories and the Wolves already know it. The two East Division squads only went head to head three times in 2016, with Buffalo coming out on top twice.
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East Division Semifinal – Best of 1
Georgia Swarm (8-10) at New England Black Wolves (10-8)
When: 5/6/16 – 7 pm ET
Where: Mohegan Sun Arena – Uncasville, Connecticut
Result: Black Wolves win, 14-13 in OT
East Division Finals – Best of 2 (mini-game if necessary)
Game 1
Buffalo Bandits (13-5) at New England Black Wolves (10-8)
When: 5/16/16 – 7 pm ET
Where: Mohegan Sun Arena – Uncasville, Connecticut
Game 2
New England Black Wolves (10-8) at Buffalo Bandits (13-5)
5/21/16 – 7:30 p.m. ET
Where: First Niagara Center – Buffalo, New York
Game 3 (10-Minutes)
New England Black Wolves (10-8) at Buffalo Bandits (13-5)
5/21/16 – Immediately following Game 2
Where: First Niagara Center – Buffalo, New York
West Division Semifinal – Best of 1
Calgary Roughnecks (7-11) at Colorado Mammoth (12-6)
When: 5/7/16 – 9 pm ET
Where: Pepsi Center – Denver, Colorado
Result: Roughnecks win, 11-10 in OT
West Division Finals – Best of 2 (mini-game if necessary)
Game 1
Saskatchewan Rush (13-5) at Calgary Roughnecks (7-11)
When: 5/14/16 – 9:00 pm ET
Where: Scotiabank Saddledome – Calgary, Alberta
Game 2
Calgary Roughnecks (7-11) at Saskatchewan Rush (13-5)
When: 5/21 – 9:30 pm ET
Where: SaskTel Centre – Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
Game 3 (10-Minutes)
Calgary Roughnecks (7-11) at Saskatchewan Rush (13-5)
When: 5/21 – Immediately following Game 2
Where: SaskTel Centre – Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
Champion’s Cup Finals – Best of 3
Game 1: Weekend of May 27-29th – at higher seed
Game 2: Weekend of June 3-5th – at lower seed
Game 3: Weekend of June 10-12th – at higher seed (if necessary)