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NLL Predictions And Previews: Week 2

No one is perfect – Connor, Chris and I all botched our Week 1 picks as Washington upset Rochester last Saturday night. In all fairness, who really saw that coming? The Stealth played a nearly flawless game and the Knighthawks offense seemed to struggle at times. Rochester could only muster 47 shots on net while the Stealth peppered Matt Vinc with 64 – can’t score if you don’t hit the net.

The Stealth’s defense surprised me as they held arguably the most potent offenses in the game to only 12 goals and forced 10 turnovers. Rochester does look good in transition and once Dawson gets comfortable with the rest of the team the points will come. Whatever way you look at it, that game was a great way to kick off the NLL season. If that game is an indicator of how exciting the rest of the season will be, we should be in for a treat.

Week 2 Predictions:

  • Buffalo Bandits @ Philadelphia Wings – WATCH LIVE (7pm, Fri 1/11)

Connor Wilson – Buffalo Bandits “I’ll be there and expect a great game!

Chris Rosenthall – Buffalo Bandits “Having Rabil and Hartzell should help the Wings, but Max Siebald’s hurt and Jordan Hall might be suspended (currently on appeal), so who knows what their transition game will be. I just can’t bet on Philly until I see who’s going to do the scoring”.

Ryan Connors – Buffalo Bandits “Old-man Tavares still dominates“.

  • Minnesota Swarm @ Buffalo Bandits – WATCH LIVE (7:30PM, Sat 1/12)

Connors Wilson – Minnesota Swarm “Swarm look dangerous on paper. Will Buffalo’s game the night before hurt them? It may actually help! Early season cohesiveness can be hard to come by

Chris Rosenthall – Minnesota Swarm “I think the Minnesota offense is going to be too much for Buffalo to handle, especially with Billy Dee Smith serving a suspension this weekend“.

Ryan Connors – Minnesota Swarm “The Swarm have a very young and talented team.  It will be interesting to see how their rookies play when faced with a little bit of adversity“.

  • Washington Stealth @ Colorado Mammoth – WATCH LIVE (9PM, Sat 1/12)

Connor Wilson – Colorado Mammoth “The Mammoth should win at home, but I said Rochester would top Washington last week, so who knows?”

Chris Rosenthall – Colorado Mammoth “I’ll already tell you, I’m betting on Colorado until they lose. Washington was very impressive last weekend, but I’m not sure they’ll have an answer for Junior, Adam Jones and the rest of the Mammoth“.

Ryan Connors – Colorado Mammoth “Washington’s defense looked good last week against Rochester, but Colorado’s offense is a freight-train from hell.  Keep your eyes on Jones, Lincoln, Prout and especially John Grant Junior.  Especially after this tweet“.

Threw some iron around because it was in my way. Then again, and again.

  • Toronto Rock @ Calgary Roughnecks – WATCH LIVE (9PM, Sat 1/12)

Connor Wilson – Toronto Rock “I still like the Rock to be good in 2013, although Calgary looks vastly improved“.

Chris Rosenthall – Calgary Roughnecks “Calgary’s offense was dominant last season, and adding Joe Resetarits could make them even tougher to stop. Toronto’s already dealing with injuries again, and it doesn’t look like they’ll get much from their draft picks“.

Ryan Connors – Calgary Roughnecks “A very tough game to call, both teams were excellent last year and should be equally as good if not better this season.  Calgary are going to key on Garret Billings – if they can shut him down Roughnecks can win this one“.

  • Toronto Rock @ Edmonton Rush – WATCH LIVE (4PM, Sun 1/13)

Connor Wilson – Edmonton Rush “Big surprise pick of the week for me, although I could easily see both of my Toronto picks turning out the other way“.

Chris Rosenthall – Edmonton Rush “I’ve changed this pick about six times. Edmonton had a great defense last year, but not much offense. The Rush will need to rely on their rookies to contribute right away, but since so many of them have already played together, I think first-night jitters won’t be an issue“.

Ryan Connors – Toronto Rock “Easily the toughest game to call this week and I’m still not 100% sure of my pick.  I don’t see Toronto losing back to back games, but Edmonton played very well down the stretch last season and it will carry over this year“.

That’s week 2 of the NLL in a nutshell.  Remember you can find these games streamed live via YouTube, so indulge yourself and get your NLL fix.  Be sure to let us know who your picks are by leaving a comment or reaching out to me on Twitter @connors36!