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New England Black Wolves innaugural game Khoi Ton/Black Wolves Photographer
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NLL Report: You Better Pick ‘Em Right!

The National Lacrosse League is back for what’s promising to be another epic season, and it’s now easier to watch all of the games than ever. So far we’ve seen familiar faces in a new arena, defending champions struggle to get started, and a runaway train in Vancouver that could not be stopped.

New England Black Wolves innaugural game Khoi Ton/Black Wolves Photographer
Photo Credit: Khoi Ton/Black Wolves Photographer

Before we get to the real news, I want to let lacrosse fans in on a couple of fun ways to stay connected to the NLL this season.

Watch NLL Anywhere, Anytime

Make sure to view our comprehensive TV schedule to find out when and where you can watch the best games of the week! With the partnerships with TSN, ESPN, Universal Sports Network and the addition of NLL Live, fans are now welcomed to watch nearly every game live from the best seat in the house!

What’s In The Bag?

Stay tuned for the upcoming release of our new series giving an inside look at the the gear bags and lockers of some of the National Lacrosse League’s dirtiest and most organized players!

NLL Fantasy League

Unfortunately, the NLL’s Fantasy League as we knew it in 2014 no longer exists. The league has moved the entire operation over to a paid betting called FantasyFeud.com. Age and location restrictions now apply, so we’re likely to see less people playing this year. For fans that are eligible to play and live in states or provinces where it is legal to do so, we encourage you to check out the NLL’s new Fantasy Lacrosse platform if it’s right for you!

LAS & Stringer’s Shack Present: National Lacrosse League Pick ‘Em!

In lieu of NLL Fantasy, we’ve created a super simple Pick ‘Em game for LAS readers to play as the 2015 NLL season unfolds. Each week, our good friends over at Stringer’s Shack will be hooking up the winner with a traditional leather or mesh kit of his or her choice!

To play along, continue catching up on NLL news by scrolling down. At the end you’ll see our NLL Pick ‘Em section where you can submit your picks for this week’s game. Moving forward, a new Pick ‘Em game will be found at the end of each week’s NLL Report along with a listing of previous winners from previous weeks. We hope you enjoy!

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Week 1 Results & Recap

New England Claim Innagural Win Over Bandits

To open the league’s 29th season, the New England Black Wolves opened the doors of the Mohengan Sun Arena on Friday night, welcoming professional lacrosse fans to Connecticut for the first time and doing so in winning fashion.

Even though the layout is a bit different from the NLL’s typical hockey arena, the crown filed in and was rocking from opening ceremony to final buzzer. It was odd to not have fans right on the glass, I hope they find a way to change that.

New England Black Wolves innaugural game Khoi Ton/Black Wolves Photographer
Photo Credit: Khoi Ton/Black Wolves Photographer

I loved the new playing surface, the front of the crease is black and everything from goal line extended back is orange. From TV is seemed a little bit dark and the play-by-play commentary has a long way to go, but all in all the first game in Connecticut seemed to be a success!

The Bandits were penalty ridden throughout the game and allowed four shorthanded goals to the solid looking Black Wolves.

Going into halftime the Bandits trailed the Black Wolves 6-5 and that was pretty much the last time that it would be close all night.

Both goaltenders were absolutely phenomenal in Friday’s match. Anthony Cosmo went a solid 42 for 54 on saves but was out staged by Black Wolves goalie Evan Kirk, who stopped 48 of 56 shots earning a .857 save percentage for the game.

Kyle Buchanan lead the Wolves with four goals with Pat Saunders right behind with the hat trick. Kevin Crowley was facilitating offense across the floor earning 5 assists and 1 goal for the team.

New England Black Wolves innaugural game Khoi Ton/Black Wolves Photographer
Photo Credit: Khoi Ton/Black Wolves Photographer

The most interesting moment of the night to me was when Kevin Buchanan (yes, Kevin) picked a fight with Steve Priolo (yes, Priolo). Kevin came out swinging and it was awesome, the crowd was into it but everyone else had an “oh no” look on their face. Priolo put him down gently and it was over but it was an awesome spark in the first quarter. Hats off the Kevin on that one!

Three Stars
Evan Kirk
Kevin Crowley
Quinn Powless

Black Wolves Notes: New England finds themselves blessed with back-to-back home games that they need to secure wins in if they expect to keep spirits high and interest growing for their newly relocated franchise. One down, one to go. If Kirk keeps standing tall and the forwards keep scoring, the Black Wolves could become the team to beat.

Bandits Notes: See Bandits vs. Rush

Rock Edge Out Defending Champ Knighthawks 13-12

Saturday night saw the Rochester Knighthawks hoist their 3rd championship banner in as many year along with a highlight reel from the 2014 season that got the crowd on their feet and ready to go!

The team has different vibe this year and it almost seems weird to not seem Johnny Powless on the floor in Knighthawks colors, but all signs pointed toward the Hawks as they sprung out to a 3-0 lead and finishing the first half with a total of 9 goals. Cody Jamieson dominated the first half putting in 2 goals and tallying 6 assists before the break.

Jordan Hall and Aaron Wilson are back with the K-Hawks this season, Hall found the net once and found two assists in the game.

The Rock also looked completely rearranged after losing Garrett Billings for now to knee surgery and Colin Doyle for the entire season, no one could have expected Toronto to get by the 2013 Goalie of the Year, Matt Vinc, 13 times, but the bolstered defense may have been the biggest factor behind the comeback. The defense game up 9 goals in the first half before closing the gates and holding Rochester to 3 in the final two quarters.

Josh Sanderson was handing out goals left and right, assisting on 7 Rock goals and Rob Hellyer was a huge part of the new Toronto offense, finishing with 3 goals and 4 assists himself followed by Kasey Biernes with a hat trick too.

Cody Vitarelli had a hat trick of his own fro Rochester followed by a solid 2 goal performance by Dan Dawson, who unfortunately couldn’t capitalize in the final seconds to force overtime.

The come from behind win was what the Rock needed to jumpstart their season after the tragic loss of Terry Sanderson. They will look to keep the spirits high as they head to Vancouver to face the Stealth who are looking hot after game one.

Three Stars
Cory Vitarelli
Rob Hellyer
Dan Dawson

Rock notes: It’s a total bummer that Garrett Billings can’t play in this weekend’s game in Vancouver. Garrett played for the Langley Thunder and even worked in the Langley Event Centre (where the game is held) for sometime. They will need to keep up the solid ball movement to have a change against Vancouver, who is playing with the hot stick.

Knighthawks notes: Rochester needs to continue to dominate the 5 on 5 game and tighten up on all the little things if the expect to be the first team to beat the Black Wolves.

Bandits Split Weekend With Win Over Rush 9-8

If you can believe it, 14,326 fans packed into the First Niagra Center to welcome home the Buffalo Bandits after they dropped a close one in New England the night before. The raucus crowd welcomed the Rush to Banditland for only the second time in the teams’ five meetings and it was the crowd as the 7th-man helping their home team squeak out the 9-8 victory.

The crowd was probably a bit let down to find that their hero John Tavares was a scratch for Saturday night, but it was with no surprise as the back to back night and travel delays can be taxing on the living legend.

Bandits Head Coach Troy Cordingley explained that Tavares was scratched for a planned rest day and that their other scratch, Andrew Watt is nursing a lower body injury that he suffered in warmups.

Ryan Benesch scored on the Bandits first shot of the game and his momentum never stopped finishing with a game-high five goals, four of which were in the first half.

The Bandits led the Rush 6 to 3 at the half, the only goals for the Rush coming in a sudden run

Ben McIntosh finished with a hat trick while Mark Matthews and Robert Church both finished with 2 goals 3 assists in the game.

Goaltending in this game was lights out as well as Cosmo didn’t let a goal in for over a half hour of game time and finished 42 of 50, 50 being his leg pinching robbery of Robert Church with just seconds left as ball just couldn’t creep over the line. The whole D-unit was fantastic, killing off 7 successful minutes of penalty time in the game.

Aaron Bold was strong in net saving 22 of the 31 shots he faced on Saturday.

Hiana Thompson made himself at home in his first NLL game, earning an assist on the first goal of the game and finishing with 2.

Edmonton was led by their assistant, Jeff McComb as Derek Keenan has stepped away from the organization as he grieves the loss of his wife.

Three Stars
Ryan Benesch
Mark Matthews
Mark Steenhuis

Bandits Notes: Buffalo is off next week to regroup from the first doubleheader of the year.

Rush Notes: Edmonton needs to take the week to relax and calm down before their home opener.

Swarm taken over by Mammoth 20-13

In front of a rowdy crowd of about 9,000 in the Twin Cities, the Colorado Mammoth rallied late to hold off the Minnesota Swarm, 20-13. In a game that appeared to be the Swarm’s all game long, tables were turned late and the familiar Colorado faces took charge when it counted.

After getting shutout by Minnesota’s strong goaltending in the first quarter, the Mammoth quickly threw it into high gear and got the scoring party started.

It was the faithful Adam Jones and John Grant Jr. one-two punch that made all of the difference for Colorado late in the game. Jones found the net 5 times in the game and tallied 4 assists while Junior had 4 goals and 5 assists himself.

*Note: John Grant Jr.’s behind the back feeds put my normal passes to shame.

You can tell me which one was better: two straight short-handed goals by John Grant Jr. in 31 seconds or Sean Pollock’s historic evening where he tallied the 200th goal, 300th assist and 500th point of his career in the same nights.

The shining beacon of light from this loss might still be coming from the Swarm’s goalie newcomer. Brodie MacDonald was standing on his head early in the game, I lost track after the first 11 saves in a row, but the kid was getting peppered early in the game and was keeping everything out of the net.

Colorado came out firing in round two and went on to outscore Minnesota 11-3 in the 4th quarter. The Mammoth found themselves in possession of 4 shorthanded goals in the second half.

As if anyone expected any less, Miles Thompson took the NLL by storm in his debut with a hat trick and 1 assist in opening night at the Hive. Shayne Jackson was a workhorse for the Swarm on Saturday earning a hat trick on top of 4 solid assists.

To start the season off big, Colorado tied a franchise record with 20 goals and set a new record with four short-handed goals and a record three in one quarter.

The game was capped off with some hot heads as Suitor tried to pick it with net-minder Dillon Ward, which was met by defenseman Creighton Reid’s disapproval for shoving his goalie. I love to see tempers flaring in week one!

Three Stars
Adam Jones
John Grant, Jr.
Shayne Jackson

Swarm Notes: Last year’s #1 overall draft pick and 2014 Rookie of the Year, Logan Schuss has stepped away from professional lacrosse for a few games to pursue a career as a longshoreman. Without Schuss, scoring is going to be expected from all corners of the depth chart. Miles Thompson looks to be a great new fit, but a strong team showing is crucial for a winning season .

Mammoth Notes: Colorado is already off to a record breaking start and the veterans look to be in mid-season form already. Dillon Ward is holding it down in net, as if anyone expected differently. Pollock, Jones and Junior look to already be in mid-stride after game one, they need to keep the train at full steam ahead if the expect to top the defending West champion Roughnecks who have a bad taste in their mouth after a borderline embarrassing loss to Vancouver.

Stealth Run Away With Roughnecks in Calgary Opener 18-14

The defending West champion Calgary Roughnecks hosted their provincial neighbor, the Vancouver Stealth on Saturday night as the final game of opening weekend.

Over 11.5k fans packed the Saddledome to support the boys in red for what was at least a positive first half for the locals. Although it was their best half, the first two quarters were plagued with their own struggles like the Necks failing to score in 5v5 situations all but once.

The 9-7 lead at halftime was short lived as the Stealth went on what had to be a record 11 goal run that seemed so devastingn to Calgary that the Necks just could never recover. It was apparent that the Stealth were working their rear ends off for each and every opportunity and the Roughnecks best response was a change of goalies a bit too late. The forwards for Calgary were extremely sluggish which opened up countless transitional opportunities for Vancouver. A handful of transition goals can really hit a team where it hurts.

Tried and true Rhys Duch emerged as the clear leader of the Stealth again in 2015. Duch was in on half of the Stealth’s goals, netting 4 goals of his own and worked for 5 more assists. It was surprising to see Calgary give Rhys all of the time and room he could have ever needed to keep the game in Vancouver’s pocket.

Tyler Digby also found a hat trick in the giant win, using his giant presence on offense to make a statement and veteran Ilija Gajic worked in five points (3g, 2a) of his own.

Dane Dobbie was one of the only Calgary players worth noting as he scored 4 goals of his own and found 1 assist as well as the firey Curtis Dickson netting a hat trick and 3 assist on Saturday.

3 Stars
Tyler Digby
Dane Dobbie
Lewis Ratcliff

Stealth Notes: The young gun Digby is already standing on his head early in the season, expect fireworks once Johnny Powless gets into the swing of things. Big body defenseman Chris O’Dougherty is out for 3-4 weeks with a pretty nasty pulled hamstring. The head coaching change has not slowed the Stealth down as they punched in 18 goals on Saturday proving that they were not the same team they were last year.

As the team continues to play for the late Chris Hall, the Rock will be keeping Terry Sanderson and family in their thoughts as the two battle it out in the Langley Events Centre for the first time in 2015!

Roughnecks Notes: The Dickson, Dobbie duo is going to need a strong showing from the rest of the defending West champions if they want to maintain dominance for 4 entire periods. Calgary is going to need to pick up the pace getting off the floor as they allowed countless transition goals against Vancouver. Snider is also going to need to bring his world-class talents back to the face off x if the Necks expect to increase possession time against the Mammoth this week.

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Week 2

Saturday January 10th, 2015

Rochester at New England 7:00 PM (UniversalSports.com, TSN GO)

Calgary at Colorado 9:00 PM (WatchESPN, TSN GO)

Minnesota at Edmonton 9:00 PM (NLL LIVE, TSN GO)

Toronto at Vancouver 10:30 PM (WatchESPN, TSN 2 & TSN GO)

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