The Stealth Dragon

I've gathered together my super squad of West Division friends and foes to give me their playoff predictions.  Without further ado, here are the predictions from Wingszone forums members and Lumberjax fans laxinoregon and Smackem, Mammoth fan Mtn_Scott and Stealth fans Zmystere, Zeboim and myself.  I'm sorry I haven't included anyone from Calgary, but I haven't really interacted or met with any of them yet. Laxinoregon: Colorado @ Calgary. The 1 vs 4 seed. The #1 hasn't faired in recent years, however, I expect Calgary to buck that trend with a landslide win, 15-9. Calgary's offense is clicking and everyone's healthy, defense is aggressive and plays within itself harrassing the opponents scorers. Only weakness is in the transition which unfortunately for Colorado they aren't suited for. The only way at an upset will be if both Prout and Langtry score early and score often, I don't see that happening. San Jose @ Portland. The 2 vs 3 seed. San Jose has a few things going for them in this game. Renewed aggression on the defensive end, pay back for last years home playoff loss, and two guys by the name of Doyle and Zwyicki. Portland counters the dynamic duo of Batman and Robin with The Butcher (Alexander) and The Playboy (Codron) and The Wall (Disher). These two teams hate each other, plain and simple and I expect nothing less than a war on the floor, a few fights, a few lead changes, a penalty shot to send the game into overtime, and a Jax victory 12-11 in said OT. Or it could be a masacre of epic porpotions with a 17-9 San Jose win, but nah, my first predicition has more drama. Jax 12-11. Smackem: I hope my Homer instincts don't kick in too quickly so I'll start with Colorado vs. Calgary. As much as this one seems to be a lock for Calgary I would offer some caution. If Leyshawn gets some early stops and builds his confidence he could keep Colorado around, but I'm doubtful that will happen with the injuries the Mammoth defense has suffered. Guze was a nice story of giving his all, but his 15 minutes of fame is over. No way anyone knows better than a Jax fan how much Langtry seems to rise to the occasions of away games, but it will be too little too late. Should Colorado get it going early I think Calgary will make a quick switch of goalies. Campbell and King have both played well and I believe either one could step in and stop the bleeding. Calgary puts this one away early, but I'm holding out hope for the Mammoth (homerism demands it). Portland vs San Jose. This one is keeping me up at night. These 2 teams met 3 times and the Jax won twice. The problem I'm having is that Eric Martin absolutely handed one of those games over by taking horrible penalties at terrible times. I believe Peter Morgan has to play great and Disher has to be healthy enough to go the distance for the Jax to win. The Stealth seem to be getting it together and gaining momentum at just the right time. The question will be how do their rookies, particularly Duch, handle playoff pressure. I'd love to see the Jax quicken the pace on transition and see if it forces some rookie mistakes (this is where Rabil's lack of box experience could hurt). What frightens me the most about the Stealth is undoubtedly Colin Doyle! I'm not sure if there is any one player out there I'd rather have than Doyle if you needed someone to will you to a win, he can flat out get it done. I know Dawson is incredible in the playoffs, but the Jax were just 6-10 with Dan. For an entire season I actually think I'd go with Doyle. OK, homer time. The Jax defense with Disher behind them can make any offensive players' life miserable. If the refs let them play physical, and I think in playoff atmosphere with the home crowd they will, the Jax are going to escape with a hard fought narrow victory. Zeboim: Calgary vs Colorado --- winner Calgary Calgary is really hot right now. The entire team is playing like they want to win. The Roughnecks offense is really clicking. On defense, Calgary is swarming to the ball. Seriously, this team is playing so well that I expect them to represent the west in the Championship Cup this year. This Colorado team is not the same as we have seen in past years. They have many injuries, resulting in no continuity on the floor on defense or offense. Also, they are playing uninspired lacrosse right now. The Mammoth seem to regret having Gavin Prout as their captain. He provides no leadership and has been a very selfish player this year. Portland vs San Jose --- winner Portland (come on Colin, prove me wrong!) The Portland Lumberjax team identity revolves around their defense. The Jax defenders are big, strong, and fast. Tyler Codron is a shutdown defender who is extremely competitive and takes it as a personal challenge to stop whatever player the coach puts him on. Disher has been playing excellently this season, but I don't know if he will be back at 100% for this game. Offensively, the Jax lack the firepower and leadership that Dan Dawson provided them with last year, but they manage to get enough transition goals from players like Brodie Merrill, Peter Morgan, and Scott Stewart. San Jose has had a season that didn't start off too strong. The team made a lot of changes from 2008, not all of them by choice. It is in games like these that the Stealth really miss Anthony Cosmo. The San Jose defense has improved with the addition of Shaydon Santos to the roster. Jeff Zywicki seems to be healed up, which will help out an already potent Stealth offense. Finally, and by no means least, Colin Doyle is an amazing team leader and he may just decide that I am full of crap and take this game into his own hands and lead the Stealth to a victory. Zymystere: Portland is not necessarily better than last year, because they had a damn good team last year.  But they are now full of confidence and have trust in Disher to make the big saves to keep them in the game. San Jose ended the season with big wins.The offence is what we had hoped they would be, though the scoring is coming from Duch and Doyle, versus last being Wick and Doyle. Wick is always dangerous in the second season, but it will come down to goal tenders. The Ghost T-Rich is hot and will take this time to solidify his position on the team. T-Rich will be the diff. 14 - 9 San Jose wins. Now for the CO, they are a Jeckyl/Hyde team. If everyong plays their best game, they can do well. Prout will try to carry the team and Langtry will get 7 pts. CAL is the class of the West.Thought that they would falter as the season went long, but they held together. Campbell should get the start and is a solid tender. TK is just being TK and Dobbie is a threat to keep the boys energized and open the shooting lanes. I see it being a close game, no more than a 1 goal differrential at the final whistle. Colorado will find a way to make up for a depleted D and sqeek out a win. Colorado wins...barely! Mtn_Scott: Colorado @ Calgary This is a very interesting game for quite a few reasons. On paper, this will be Calgary's game to lose. Calgary's offense and power play unit have been unstoppable all year. Fortunately for the Mammoth that plays directly into their strengths. Unfortunately, the Mammoth might start suiting up fans to play. In the final game of the season Rich Catton and Ray Guze both went down to injuries and status is uncertain. This adds to an already lengthy casualty list. The Mammoth's best hope is the fact that this is a rivalry game, and games between these two teams always comes down to heart. I am not sure even a Mammoth size heart can overcome the pure talent differential. Calgary 12-8 San Jose @ Portland This is another game of a great offense versus a great defense. Normally, I would take the defense on this, but not when the offense involves Colin Doyle. He is the most clutch player in the league during the playoffs. Portland has beaten San Jose Twice this season already, beating them a third time will be tough in this league. San Jose 13-12 in OT. StealthDragon: First up #4 Colorado @ #1 Calgary.  The previous two seasons the #4 seed in the West has walked in to the #1 seed's barn and won.  In both of those games the #4 team had also beaten the #1 seed while playing at the #1 seed's barn during the regular season.  This season Colorado beat Calgary 13-12 but it was not in Calgary.  I fully expect Calgary to break the curse of the #1 seed in the West losing in the first round.  Colorado has too many injuries on defense to stop Calgary's offense and transition game.  Or Langtry scores 9 goals to keep it close, but Calgary still wins. Now the big show #3 San Jose @ #2 Portland. The rematch of last season's #4 over #1 upset in San Jose.  Most of the Stealth players were there last year and will have revenge on their mind.  The Stealth have defeated the Jax in Portland this year, so despite the season series being 2-1 in Portland's favor this Stealth squad knows how to win in Portland.  Beating Portland goalie Matt Disher early and making him move will be key to the Stealth victory.  If Disher is hot then it could be a problem for the Stealth.  Jeff Zywicki is finally healthy and has been running around his defenders the past couple weeks after not driving to the cage and challenging defenders the first 3/4 of the season.  Brett Manney we'll see you soon. My wild card factor is Portland coach Derek Keenan, there's a 50/50 chance that he develops the right game plan for a Lumberjax victory.  When he plans right the Lumberjax can be dangerous.  Thankfully Stealth coach Chris Hall is capable of adjusting on the fly, so if the Jax get out of the gates fast there will still be time to right the Stealth ship. In my opinion, it's a good night and the Stealth win 13-8 like they did in late March. Final Tally: Calgary is picked 5 to 1 while the PDX/SJ meeting is split 3 picks each.  Bring on Friday! Go Stealth!

Last weekend turned in to the best weekend of lacrosse so far this season for us.  Good games and good times were easy to find. Friday night we watched the Stealth take it to the Swarm 18-8.  It was 14-1 at one point.  Domination is the best adjective for the game.  But then the fun really came after the game when we were able to go the official post game venue for the Stealth, The Brit in San Jose, and close down the bar with the team.  Due to our travel schedule this was the only time we'd been able to go to The Brit after a game this year and it was amazing.  Talking to the players is so much fun, you get some extra game insight as well as seeing their personalities.  Rhys Duch is excited to take the Rookie scoring record from Gavin Prout next weekend, once we realized he was only five points away *and* playing in Colorado next weekend his eyes kinda lit up.  Rhys has a killer instinct and I did not know that, he is primed to dominate in this league for years to come.  Kyle Sorensen was also really fun to talk with and after making his initial rounds talking to the team Kyle took the time to come sit and talk to us for about 30 minutes.  Brett Manney wears a powder blue sweater instead of a suit jacket and went to school with Joe Flaco.  If you're not already listening to it, Paul Rabil does his "Nine Minutes with Rabil" podcast on Inside Lacrosse.  It's well worth your time to learn more about the big guy.  After the bar shutdown it was off to a Taqueria for a some greasy food to soak up the alcohol.  By this point it was 3am, we went to the hotel, saw a few more Stealth players winding down the night and we crashed out because we had to get up at 6:45am for our flight to PDX. Mucho gracias to all the Stealth for your hospitality.  And I think I owe Tyler Richards some drinks because I we both had tabs at the bar and the same first name. So when I told the bar tender it was "for Tyler" and only had a $41 tab at the end of the night I think he got stuck with a couple of our drinks.  Whoops.  Tyler, I'll take care of you next time we're out with all you guys. Now we're up to Saturday, after getting up on 3.5 hours sleep we headed back to PDX to get cheer on the Jax against the Mammoth.  (I decided a Mammoth loss was most beneficial to the Stealth, so Go Jax!)  In what is becoming known as "The Sweet Caroline Game" the refs helped the Jax win an OT thriller by gifting the Jax a goal in the 4th quarter that the Mammoth had properly challenged but some how did not have the goal over turned.  Off the top of my head, this was the best crowd I've seen in my two years with tickets there.  Despite the Jax having a real stinker of a 3rd quarter and the crowd losing some steam the comeback in the 4th quarter got everyone on their feet and they were loud.  With just over a minute left and the game tied everyone stood up and didn't sit down again.  They were in the game and fed the players some much needed energy.  After the game there was a good celebration at The Tap Room and we talked to Tyler Codron's parents who were "blending in to the crowd" by wearing his old jerseys.  We learned from Tyler's dad that not only do all these players basically live in the same town, they live on the same *street*.  Apparently Dan Stroop live 3 minutes away from Codron and Mammoth rookie Tyler Crompton is 5 minutes away.  There's definitely something in the water up there. The end result of the weekend for the teams is a log jam of San Jose, Colorado and Minnesota at 6-8 behind the Portland team that is 7-6 and not even locked in to the playoffs.  The last two weeks are  going to be very exciting. Go Stealth Go!

The Stealth have a great weekend ahead with home and home series against the Portland Lumberjax. So we'll be cheering hard in SJ and PDX for the Stealth to win both games. But there's other action that is important to the Stealth this weekend and cheering in those games will help out too. Saturday at 4:30 Pacific Time the Colorado Mammoth play at the Philadelphia Wings. A Mammoth loss is good for the Stealth, so let's all do a  W! I! N! G! S! WINGS! Thirty minutes after that the red hot Calgary Roughnecks play at the Minnesota Swarm. The Swarm are in fourth place and the Stealth want to take that spot from them. A Roughnecks victory is needed on Saturday to help the Stealth out too. Go Stealth Go! Go Wings and Go Roughnecks! Yep, go Roughnecks. Wait until next week when I'm cheering for Stealth on Friday night and the Lumberjax on Saturday April 4th to beat the Woolies. I may even wear plaid, I'm putting it in the car just case. Finally, big CONGRATULATIONS to Paul Rabil on winning the NLL Tranny of the Week award for his effort against the Edmonton Rush. Paul's been very comfortable working out the back door lately. Makes me wonder if Kevin Huntley would have won any NLL Weekly awards this season if he'd come out to play.

We're back again with a mid season West Conference power rankings. This time around I recruited some of my left coast amigos from Portland and San Jose to get a broader range of input. So I'd like to thank Zeboim, Zmystere, RP=BA and laxinoregon for their assistance and comments to create these rankings. Like me, they all watch more games than just their home teams (thank you NLL for the Mogulus services this season) so I trust their judgement. In talking with Zeboim I realized the goal of the list is not clearly defined for if it is A) How the teams are playing right now or B) How the West Division will finish. I'm leaning towards A and when I do another ranking in a month I'll make that more clear. Scoring: I had all participants rank the teams 1-6 and then I averaged out their scores to rank the teams. Their final average score is what is listed as their rank. No two rankings were identical and for the record, no fan of their own team picked them as the top team. Finally - ranking does not account for the games already played on Friday February 27th. Calgary Rank: 1.4 [caption id="attachment_139" align="alignleft" width="100" caption="Calgary Roughnecks"] [/caption] laxinoregon: Rank: 1 - Sure they lost two in a row, they are still healthy and because of that they are a right scary team. zymstere: Rank: 2 - Because of their recent losses and the close games they have had all season. Campbell in cage has been average at best. As you mentioned before, they peaked at the beginning of the season and is one injury away from being a bottom feeder. RP=BA: Rank 1 - The Boston game doesn't bug me that much, they're just starting to round off a little after starting so hot. I've never been a huge Campbell guy so I have concerns there. They need to keep improving like the rest of the west and hope they haven't peaked. Zeboim: Rank 2 - I had Calgary ranked #1 until they had close losses in their last 2 games. The 'Necks don't seem to be able to handle playing against physical defense. StealthDragon: Rank 1 - The two losses were in close games and the wins were not that close. If they're going to really be a league champion again I think they need to be able to close out a close game. Still, one injury away from being in major trouble on offense or defense. Portland Rank: 1.6 [caption id="attachment_155" align="alignleft" width="100" caption="Portland Lumberjax"] [/caption] laxinoregon: Rank 2 - Best defense in the West. Only question is can Disher maintain his form for the remainder of the games. Disher goes down, good night Irene. zymstere: Rank 1 - Because the D has been consistent from game one and their O has been getting better each game. Morgan, Conway and Malawsky has been the back bone. Of course you can't help but mention Merrill the human loose ball vaccum. RP=BA: Rank 2 - I was ready to stick the Mammoth here (#2) before they laid an egg this weekend. I'm concerned about the Wings game this weekend only because they've had so much time off and were playing so good before the layoff. This is the 2nd of a back to back though for Philly and the Jax know 1st place could be at stake. Zeboim: Rank 1 - Portland seems to score just enough points to win, but since wins and losses are what ultimately counts, they are doing what it takes. Defensively the Jax are strong, fast, and aggressive, overpowering most teams them play. Just for the record, while I think the Jax are the best in the west, I don't like it! StealthDragon: Rank 2 - Maybe the best defense in the league. Size does matter when you can never get your hands free because a monster 6'5"+ defender is guarding you. Disher is surprising the heck outta me. Their offense learned a great deal from Dan Dawson that they're applying to games this year now that he's not there. San Jose Rank: 3.2 [caption id="attachment_132" align="alignleft" width="100" caption="San Jose Stealth"] [/caption] laxinoregon: Rank 3 - At 3-4 San Jose is better than their record, but not by much. They still have a lot of questions concerning their defense, but they are starting to gel together. zymstere: Rank 3 - Stealth had their most complete game on both sides of the floor. The cast of rookies are improving with every shift. Gillespie, Hartzell and Manney have been more than capable and it showed this weekend against the Mammoth. The addition to McKinlay and Veltman now available for the roster will only help the D/T. O has been solid with contributions from Doyle, Wick, Duch and TJ not to mention Cam. The current trip to NY & Boston should help prove this point. RP=BA: Rank 4 (StealthDragon note: hater)- This was a tough pick for me but the Stealth have been playing really well as of late. I still think Roik is too much of a headcase when other teams make runs, that will always hurt the Stealth in close games and the D is young and fairly inexperienced. Love the offense though, I'd take SJ's O over Calgary's even. Zeboim: The Stealth just beat Colorado, and thus I can't rank San Jose below the Mammoth. However, the Stealth have no close wins, which is concerning as we head into the back half of the season. StealthDragon: They can't move up until they beat one of the teams above and they don't get to play Calgary again... Double header against Eastern teams this weekend to lock up some out of conference victories. Colorado Rank: 4 [caption id="attachment_153" align="alignleft" width="100" caption="Colorado Mammoth"] [/caption] laxinoregon: Rank 4 - What is their identity? In years past it was crisp offensive excecution and transition. Now both are gone, and it's all down hill. zymstere: Rank 4 - Colorado is still a dangerous team and with them playing at the can will help stabilize their struggles. Leyson may loose his position as #1 tender. Colorado needs to re-group from a horrible weekend and Pawlidor may be the answer. Langtry and Prout will need to get things going if they want a spot in the playoffs. RP=BA: Rank 3 - Starting to finally take shape. Prout is playing better, Langtry is aggressive and will score, and Danowski has been huge for them. The Gajic injury is gonna come back to bite them especially now with Ward out too. I still don't buy into Leyshon as a playoff contender. Zeboim: Rank 5 - Speaking as a Stealth fan, Colorado should be in last place, but Minnesota's five losses in a row can't make that happen so I am putting them at #5. They have a few key injuries that have disrupted their productivity. StealthDragon: Rank 4 - They're either hot or cold, but more cold than hot it seems. Edmonton Rank: 5.2 [caption id="attachment_154" align="alignleft" width="100" caption="Edmonton Rush"] [/caption] laxinoregon: Rank 6 - Look it's good to have 3 wins, two against Colorado, but until the consistently do something they're going to sit at the bottom spot. zymstere: Rank 5 -  Edmonton has all the pieces in place to be a contender, they just need the confidence that they can compete. RP=BA: Rank 6 - Hamley will trade half his roster at the deadline so its tough to get a beat on them. Lots of individual talent but crummy goaltending, below avg D, and the worst tranny unit in the West will bury them. Zeboim: Rank 4 - Edmonton seems like they should be winning more games. I think the problem may be that some of the Rush players don't seem to be playing the whole game. Hamley is probably the most successful coach in the NLL in the post-season, so don't count him out of the hunt. StealthDragon: Rank 5 - Win or lose I think it's safe to say that Hamley is still trying to trade someone. I don't quite like all the pieces he has in place, but maybe he does for all I know. But if I had to guess, until Dan Dawson is on his roster again I'd say Hamley is still looking for pieces to the puzzle he built in Arizona. Minnesota Rank: 5.6 [caption id="attachment_144" align="alignleft" width="100" caption="Minnesota Swarm"] [/caption] laxinoregon: The West isn't what you thought it was and your Eastern foes aren't laying down either. Offense needs help and 2 good defenders does not make a good defense. zymstere: Minneapolis is in total disarray. They trade their leader in scoring 2008 (Craig Point) and Cousins has been mediocre. Croswell & Patterson has been solid in net to start the season but the O has not been able to lay the hammer down. RP=BA: They fend off the Rush, but BARELY. This team is in a bad way, Patterson isn't the same he was last year, the transition game has struggled and an offense built around other guys contributing aren't getting the contributions they needed. I hated the Point trade for them too, that was dumb to give him up, he's gonna blow up in Rochester. Zeboim: Minnesota lacks a "team" identity. That by itself wouldn't put you at the bottom of my list, but five straight losses puts you at the bottom of the list. StealthDragon: My how the mighty have fallen! First to worst in just 5 straight losses. Traded away last seasons' Rookie of the Year Craig Point. That is all for now.  I'll work up another round of rankings at the end of March heading in to the playoffs.  Put your comments below and let us know what you think too.

Answer: It depends on what month it is, or even what day it is sometimes. I think most lacrosse fans are aware that all these great players don't play for just one team.  As the NLL season ends they return home to the WLA or OLA as well as the MLL.  These guys can end up playing on the same team or against each other depending on what month it is (or even what day of the week it is for some of the guys playing for the Rochester Rattlers). Let's first look at San Stealth forward Colin Doyle and Portland Lumberjax defender Brodie Merrill.  December through May these two guys are going to be battling each other in the NLL.  Then May through September they're battling together to win the MLL and Mann Cup Championships.  Throw John Grant Jr. in to the equation and on the summer weekends they're playing together as Rochester Rattlers and the rest of the week JG is a Peterborough Laker and CD and Brodie are Brampton Excelsiors.  Last summer during the playoffs those three literally played against each other all week in the OLA finals and then on Saturday and Sunday went out and won a MLL Championship.  Flipping the switch like that is pretty impressive. [caption id="attachment_181" align="alignleft" width="170" caption="Stealth Forward and
Thunderbird Receiver
Tom Johnson"] [/caption] [caption id="attachment_180" align="alignright" width="170" caption="Lumberjax Defender and
Thunderbird Defensive Back
Tyler Codron"] [/caption] After the Stealth loss to the Lumberjax last Saturday we were talking to Tyler Codron at the drink up and learned of a new player connection I've never seen in lacrosse.  Mainly because it doesn't actually involve lacrosse.  It turns out Jax defender Tyler Codron plays football at the University of British Columbia (which we knew) with Stealth forward Tom Johnson (which we did not know!).  Tyler apparently loves to play defense and he is a defensive back.  Tom being offensive minded is a receiver and the play against each other every day in practice.  Looks like there is more to TJ than competitive eating, flowing hair and lacrosse. So next fall, in that time of the year when there is no lacrosse to follow, and you're getting ready to pass the time by cheering on your favorite pro or college football team consider cheering for a smaller college team that has some of your favorite lacrosse players on it, the UBC Thunderbirds.

In 2008, the San Jose Stealth did not match up well against the Portland Lumberjax losing 3 out of 4 matchups, including the playoffs. With Coach Derek Keenan returning at the helm, the Lumberjax have not changed their style of play from last year. [caption id="" align="alignright" width="105" caption="#7 Tyler Codron"] [/caption] The Lumberjax's strength is their physical style of defense. With the Morgan brothers, Brodie Merrill, and Bruce Murray on defense, the Lumberjax are the largest defensive squad in the NLL. However, I think the most effective Lumberjax defensive player has got to be #7, Tyler Codron. Codron is masterful in his ability to blanket cover the best offensive player on the opposing side. Another player to watch is Scott Stewart, who excels in transition sparking a goal or two in transition when he's in the lineup.  One more thing regarding their transition game, everyone knows Brodie Merrill is fast, but Peter Morgan is unexpectedly fleet of foot as well. On offense, the Lumberjax seem to rely heavily on Cory Conway who has been scoring regularly. Derek Malawsky, former Stealth forward, is patient and always manages to score a goal or two a game. Dan Stroup shoots from the outside and rebounds well. Peter Jacobs is quick and places the ball well when his hands are free. Ryan Powell, well, he's Ryan Powell so if you don't know his game by now, nothing I could say will help you. Peter Morgan and Brodie Merrill also see time on the offensive side and both use their size (tall and lanky) one-on-one and in the two-man game to their advantage. In goal, the Lumberjax have been starting Matt Disher. Disher's performance so far in 2009 has been stellar. He has been making crazy saves - from his knees, falling onto his side, and even from his back. I am just one more of the many NLL fans on the Disher bandwagon. To score on Disher, I recommend getting some luck. I would love to be able to say he's weak on a type of shot, but seriously, the guy is playing out of his mind. A fake or two is necessary, and if you get him moving, watch out for his stick save! Maybe fake high and go five hole? The faceoffs should be a good battle between #31 Will "Big Baby" Dalton and #12 Pat "I Carry a Gun at Work" Jones. Read the article Facing Off with "Big Baby D" for more information. There are more fans at Lumberjax games than usually make it to HP Pavilion, but there won't be as many as the Pepsi Center (Denver). Ryan Powell is great at getting the fans into the game, especially after he scores. This is just one woman's view on the Jax, but I think the Stealth can take 'em.

I'm going to depart from my previous content cycle of game previews and reviews. That same stuff is covered on the team sites, league site and the NLL Insiders so there's nothing too ground breaking in my work there. It takes lots of effort and is time sensitive to get my previews up before games start and reviews up in a timely fashion. Changing things up relieves that pressure so I can just post what I want when I want and you're stuck with it. Since I watch more Western Division games than Eastern Division games I'm going to keep track of how the teams are stacking up out West with a Power Rankings each week. Ted Jenner is the only Insider out west, and I'm not by any means calling myself an Insider, but I watch a lot of Western Division NLL lacrosse so I'm going to talk about what I see in general. Right now, that's an initial Power Ranking for all the teams out West. 1) Minnesota Swarm (2-0) [caption id="attachment_144" align="alignleft" width="75" caption="Minnesota Swarm"] [/caption] Their previous time in the Eastern Division toughened them up for their first season out West. Maybe their schedule was favorable starting against a Portland team that hadn't had any scrimmages against other teams and needed to find their own groove. In the Swarm's second game they got a Stealth team that had played the night before and was a little tired and a little beat up. They beat both teams and looked pretty good doing it.  They have to play several Eastern teams in their upcoming schedule so their overall record might be skewed, but I'll focus on their action against their Western foes. 2) Calgary Roughnecks (3-0) [caption id="attachment_139" align="alignleft" width="75" caption="Calgary Roughnecks"] [/caption] Coach Troy Cordingley has the Roughnecks off to a very hot start. They might be a 1B to Minnesota's 1A at this point. The downside that Calgary might have right now is they appear to be playing up to their potential. I don't necessarily know whether they have room to improve. They beat the Stealth by 2 and Edmonton in OT. If/when those two teams improve and Calgary is already playing at their max potential, Calgary might not beat them again.  The Roughneck offense might be the best in the West right now.  I think the Roughnecks are one injury away from being a completely different team, but for now they're cruising along. 3) San Jose Stealth (0-2) [caption id="attachment_132" align="alignleft" width="75" caption="San Jose Stealth"] [/caption] How is my winless team ranked above Edmonton and Portland? It is more than just being my favorite team.  Those two losses came to the top two teams and not a worse team. The Stealth defense was not a functional unit last weekend. They got torched on the Short Man and overall weren't entirely cohesive. When they do come together I think they can beat the Roughnecks and give the Swarm a good battle. Until then, it'll be a bumpy ride.  Just remember back to 2007 when the team had 14 new players and started 0-4 before going 9-3 the rest of the season and advancing to the Western finals. 4) Edmonton Rush (1-1) [caption id="attachment_154" align="alignleft" width="75" caption="Edmonton Rush"] [/caption] The Rush are pretty equal to the Stealth. They actually had a closer loss to the Roughnecks than the Stealth did and they've got a win last night, but the Stealth should knock off Rochester Sunday night so they both have a win to balance this out so a zero win team is ahead of a 1 win team. Hamley has built a solid roster but doesn't have a blockbuster star like Colin Doyle to push them to the top. They'll do well, I don't know if they'll be great.  Keep an eye on the kid Ryan Benesch, he had a good debut after one practice.  Next weekend they come back to Portland to finish the modified "home and home".  A convincing win over the Jax might push them up in the rankings. 5) Portland Lumberjax (1-3) [caption id="attachment_155" align="alignleft" width="75" caption="Portland Lumberjax"] [/caption] They put a whooping on Colorado at their place, but lost a close one to Edmonton last night. They go where their defense takes them. Disher has been the best goalie in the West to start the season. The offense needs to be consistent every night.  They put 14 on the Mammoth with relative ease when Gee Nash had an off night.  In the other games they've scored 7, 10 and 10.  Double digits is not actually that bad considering the Lumberjax defensive potential but they failed to win those games so far.  A little more defense and a little more offense will swing the close games their way (yeah, I really went out on a limb there). 6) Colorado Mammoth (1-1) [caption id="attachment_153" align="alignleft" width="75" caption="Colorado Mammoth"] [/caption] The argument for the Mammoth this year is that they are younger than they've been in the past. But the argument against the Mammoth is that they lost way, way, way more experience on their defense (Josh Sims, Jim Moss and Pat Coyle) than can possibly be made up for in youth. Gee Nash is an All Star when he's on, when he's off even the Lumberjax can jump out to a 7-1 lead on him. Last season Chris Levis came in to save the day. In 2009, it's Andrew Leyshon's job to be the backup and he's no Chris Levis.  Might be a long season for the league's largest  crowds.

Toronto Rock Forward Ryan Benesch

The NLL's 2007 Rookie of the Year, and briefly Stealth player, Ryan Benesch needs a home.  The Portland Lumberjax need some scoring.  See the connection here?  The question is, how do we get from Ryan Benesch being on the bench in Toronto to being on the floor in Portland?  Thanks to a suggestion from a loyal reader in Portland my answer involves Pete Jacobs and picks the Portland Lumberjax may or may not have (since I haven't kept track of what picks they still have). In my opinion, a trade of Benesch for Jacobs and a 2nd rounder would be equal value.  But equal value for players doesn't factor in a team's desperation to make a trade. Pete Jacobs has a ton of upside. Since he is so young (19 years old) in a few years he might be producing like Benesch is capable of doing right now.  Benesch is also young (turns 24 years old later this month) it's not like Rochester trading a 20 year old Andrew Potter and two 1st round picks for an old Gary Gait (entered college in the 80's) to get some production right now, but for only one or two years. If Colorado drafts properly they could be benefiting from this trade for 15 years, think about that.  Portland would get more production right now than Jacobs can create by himself and down the road Benesch and Jacobs possibly produce roughly the same amount if I had to guess.  This makes it a long term solution for both teams. But here's the problem for the Jax, Toronto beat New York with Benesch on the bench this weekend.  So Toronto doesn't need to give him up cheap just to get rid of him. On the other hand Portland appears to need offensive help, so while Jacobs and a 2nd rounder seems fair, Toronto could probably ask for a lot more and just as easily walk away.  Looking at the Gary Gait deal, Toronto and Colorado are in the same position.  Gary Gait was already retired, Colorado wasn't even going to use him but they got three players in exchange!  Gary Gait is great, but is he that great?  Not especially, but Rochester needed a lefty and paid dearly for him.  How much will Portland have to pay to find a scorer if they haven't worked out there offensive issues in a couple weeks?

The Minnesota Swarm opened their 2009 NLL season with a 11-7 road victory against the Portland Lumberjax.  The Swarm's Kevin Ross lead all goal scorers with 3 goals (5 pts total) and Sean Pollock lead all scorers with 6 pts (2 goals and 4 assists).  Kevin Croswell, the unexpected goalie starter for the Swarm had a slow start the first 10 minutes of the game but he and his defense settled down and only gave up 4 more goals in the final 49 minutes of the game.  He was voted a well deserved MVP of the game. [caption id="attachment_120" align="alignright" width="150" caption="Game MVP Kevin Croswell"] [/caption] Minnesota's success despite missing two All Stars, defender Ryan Cousins and goalie Nick Patterson, is an uncertain sign of one of two things 1) the team has depth and trusts everyone on the roster to contribute 2) Portland's offense is as bad as people feared.  Or some combination of the two.  A second game for each team will make things more clear, especially for Portland and their offense.  Peter Morgan and 40 year old Dan Stroup each scored two goals two lead the Jax offense.  Ryan Powell had zero points in his first game without Dan Dawson.  Stroup set several picks to get RP open, but RP's shoots were pulling about a foot left of cage each time.  He'll get that dialed in eventually, but until then he needs to be setting other guys up instead of taking 14 shots and only being on cage with half of those. There were a couple of bright spots for Portland.  Young goalie Joel Weber got his first ever NLL minutes running on and off the floor at the end of the game.  Welcome to the NLL Joel.  Second, the Jax got their first game out of the way and next  weekend will face a Colorado Mammoth team, that despite having a scrimmage against the San Jose Stealth 3 weeks ago, haven't played a live game themselves. Bottom line for the Jax - the defense can play their hearts out to keep the opponent in check, but without offense it is all for not.  It's not every game in the NLL where the winning team only scores 11 goals.  Brian Shanahan placed Portland at the bottom of the first 2009 NLL Power Rankings and it is not because of the defense. Finally, challenges are now part of the NLL and it's possible that Lumberjax coach Derek Keenan forgot this at the first opportunity he had to make a challenge.  I'm not positive the non goal would have turned over to a goal (from the one angle I saw the ball was on the line, but may not have crossed it entirely).  Minnesota's coach Duane Jacobs made a successful  challenge in the 2nd quarter to overturn a Jax goal.  Shortly afterwards Keenan did make a challege for a goal where Pete Jacobs was obviously lying in the crease. It felt reactionary to Jacobs successful challenge.  My buddy Tim is convinced that in the first instance that Keenan forgot he could challenge the call.  From what I saw, I'm inclined agree at this time.

[caption id="attachment_114" align="alignright" width="62" caption="Portland Lumberjax "] [/caption] [caption id="attachment_113" align="alignleft" width="50" caption="Minnesota Swarm "] [/caption] In 2009 the Minnesota Swarm join the West Division of the National Lacrosse League and starts there season on the road in Portland against the Dan Dawson-less 2009 Lumberjax.  Portland returns to action after advancing to the 2008 Champion's Cup.  Minnesota was a playoff team last season as well, though in a much tougher Eastern Division and losing in the first round.  Minnesota's move out West makes them an instant contender for a regular season title and deep run in to the playoffs. Portland has one thing they need to do right this game and this season.  Portland has to overcome the offensive points lost from Dan Dawson.  The Lumberjax defense won't be the issue.  The defense remains in place from last season and this year goalie Matt Disher won't be coming in to the system in the middle of the season.  The offense needs to find 5.1 points a game that they lost with Dan Dawson.  The Jax picked up Dan Stroup and Matt Brown during the off season.  Stroup is an older and wiser forward that might be a good spoke in the offensive wheels.  Matt Brown is a wild card.  He coaches the Denver University men's lacrosse team, so his attendance is not guaranteed late in the season.  If he's at the game the Jax are going to be better for it. Minnesota has a few key advantages that should lead them to victory in the opener.  Swarm goalie Nick Patterson is an All Star and starts each season out really strong.  Outside of the goal is the Ryan and Ryan show.  NLL Defender of the Year for 2007 and 2008 Ryan Cousins anchors the defense and can press the action on the offensive end as well.  Ryan Ward helps lead the offensive along with 2008 NLL Rookie of the Year Craig Point.  Minnesota lost Andy Secore during the off season and will miss him on offense a great deal, but not as much as Portland is expected to miss Dawson. All the signs point to Minnesota taking this game.  But the Jax are going to be raising their division title banner before the game to get the players even more jacked up.  Last year in Minny the team battled to OT and I think that can happen again if the Jax offense is clicking. I've been thinking about this game all week and since we haven't seen the teams play I still don't know for sure what the Jax are going to look like.  It's completely possible the Lumberjax defense could control all aspects of the game and keep it close enough for the Jax to win.  If that's the case I could see it being a 12-11 Jax win.  But if the Jax offense doesn't have its rhythm yet it'll be a long night for the Jax fans and the Swarm could roll to a 14-8 laugher.  This isn't the NLL Insider and I'm not being forced to make a pick so I'm playing both sides on this one until we've seen some more from the teams. I look forward to seeing former Stealth players Kevin Fines and Darren Halls in action this weekend.  Interestingly Kevin and Darren were traded for each other as part of the Colin Doyle trade.  Kevin was a crowd favorite in San Jose and Darren was a member of the '07 team that went to the Western Finals.  Darren plays a good game and I liked watching his hustle on defense that year.  I still remember one hit where he released off the bench and was able to get clear run at a guy at midfield and light him up, it was a great hit.  Have a good game guys. Other game previews: NLL Insider Swarm It Up!!! National Lacrosse League