Eighteen

April 10, 2009
Author: tfitch

I think the Stealth coaches’ biggest obstacle this season has been picking which players are the right 18 to go out on the floor and win every game.

I think the Sunday game against the Jax and Friday night game against the Swarm had possibly the best 18 for the Stealth on the floor. The vast majority of the players and positions aren’t in question, but here is what I see as the final fine tuning of the roster.

Offense:

<figcaption id="caption-attachment-204" class="wp-caption-text">San Jose Stealth Forward
Tom Johnson</figcaption></figure>

First up, on offense playing Tom Johnson over Alex Turner is an upgrade. Alex has scored in the games he’s in when he’s playing the two man game. But TJ can create his own scoring opportunities driving to the net and finishing. Alex will be a good player in the NLL, but as a rookie, he is in the same spot as TJ last year. Now in his second season, TJ is more adjusted to the NLL game, giving him the confidence to take it to the net.

Second on offense, is a debate between Peter Veltman and Frank Resetarits on the left side. Veltman’s Canadian experience leads to better screening for Wick and Duch than Frank provides. I don’t know if the Reebok heads are causing Frank issues, but in the last game I saw him play in Newark he missed a couple shots near the crease that the Stealth needed him to make. If the NLL were bigger and Veltman still played in Arizona, then Resetarits would be on the floor. But today, there’s not enough spots available and Veltman is outperforming Resetarits.

The other offensive players – Colin Doyle, Jeff “Mack Truck” Zywicki, Rhys Duch and Cam Sedgwick are all locks week in and week out. The defenses can make plans based on these guys being in the lineup, but it won’t help. Colin wants the Stealth to win and he’s going to get his points to ensure that happens.

Defense:

<figcaption id="caption-attachment-205" class="wp-caption-text">San Jose Stealth Defender
Eric Martin</figcaption></figure>

Now on to defense. This has been a huge issue for the Stealth this season. Personally, I’d like have Steve Holmes on the floor, but that likely means sitting another defenseman.

The easy choice could seem like the “new” guy, Biers – but he hasn’t been messing up on D, so I can’t pull him. Good job Biers.

But what about Eric Martin? Yes, Meat’s been scoring in the games lately and picks up lots of loosies, but he also can get called for tons of penalties by the referees. Penalties can cost the team games, like the Saturday Lumberjax game. Chris Hall’s first game as head coach he actually sat Meat and the Stealth only had 2 penalties called all game. That can be attributed to the refs for the night as much as Meat, but in the two Portland games he got 5 min majors in each game which leaves the team in the hole. So the question for me becomes, is Meat’s scoring and loose balls worth more than his penalties?

My final option to get Holmes on the floor is sitting rookie defender Kyle Hartzell. It’s not that Hartzell is performing poorly, it’s just that he doesn’t have as much experience as Holmes and experience in close games at the end of the season is more important than raw athleticism. Hartzell will get that experience over time (hopefully this summer in Vic). Holmes used to be in the same spot that Hartzell is now and in a year or two Hartzell will be the guy taking time away from the next rookie. This is a decision Coach Hall has to make and I don’t envy his position.

Since I started writing this up Meat has been suspended by the league for two games, so he’s going to be sitting out the last couple regular season games. I’m going to presume this means we’ll get to see Steve Holmes in the lineup in place of Meat at Colorado and Toronto.

To complicate matters for me, in the Stealth victory over the Swarm last weekend Meat played and did not receive a single penalty, a complete opposite of his play against Portland, and he was productive. So Meat can play a clean game and be productive (he did it for several years before this year), but when things aren’t going his way it’s very hard to watch him collect the 5 minute majors.

Just to clarify here, I would pick a 2 penalty minute or less Eric Martin over Steve Holmes who’s only played in two games this year and can’t be counted on to be in game shape. But if the refs are conspiring against Meat *and* Meat is all jacked up and cross checking guys high, it’s enough to give the fans ulcers and I don’t want ulcers from watching Stealth games.

Just like the offense, the defensive locks are (in numerical order) Brett Manney, Curtis Hodgson, Kyle Sorensen, Shaydon Santos, Mike Grimes, Andrew Biers, Mike Kirk, and Paul Rabil. If I had to say there is any changes in this group it would be Steve McKinlay coming in for Kyle Hartzell if Veltman is needed for something other than face offs or otherwise unable to go. I’d love for Eric Martin to be in this group, but the penalties scare me too much right now.

Goalies:

<figcaption id="caption-attachment-206" class="wp-caption-text">San Jose Stealth Goalie
Tyler Richards</figcaption></figure>

The last position on the floor is of course goalie. I don’t know if there is going to be any controversy, everyone is being very professional about it, but Tyler Richards has stepped up the last two games and played as good in goal as could be asked of anyone in the league. Personally, I’d leave T-Rich in cage the rest of the way. Roik has more experience playing in tandem with T-Rich than Bold, so unfortunately after a couple of years being the #2 goalie Bold has been pushed back to #3. I really hope there is no NLL expansion this year because I don’t want to lose any of these guys.

I think tomorrow night against the Mammoth the Stealth will dress the same 18 as against the Swarm (aside from the required subbing of someone for Eric Martin) and whoop the Woolies. I’m very much looking forward to seeing the 18 continuing their momentum of the previous two games and locking up a playoff spot.

Go Stealth Go!