The Stealth Dragon
A Washington Stealth Fan Blog
This project is maintained by tfitch
Minnesota Swarm at Portland Lumberjax January 3rd Game Preview
January 2, 2009Author: tfitch
](http://thestealthdragon.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/lumberjaxlogo.jpg)
](http://thestealthdragon.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/swarmlogo.jpg)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.
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