2014 Calgary Roughnecks and NLL Thread

[Resolute 14]

Umm, wow. That's sort of huge news for the NLL. Sounds like a more extreme version of the end of Bannister's tenure in Calgary, except without the hockey team rushing in as a white knight.

Reading an NLL forum, Connecticut and Montreal might be the odds-on favourites. A move to Montreal would be interesting - it seems the NLL is rapidly becoming a Canadian league. I've always thought Winnipeg would be a great market too. Especially with Minnesota close, and rivalries with Calgary and Edmonton.

[FlamingHomer]

Possibly another team just outside of Toronto. A smaller low overhead arena and players from nearby to greatly reduce travel costs. Similar to the Vancouver (Langley) model.
Although currently they have a lot of Americans on the roster so that would take time to evolve.

[OutOfTheCube]

Professional lacrosse is just such an awesome sport to watch. I'm surprised it keeps having trouble drawing crowds in a lot of cities.

They really need to get some kind of TV deal so people can be watching these games without having to be there.

[FlamingHomer]

Canada defeated the US by a score of 8-5 at the World Lacrosse Championships held in Denver. This is field lacrosse.

I didn't follow this tournament very closely but here are some "fun facts"

The US usually dominates this event.

38 teams from all over the world participated including unlikely nations such as Costa Rica, Israel, Mexico, Thailand, Bermuda and Uganda.

Unlike in indoor lacrosse, there is no shot clock, which Canada used as a tool to defeat the US. They basically played keep-away for several stretches not allowing the US to gain possession. While the strategy worked it made for excessively boring viewing and booing from the partisan US crowd.

Local Roughneck stars Curtis Dickson and Geoff Snider played a large roll in advancing Canada to the finals. While Snider looked like he was over his injuries which kept him out of key NLL playoff games last season, Dickson was rocked late in the Championship game and sat out after that. Appeared to be a shoulder injury.

[fundmark19]

[QUOTE=FlamingHomer;4853639]
Unlike in indoor lacrosse, there is no shot clock, which Canada used as a tool to defeat the US. They basically played keep-away for several stretches not allowing the US to gain possession. While the strategy worked it made for excessively boring viewing and booing from the partisan US crowd.
QUOTE]

There is no shot clock in the International game however there is in the pro MLL variety (which the fans in Denver are used to). Princeton was the first to implement this stall strategy way back in the day and just dominated. NCAA then tried measures to curb the stall. However there still are ways to utilize it like Canada did and did so to perfection. USA was averaging 18 goals a game going into this game and Canada shut them down by limiting their chances on offence and playing hard D when they had their chances and huge saves in net.

[JiriHrdina]

Canada also won the battle for ground balls which allowed them to retain possession and kill even more clock. Mix in big saves in the first half from Ward and that's a pretty good recipe for success.

[Resolute 14]

Also of note, the Iroquois Nation won the bronze medal - their first in tournament history.

[FlamingHomer]

The Roughnecks re-signed goaltender Mike Poulin to a 2 year contract.

Hopefully Mike plays a bit stronger in the next two years. I think Calgary could use a better back up goaltender to push him. Coach Malawsky doesn't seem to have much faith in Frankie.

[FlamingHomer]

Huge news. The Mohegan Sun have purchased the Philadelphia Wings. They will move to Connecticut.

Full story here.
http://www.oursportscentral.com/serv...es/?id=4850443

[FlamingHomer]

The 2015 schedule has been announced.

2015 NLL regular season schedule:
Week Day Date Matchup Time (ET)
1 Fri 2-Jan Buffalo at Connecticut 7:00PM
1 Sat 3-Jan Edmonton at Buffalo 7:30PM
1 Sat 3-Jan Toronto at Rochester 7:30PM
1 Sat 3-Jan Colorado at Minnesota 8:00PM
1 Sat 3-Jan Vancouver at Calgary 9:00PM

2 Sat 10-Jan Rochester at Connecticut 7:00PM
2 Sat 10-Jan Calgary at Colorado 9:00PM
2 Sat 10-Jan Minnesota at Edmonton 9:00PM
2 Sat 10-Jan Toronto at Vancouver 10:00PM

3 Sat 17-Jan Buffalo at Vancouver 10:00PM

4 Fri 23-Jan Buffalo at Toronto 7:30PM
4 Sat 24-Jan Minnesota at Connecticut 7:00PM
4 Sat 24-Jan Toronto at Rochester 7:30PM
4 Sat 24-Jan Vancouver at Colorado 9:00PM
4 Sat 24-Jan Edmonton at Calgary 9:00PM

5 Fri 30-Jan Minnesota at Buffalo 7:30PM
5 Fri 30-Jan Connecticut at Edmonton 9:30PM
5 Sat 31-Jan Calgary at Toronto 7:00PM
5 Sat 31-Jan Buffalo at Rochester 7:30PM
5 Sat 31-Jan Colorado at Vancouver 10:00PM

6 Fri 6-Feb Rochester at Minnesota 8:30PM
6 Sat 7-Feb Buffalo at Calgary 9:00PM

7 Fri 13-Feb Toronto at Minnesota 8:30PM
7 Fri 13-Feb Edmonton at Colorado 9:00PM
7 Sat 14-Feb Minnesota at Toronto 7:00PM
7 Sat 14-Feb Rochester at Buffalo 7:30PM
7 Sat 14-Feb Calgary at Vancouver 10:00PM
7 Sun 15-Feb Colorado at Edmonton 4:00PM
7 Sun 15-Feb Rochester at Connecticut 6:00PM

8 Fri 20-Feb Connecticut at Toronto 7:30PM
8 Sat 21-Feb Buffalo at Rochester 7:30PM
8 Sat 21-Feb Vancouver at Calgary 9:00PM
8 Sun 22-Feb Colorado at Connecticut 1:00PM

9 Fri 27-Feb Toronto at Edmonton 9:30PM
9 Sat 28-Feb Colorado at Buffalo 7:30PM
9 Sat 28-Feb Calgary at Rochester 7:30PM
9 Sat 28-Feb Minnesota at Vancouver 10:00PM

10 Fri 6-Mar Toronto at Colorado 9:00PM
10 Sun 8-Mar Calgary at Edmonton 4:00PM

11 Fri 13-Mar Toronto at Buffalo 7:30PM
11 Sat 14-Mar Buffalo at Toronto 7:00PM
11 Sat 14-Mar Connecticut at Minnesota 8:00PM
11 Sat 14-Mar Vancouver at Edmonton 9:00PM
11 Sat 14-Mar Rochester at Calgary 9:00PM
11 Sun 15-Mar Minnesota at Colorado 9:00PM

12 Fri 20-Mar Connecticut at Calgary 9:00PM
12 Sat 21-Mar Edmonton at Toronto 7:00PM
12 Sat 21-Mar Minnesota at Buffalo 7:30PM
12 Sat 21-Mar Colorado at Vancouver 10:00PM

13 Sat 28-Mar Minnesota at Connecticut 7:00PM
13 Sat 28-Mar Edmonton at Rochester 7:30PM
13 Sat 28-Mar Toronto at Calgary 9:00PM
13 Sun 29-Mar Vancouver at Colorado 9:00PM

14 Fri 3-Apr Rochester at Toronto 7:00PM
14 Fri 3-Apr Connecticut at Minnesota 8:30PM
14 Fri 3-Apr Calgary at Colorado 9:00PM
14 Fri 3-Apr Vancouver at Edmonton 9:30PM
14 Sat 4-Apr Connecticut at Buffalo 7:30PM
14 Sat 4-Apr Minnesota at Rochester 7:30PM
14 Sat 4-Apr Colorado at Calgary 9:00PM
14 Sat 4-Apr Edmonton at Vancouver 10:00PM

15 Fri 10-Apr Vancouver at Toronto 7:30PM
15 Fri 10-Apr Edmonton at Calgary 9:00PM
15 Sat 11-Apr Colorado at Rochester 7:30PM
15 Sat 11-Apr Buffalo at Minnesota 8:00PM
15 Sat 11-Apr Calgary at Edmonton 9:00PM
15 Sun 12-Apr Vancouver at Connecticut 1:00PM

16 Fri 17-Apr Connecticut at Toronto 7:30PM
16 Fri 17-Apr Rochester at Colorado 9:00PM
16 Sat 18-Apr Calgary at Minnesota 8:00PM
16 Sat 18-Apr Colorado at Edmonton 9:00PM
16 Sat 18-Apr Rochester at Vancouver 10:00PM

17 Sat 25-Apr Vancouver at Buffalo 7:30PM
17 Sat 25-Apr Connecticut at Rochester 7:30PM
17 Sat 25-Apr Edmonton at Minnesota 8:00PM
17 Sun 26-Apr Buffalo at Connecticut 6:00PM

18 Sat 2-May Connecticut at Buffalo 7:30PM
18 Sat 2-May Rochester at Minnesota 8:00PM
18 Sat 2-May Edmonton at Colorado 9:00PM
18 Sat 2-May Calgary at Vancouver 10:00PM
18 Sun 3-May Toronto at Connecticut 6:00PM