It’s a big week. For us Americans, Thanksgiving is Thursday. The holiday has a way of taking over your entire weekend, usually because you eat so much on Thursday that your body is rendered immobile on Friday and Saturday. This year, that can be a good thing, because it’s also NLL opening weekend. There are five games on the schedule from Friday to Sunday. Opening weekend in any sport is a joy because everyone is in it. It’s a 14 way tie for first place at 0-0 right now. Who will be this year’s Albany? Who can dethrone Buffalo? What will be thing we all overreact to entirely too early? Will Matt Vinc age? It’s all questions right now, and we won’t get answers until the spring.
Here’s the lineup for this weekend, along with spreads. All games are available to watch on ESPN+ and TSN+ in the US and Canada respectively, and free on NLL+ elsewhere around the world. All spreads come from DraftKings. I don’t actually bet on games.
FRIDAY:
Who: Toronto Rock vs Ottawa Black Bears
Where: Canadian Tire Centre, Ottawa
When: 7:00pm, EST
The Spread: Toronto favored by 1.5 (-130), game total set at 22.5
Who: Vancouver Warriors vs Colorado Mammoth
Where: Ball Arena, Colorado
When: 9:30pm, EST
The Spread: Vancouver favored by 1.5 (+110), game total set at 23.5
SATURDAY:
Who: Las Vegas Desert Dogs vs Rochester Knighthawks
Where: Blue Cross Arena, Rochester
When: 7:00pm EST
The Spread: Rochester favored by 1.5 (-135), game total set at 23.5
Who: Saskatchewan Rush vs Albany Firewolves
Where: MVP Arena, Albany
When: 7:00pm EST
The Spread: Albany favored by 1.5 (-130), game total set at 22.5
SUNDAY:
Who: Philadelphia Wings vs San Diego Seals
Where: Pechanga Arena, San Diego
When: 6:00pm EST
The Spread: San Diego favored by 1.5 (-140), game total set at 22.5
STORIES TO WATCH:
The Dyson Debut
The first overall pick from the 2023 draft, Dyson Williams, makes his debut this weekend with the Albany Firewolves. Williams has a family history with the NLL. His father is Shawn Williams, an NLL Hall of Famer and Team Canada member for nearly 20 years, capturing gold medals indoors and outdoors. Dyson has already been a Team Canada member, and scored over 200 goals in his time at Duke. Dyson has the ability and potential to be one of the top forwards in the sport.
The young star joins an Albany offense that was one of the stories of the league a year ago. Stars like Ethan Walker, Tye Kurtz, and Alex Simmons grabbed headlines all year. It was an incredible year that saw Albany go from last place two years ago to the NLL Finals last season. This core could be a mainstay in the NLL for a long time; they don’t have single forward who has reached 30 years old, and only two forwards who are older than 25.
Vancouver’s early test
The Warriors looked like a bottom dweller for most of last season. At the end of February, they sat at 2-8, the playoffs looked out or reach. But there was more to their record; they had two overtime losses, a two goal loss to Rochester, and had beaten Georgia by a wide margin. The Warriors were a young team, who looked like they were still learning to win. In the second half, they put the lessons of the first half to use. They went 6-2 over the final eight games, and nearly had themselves into the playoffs.
The great second half, highlighted by young stars coming into their own under the leadership of Curt Malawsky, has some thinking the Warriors could push for the playoffs this season. Players and media like are expecting big things. The Warriors have the 8th best NLL title odds; not exactly a massive endorsement but still better than six other NLL teams. They start the year on the road against Colorado. The Loud House is one of the toughest places to play in the NLL, and while Colorado was way down last year, but that was the first time they missed the playoffs since 2010. The Mammoth are always in the mix, and have quality leadership and veterans on the roster. Opening night is a good test for the still young Vancouver squad.
Early MVP talk
Specifically, I’m excited for an MVP campaign by Jeff Teat. His PLL season was one for the history books; he set the points record around the all star break. Any conversation about the best overall player in the world should at the very minimum include Teat. The Ottawa Black Bears (formerly New York Riptide didn’t make the playoffs once in their short tenure, despite Teat stacking up points including a league leading 136 in 2023. There’s no debating that Teat is an MVP level player, but to finally break through and take home the hardware, it will take a postseason campaign. Ottawa and Teat play the opening game of the season tonight, at home, against the Toronto Rock. Toronto has an incredible defense, backstopped by one of the best goalies in the world in Nick Rose. Teat can send a message that things will be different this year if he can lead Ottawa to a first win in their new home.
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