NLL Week Two is upon us. After this weekend, everyone in the league will have played a game. Calgary, Georgia, Halifax, and Buffalo all have their first contest this weekend. Injuries continue to mount for Toronto, some familiar Roughnecks are back in Calgary, and the defending champs see their first game action of the new season. Week one saw some upsets, heroic performances, an OT thriller, everything you’d want from an opening weekend. Including a story about a new fan getting made up in Albany that’s worth a read. Here’s hoping week two is just as fun.
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 at the time of publication, I don’t actually bet on games.
FRIDAY:
Who: Colorado Mammoth vs Las Vegas Desert Dogs
Where: Lee’s Family Forum, Las Vegas
When: 10:30pm EST
The Spread: Colorado favored by 1.5 (-105), game total set at 22.5
SATURDAY:
Who: Calgary Roughnecks vs Halifax Thunderbirds
Where: ScotiaBank Centre, Halifax
When: 5:00pm EST
The Spread: Halifax favored by 1.5 (-115), game total set at 23.5
Who: Buffalo Bandits vs Rochester Knighthawks
Where: Blue Cross Arena, Rochester
When: 7:00pm EST
The Spread: Buffalo favored by 1.5 (-115), game total set at 24.5
Who: Albany Firewolves vs Toronto Rock
Where: Paramount Fine Foods Centre
When: 7:00pm EST
The Spread: Toronto favored by 1.5 (-115), game total set at 22.5
Who: San Diego Seals vs Georgia Swarm
Where: Gas South Arena, Georgia
When: 8:00pm EST
The Spread: San Diego favored by 1.5 (+105), game total set at 22.5
STORIES TO WATCH:
The Title Defense Begins
The defending champion Bandits open their season on the road against Rochester. The Knighthawks won their opener against Las Vegas behind a 10 point effort from Connor Fields. Buffalo will send out a roster very similar to last year. Dhane Smith, Josh Byrne, Chase Fraser, Chris Cloutier, the offense is stacked. Ian MacKay and Steve Priolo are back to keep the defense and transition play strong. Zach Belter and Cam Wyers are key young pieces for the defensive end. And of course, Matt Vinc is back yet again in goal. Buffalo will get everyone’s best shot all year; they’ve earned it. Starting the year on the road can be challenging, particularly against a Rochester team that should be feeling confident. Last year, Buffalo opened their season on the road against Albany and lost. They’ll want to start things off on the right foot this year.
Who Can Get Right Quick?
Albany dropped their opener in OT to the Rush. Toronto is dealing with injuries and got smothered by Ottawa last week. Both teams have aspirations of deep playoff runs, so they don’t want a tough week one to turn into a tough week two. Digging a hole early is never a good idea. Toronto got more bad injury news this week as both Latrell Harris and Tom Schreiber hit the IR with lower body injuries and are considered week to week. They join TD Ierlan, Challen Rogers, and Brad Kri on the injured list. Albany’s offense is still dynamic, and the Rock defense, though depleted, still has some heavy hitters led by Mitch de Snoo. Elijah Gash had a very good week one performance guarding Jeff Teat, and Nick Rose is still in goal. It may only be week two, but Toronto needs to survive this stretch without their stars. Albany has an opportunity to notch a win against a tough opponent if they can shake off the bad taste of a week one OT loss. It may only be week two, but someone will get a big win this weekend.
The Boys are Back in Calgary
The Roughnecks brought their guys home this offseason. Curtis Dickson was drafted by Calgary in 2010, and played the first 10 years of his career as a Roughneck. After spending the last two years in San Diego, Dickson was dealt to Calgary in exchange for Zach Currier. Superman gets to rejoin the team that drafted him, and where he won a title in 2019. Another former Seal has returned to Calgary, Dane Dobbie, and his career path is very similar to Dickson’s. Calgary drafted Dobbie in 2007, and Dobbie played the first 13 years of his career for the Roughnecks before joining San Diego in 2022. He won two titles with Calgary in that span, and an MVP award. Both may be a little bit older now (Dickson is 35, Dobbie is 36), but they have an opportunity to still be productive players while leading some promising young weapons. Tanner Cook is 25, Brayden Mayea is 23, Haiden Dickson is 23, Mathieu Gautier is 2, it’s a young offense. The defense in Calgary has some questions as Christian Del Bianco’s holdout continues but Dickson and Dobbie putting on Calgary sweaters is a reason to keep an eye on the Roughnecks this weekend.
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