Week two is in the books. Everyone in the NLL has played at least one game. We certainly don’t have a great idea of who the best, or the worst, is yet. And that’s what it makes it a great time for an overreaction Monday. After five more games, let’s go entirely too far reacting to what we saw around the NLL this weekend.
Blow up the Birds
Halifax lost their home opener, 18-17, to Calgary. The Birds led for nearly the entire game; Calgary took their first lead with 3:14 to go in the game. Halifax had a lead as big as seven, and over the course of the second and third quarters, gave up a 7-0 run and saw their lead evaporate. Can’t happen. The Birds crashed out of the playoffs in ugly fashion last season, they lost in relatively ugly fashion in week one, it might just be time to shake it up. Make some deals, get younger, adjust the roster. Keep Petterson, Terefenko, Theede, Bowhunter, maybe a couple more guys, and then get a plan to move on from the rest. Total overhaul. It might just be time.
It’s Buffalo’s title to lose
The defending champs opened their season with a 15-7 win over Rochester. They led for 43 of 45 minutes. Matt Vinc made 54 stops, and assisted the first goal of the game. Dhane Smith amassed 11 points, including eight assists. The defense held Connor Fields to just two goals on 16 shots. Connor Farrell controlled the majority of the faceoffs. Buffalo outscored Rochester 8-1 in the fourth quarter. The Bandits went on the road and stepped on the throat of a tough opponent. We can call it now, it’s a three peat.
Roughneck buddies for life
“Where Curtis goes, I like to go.” That’s Dane Dobbie to Maki Jenner after the Roughnecks win. The Dickson/Dobbie duo had a spectacular first game back in a Calgary sweater. They combined for 18 points on 24 shots. Dickson scored the goal that tied the game at 16, Dobbie added the goal to give Calgary their first lead. Both started their careers in Calgary, both spent a little time with the Seals, and both are now back home. Their combined age is 74, but they are the most dynamic duo in the NLL.
Toronto is dead.
The Rock got soundly and viciously beaten by Albany, at home, on Saturday night. They last 15-4, and have now been outscored 26-9 through their first two games. The goal that was ultimately the game winner was scored two minutes into the second quarter. Yes, Toronto has an injury list that also could be an all star team. No Schreiber, Harris, Ierlan, Kri, or Rogers. But Toronto was boat raced in this one, and their first game wasn’t much better. The plan might be to just survive until you get healthy, but how deep of a hole is too deep? The Rock’s schedule between now and Valentine’s Day is at Georgia, Ottawa, at Buffalo, Saskatchewan, at Calgary, at Colorado, San Diego, then Buffalo again. They might just be dead.
This year will have the best Zach Currier game ever.
For the uninitiated, at the end of a lacrosse season, I like to play the “how to build a Zach Currier” game. You find other pros who had the same amount of a stat that Currier had, then compile them all together to build one Currier. Because he’s so good at everything, it usually yields some pretty spectacular results. This year has a nice pace coming together. Currier is already third in the league in loose balls (behind two faceoff men). He’s third in the league in CTOs, he’s got a respectable six points in two games. His shooting percentage is down, but he’s been shooting at Nick Damude and Brett Dobson in the first two games. He’s the brightest spot on San Diego right now.
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