PK’s NLL Power Rankings - Week 12

*Reminder these are Power Rankings. To see the Standings please head to NLL.com

1.       Buffalo Bandits – 6-0 (Last Week: #1)

The Bye weeks are finally behind them. Now comes the run we have been talking about for weeks. 12 games in 10 weeks to complete the regular season. That also means if the playoff format is the same as last year and the Bandits make it to the finals, they could be looking at a max of 19 games in 15 weeks if I did my math right. That is a rough schedule for the rest of the NLL season. But, the team is littered with veterans who have been there and done that before. It will be interesting however how the older players can hold up during this stretch. Will their play be affected and how will JT manage minutes and shifts as the games go on knowing that as the champs, you will be getting everyone’s best effort. The team will have their first double header in 2 years this weekend when they travel up north to face the Rock before heading back home Saturday to face off against the Seals.

2.       Saskatchewan Rush – 6-2 (Last Week: #2)

If we are looking at the standings and looking at the teams in the rankings, midway through the season, I am seeing tiers develop. The Bandits to me are in the top tier alone. However, the second tier is also alone for now. And that spot belongs to the Rush. They seem to be the only other steady and consistent team across the league right now. From top to bottom, they are well built. The forward group seems to finally be healthy and playing well together with the likes of veterans Zach Manns, Robert Church, Ryan Keenan and Austin Shanks. Add in rookies Brock Haley and Levi Anderson and they are loaded out the front door. The back end has Jake Boudreau, Ryan Barnable, Mike Messenger, Bobby Kidd, and Holden Garlent to name a few. But, the addition of Matt Hossack in the Dispersal Draft has taken them to another level. Add in Frank Scigliano who has been playing lights out along with Thomas Kiazyk who has been incredible while Frankie has been away. If I were to place bets on a finals match up leading into week 12, I’d be hard pressed not to say Bandits v Rush. They head to Calgary on Friday night before hosting Rochester at home Saturday.

3.       Colorado Mammoth – 6-4 (Last Week: #4)

The opening game of week 11 saw a back and forth affair with the Mammoth coming out on top over the Swarm 13-12. Zed Williams (3/2/5) would tie the game up at 12 all with 4:06 remaining. But, it was Ryan Lee with the game winner with 38 seconds left in the game. He walked away with 2 goals and 6 assists in an 8 point night for the Mammoth who move to 6-4 on the year. Will Malcolm and Connor Robinson went 2/4/6 on the night while Connor Kelly was a solid 2/2/4. Dillon Ward was once again the Ward we had been used to seeing during Colorado’s finals runs making 39/51 saves. While I stand firm that they need to add another piece on defense, the players in the building are holding up to the tests they are being presented. They head into a bye this week before host Vegas on the 21st. And that will be an important game to win as the remaining schedule (Calgary twice, Philly, Ottawa, Saskatchewan twice, and Buffalo) contain teams that are all currently in a playoff spot.

4.       Calgary Roughnecks – 5-3 (Last Week: #5)

It is time for the league and myself to take a new look at the Roughnecks and leave our preconceived notions of what we thought they’d be in the past.  A 15-12 win over Vancouver on Friday night pushes the team to 5-3 on the season and up into the top 4 after starting the season in the basement of the rankings. A scoring on slot for the first 49 minutes of the game before both goalies slammed the door the final 10:45 of the game. The Dickson’s led the way with a combined 6/5/11 night. Dan Dobbie rebounded after 2 subpar games with a 2/4/6 night while Tanner Cook was 2/3/5 in the game. Cam MacLeod seems to have found something in these last 2 games making 40/52 saves. Maybe it was their move to bring in Gowah Abrams. Or maybe it was this young goalie getting a better handle on the starters net. I have mentioned Aden Walsh’s name when talking about Christian Del Bianco a lot, but I don’t think I have put enough attention of how big of a spot MacLeod had to step into replacing the former MVP. While his numbers still do not flash off the screen with a 12.95 GAA and a 75 sv%, in his last 2 games he sitting at a 10 GAA and a 79.2 sv%. With the offense the Roughnecks have, if you can get average net minding, this team is looking at a playoff spot. A big weekend is ahead as they host the red-hot Rush before heading south to take on the Desert Dogs Sunday night

5.       Philadelphia Wings – 5-4 (Last Week: #3)

NLL debut from Michael Sowers and an all-time highlight reel goal by Rookie Brennan O’Neil were not enough for the Wings as they drop their game 14-10 in their first of a back to back with Halifax in the battle of the skies. The Thunderbirds came out flying going up 5-2 after 1 and 7-4 at half. Philly would tie it early in the 3rd at 8 but a 5 goal run by Halifax into the 4th put the lead out of reach. Mitch Jones was 1/8/9 on the night while Joe Resetarits went 3/3/6. 4-point nights from O’Neil and Holden Cattoni capped off the teams 10-goal performance. In net, Nick Damude was once again peppered with shots making 48/61 saves in the loss. I know Nick Damude has not been the goalie Philly was hoping to get when they drafted him 3rd in the dispersal draft, but in 7 of the 9 games, the Wings have given up 58 shots or more on net and one of the other games was 56 shots. You cannot ask your goalie, no matter who it is, to face that many shots and have your team be successful. This was a problem last year when Zach Higgins was in net as well. Philly has to find a way to limit the chances their opponents are getting or what PK said on Mondays show might come true. The Wings dropping out of the playoff race. They look for revenge vs the Birds Saturday in the nest to try and avoid dropping to .500

6.       Halifax – 4-4 (Last Week: #9)

A 5-goal run between the 3rd and 4th quarters saw the Thunderbirds take a 5-goal lead and turn it into a 4-goal victory, 14-10 over Philly on Saturday afternoon. It was a game for the back door in Halifax. 6 of the teams 14 goals came way of the transition game. Graeme Hossack was 1/2/3 with 18LBs, 2 Blocked Shots and 6 CTO. Jake Withers went 1/3/4 with 20 LBs. And Ryan Terefenko followed up his first career hatrick with another one going 3/3/6 with 10LBs and 5 CTO. As for the forwards, Mike Robinson netted 3 on 12 shots while Randy Staats went 1/2/3 on 16 shots. It was not a conventional way to get the win, but it was important to see the Thunderbirds get the victory in a different way than we are used to seeing. Warren Hill was once again solid in net making 37/47 saves. On the season, he has an 11.6 GAA and a 77 sv%. However, in their last 3 games the team is 2-1 and he has a 9.67 GAA and a 79.7 sv%. In the 5 games Hill has played the whole game, he is 2-0 when facing 47 of fewer shots. When he faces 50 or more, the team is 0-3. Just something to remember moving forward. Halifax will look for the season sweep of Philly on Saturday night.

7.       Georgia Swarm – 5-4 (Last Week: #6)

After breaking the 3 game losing streak last week vs Las Vegas, Georgia drops this one 13-12 vs Colorado splitting the season series. Leading 10-8 early in the 4th, Colorado went on to outscore the Swarm 5-3 in the 4th. Toron Eccleston followed up his 4-goal performance last week with a 4/3/7 stat line. Bryan Cole was 3/1/4, Miles Tompson went 2/3/5 and Seth Oakes added 3 assists in his 4-point night. Lyle Thompson and Shayne Jackson combined for 9 assists but were just 1/16 shooting. The absence of Andrew Kew may have been the difference in this one as the Swarm drop their second 1-goal loss in 3 weeks. Brett Dobson was 32/45 in net giving the Swarm a chance to take the win and move to 6-3 on the season, but have fallen back to 5-4 with five 4-win teams on their heels. The team moves into a bye before heading for a date with the Rock. 6 of the remaining 9 games are against teams currently in a playoff spot. Georgia has some work to do moving forward.

8.       San Diego Seals – 4-5 (Last Week: #12)

Listen. I know the reception I’m going to get putting San Diego in the 8th spot. However, they did stop the Rock’s 3 game winning streak by taking the game 11-10 in what I thought was the best game of week 11. The Seals led the majority of the game until a 5 goal run that lasted nearly half of the 4th quarter saw Toronto take a 10-9 lead. Rob Hellyer (2/3/5) tied the game with 1:16 remaining on the clock and 32 seconds later, Wes Berg (4/0/4) would call game on a bullet that somehow beat Nick Rose. Ben McIntosh and Ty Thompson mirrored one another going 1/3/4 on the night while Ryan Benesch and Eli Gobrecht each chipped in 3 assists. Chris Origlieri made 39/49 saves in the win bringing his season totals down to an 11.10 GAA and a 76 sv%. While the team may sit 8th in the rankings, they are one of 5 teams with 4 wins on the year. If this team wants to make a push to leapfrog teams on their way to a playoff spot, they need to get the offense going. If you remove the 18-goal game the first week of the NLL season, they are averaging 9.75 goals a game. That average drops to 8.8 in the 5 games played in 2025. In addition, it gets no easier as they travel across the country to take on the Bandits Saturday night.

9.       Rochester Knighthawks – 4-6 (Last Week: #11)

10.   Toronto Rock – 3-6 (Last Week: #7)

11.   Vancouver Warriors – 4-5 (Last Week: #8)

12.   Ottawa Black Bears – 4-4 (Last Week: #10)

13.   Albany Firewolves – 2-7 (Last Week: #13)

14.   Las Vegas Desert Dogs – 2-6 (Last Week: #14)