PK’s NLL Power Rankings - Week 8
*Reminder these are Power Rankings. To see the Standings please head to NLL.com
1. Buffalo Bandits – 4-0 (Last Week: #1)
We said playing a team that was desperate could be dangerous. We said the Rock would try to play a rougher style of game and bait you into taking penalties. The refs controlled the game awful and were inconsistent on both sides. Matt Vinc and the defense were not at their best. And none of that mattered in the end as the Bandits move to 4-0 on the year after their 15-13 win over Toronto Friday Night. 10 ties, 10 lead changes and no team holding a 2-goal lead for more than 4 minutes. It might be the best game we see all year long. Dhane Smith led the night with 10 points while Ian MacKay put up his second 5-goal game to start the year. It was the third game the offense put up 15 or more goals on the year as the offense continues to pour it on. In the previous 3-games, the team had allowed a total of 20 goals. In this one, they allowed 13 and 8 at half. While the defense was way too soft in the first half and Vinc did not have his A Game. The second half was a different story with shut down defense on Challen Rogers allowing him just one assist after a 1/5/6 first half and Vinc coming up huge in the fourth including two big saves in the final minute of the game. Everyone wants to talk about the fight. However, to me, if this league wants to continue to grow and become that next major league they claim they are striving for, the attention needs to be put on showing people the game that was played rather than one lucky punch. Because there is no way someone could watch this matchup and not come away wanting more. But, like has been the case for the league for years now, attention is placed in the wrong area. Buffalo gets another test to keep their undefeated season going Saturday night when the 4-1 Philly Wings come to town.
2. Colorado Mammoth – 4-2 (Last Week: #2)
It was not pretty but the Mammoth mounted their comeback over Albany to take this one 15-13 to move to 4-2 on the season. After scoring first, Albany would score eight straight to take an 8-1 lead early in the second. Colorado would cut the lead to 13-10 at the end of the third and if you are any good at math, the Mammoth held the Fire wolves scoreless through the fourth. Connor Kelly continues to lead this offense and is a sleeper for offensive player of the year after another 5/2/7 night. Connor Robinson has quieted down all the talk after his healthy scratch to begin the year going 4/2/6 in this one and is currently 3rd on the team in scoring with 12/17/29 on the year. The depth on offense on this team is why I have believed since the offseason they would lead the league in scoring and are currently fourth at 13.83 a game behind just Buffalo, Philly and Halifax. Ward was shaky to start the game but finished strong going 40/52 in net. While his season long numbers are not flying off the page, 11.10 GAA and 79 sv%, he has been steady and reliable making big saves in crunch time. They go out on their second date vs Albany this week to try and sweep the season series but this time at their place.
3. Philadelphia Wings – 4-1 (Last Week: #5)
I’m still not ready to admit I was wrong, but my apology letter is being written as we speak. The Wings are now 4-1 after their 13-11 win over Calgary Saturday afternoon. A back and forth affair all night long saw Calgary lead 10-9 with 6:29 left in the game. Philly would score four straight in 2:24 to take the win. Mitch Jones was vintage Mitch Jones in this one going 5-2-7 on the night. Joe Resetarits was 2/5/7 on 22 SOG while Holden Cattoni went 1/5/6. Moreover, while the offense has been the biggest surprise to me for this team averaging 14.8 goals a game, just behind Buffalo, it has been the play of Nick Damude in net that has been the main reason for their 4 straight wins. He went 47/58 in the victory over the Roughnecks making critical saves. In fact, four of the 11 goals came on the PP for Calgary, so his performance could have been even better had Philly stayed out of the box. We questioned Paul Day’s move of bringing Callum Crawford in for one game before releasing him. But once again, this proves why I am typing out rankings and GM’s are leading teams. Phillys biggest test of the season comes Saturday as they head into Banditland before taking on Vancouver Monday in the first double header of the season. It is a monster weekend for the Wings that will be very telling of who they truly are this year.
4. Saskatchewan Rush – 4-1 (Last Week: #6)
The Rush seemed to be everyone’s sleeper pick to make the playoffs this offseason and it had me thinking. If everyone was picking them to make the playoffs, could they really be a sleeper? Well no one is sleeping on them anymore as they move to 4-1 on the year after their 15-9 thumping of the Desert Dogs Saturday night. Vegas would actually score the first of the game, but the Rush would net five straight in the first to take the commanding lead. Vegas would cut the lead to 6-4 before SAS would score four straight to end the first half 10-4. Zach Manns continues to have an MVP type of season going 3/5/8 while the returns of Robert Church (2/3/5) and Austin Shanks (3/3/6) showed what this offense is truly capable of. However, I need to give credit where it was due. Maybe he heard how critical of I have been of him (Ha), but Ryan Keenan came alive in this one going 4/2/6. He came into this game 1/4/5 on the season so he more than doubled his output in 60 minutes. Frank Scigliano was not heavy needed in this one making 29/38 saves, but he continues to be the back bone of the defensive unit. If they continue to get the goaltending and defense we have seen this year, 3rd in league at 10 GAA, and the offense remains healthy and consistent, we might be looking at a title contending team come playoffs. They head to the winless Rock on Saturday night.
5. Vancouver Warriors – 3-1 (Last Week: #7)
Keegan Bal. That is all that is needed to be said to sum up this game. Down 6-3 entering the fourth, Vancouver exploded for eight in the fourth including six from Bal, which included the game winner with 1:08 on the clock. Adam Charalambides went 2/2/4 on the night while Owen Grant continues to put his name on the map as one of the best players in the league going 2/1/3 on the night in the transition game. Although waiting until the fourth to get the offense going is not ideal, we saw a team be tested in this game and pass that test. Although to be a serious contender, they are going to need more players to step up on offense and be consistent if they have a hope of making noise come playoff time. However, the story of their season has been someone the league needs to be talking more about. Aden Walsh has been outstanding through four games. In this one he made 45/54 stops while having a 9 GAA and an 81 SV% on the year playing every second. On top of playing this well, he had went into the season with all the talk of Christian Del Bianco and Vancouver swirling. All that noise has quieted down as he continues to show he can be the face of that franchise in net. Vancouver gets a real test this weekend playing two in our first double header of the season. They will travel to Ottawa on Friday night before heading to Philly Monday night. In these types of weekends, you hope to take one of two with that much travel. Stealing both and we will have to start talking about the Warriors in title conversations.
6. Ottawa Black Bears – 3-2 (Last Week: #8)
It wasn’t a start to the game the Ottawa would have wanted, but after being down 3-0 after 2:03 into the game, they’d go on to outscore Georgia 14-7 the rest of the way to move above .500 on the year at 3-2. Jeff Teat bounced back in a big way after his 1 point performance last week vs SD going 3/6/9 on the night. Jacob Dunbar continues to be the second man on the offense with is 3-goal, 5-point night. However, it was one Larson Sundown who finally came alive in this one going 3/2/5 in his best performance of the season. Last week I called out the offense saying we needed to see more from this group even without Reilly O’Connor and Connor Kearnan. Players stepped up and that is a big reason they got the result they did. But, Monday they added another Lefty to the mix trading for Eric Fannell from Albany who should help free space for Teat the rest of the season. Zach Higgins continues to provide that security blanket in net making 41/51 saves and has been every part of the goalie they traded for this offseason. They host the streaking 3-1 Vancouver Warriors Friday night.
7. San Diego Seals – 3-3 (Last Week: #3)
The roller coaster season continues for the Seals after dropping their third game of the year 11-9 vs Vancouver. They have now bounced between wins and losses through six games. So if the trend continues put all your money on the Seals this week. Leading 6-3 after 3 and 7-5 with 10:49 to go, Vancouver would score six of the final eight including the game winner just 19 seconds after the Seals had tied the game. I mentioned it when Albany had Dane Dobbie go off on them so I need to mention it now. Credit to Keegan Bal for scoring 6 in the 4th, but how as a defense do you not change things up when one player is single handily beating you. But my frustration does not lie with the defense or Chris Origlieri who played very well making 47/57 saves. It lies with the offense or the lack there of. Wes Berg went 4/1/5 while Rob Hellyer (1/3/4) and Kyle Jackson (2/2/4) were the depth help. However, this is now three straight weeks of sub 10 goals. In their first three games, they were averaging 11.33 going 2-1 even though their GAA was 13. In their last three games now, their GAA is 9, but their scoring just 7.67 going 1-2. It appears Orig has gotten it figured out. But now it’s time for the offense to follow suit. There is too much talent on this team to be sitting 3-3 on the year. They get Las Vegas on Saturday night.
8. Georgia Swarm – 4-2 (Last Week: #4)
The tumble down the rankings for Georgia is in part due to their 2-game losing streak after their 14-10 loss to Ottawa on Friday. But it is also due to the same issues that have plagued this team for years. Last year they averaged 11 goals a game, which was good for 11th in the league. Through 6-games, they are averaging 11 goals game once again which is 10th. After starting the game hot scoring three in the first 2:03, they went cold including three droughts of 10 or more minutes without scoring in this one. Lyle Thompson had an excellent game going 5/4/9. Bryan Cole continues to score on the year netting three. However, the rest of the offense was dry. Brendan Bomberry, Shayne Jackson and Andrew Kew who need to be relied upon to provide that scoring touch combined for 1/4/5 nights with just 13 SOG. Low scoring games can be successful in this league. See Saskatchewan and Vancouver. But only if you are getting steady play in net and that has not happened in back to back weeks now with Brett Dobson going 32/46 in net. This team needs to go out and target offensive help. Stephen Keogh, Dan Lintner and Logan Schuss are all still street free agents or you can look in the trade market and target a guy like Casey Jackson from Vegas or a Corey Small from Toronto with both of their teams struggling. Georgia travels to Calgary on Saturday night to try and right the ship.
9. Halifax Thunderbirds – 2-3 (Last Week: #12)
10. Calgary Roughnecks – 2-2 (Last Week: #9)
11. Rochester Knighthawks – 2-5 (Last Week: #10)
12. Albany FIrewolves – 1-5 (Last Week: #11)
13. Las Vegas Desert Dogs – 1-5 (Last Week: #13)
14. Toronto Rock – 0-5 (Last Week: #14)