Berg Finally Signs
Wes Berg, the right-side forward who missed camp as a contract holdout, re-signed with Calgary on Thursday two days before its season opener against Rochester. The Roughnecks cleared roster space by trading Vaughn Harris to Buffalo for a fifth-round 2018 draft pick.
Plenty of Rookies
All 11 players selected in the first round of the 2017 entry draft made their teams. Nine are on active rosters and two are on practice rosters.
Beating the Odds
Rowan Kelly was the 55th of 59 players selected in the 2017 draft and he worked himself onto the Colorado Mammoth’s practice roster. The six-foot-three, 180-pound defenseman from Toronto helped the University of Western Ontario win a second straight Canadian universities field lacrosse championship in November.
Brandon Slade was not selected in his 2015 draft-eligible year but signed as a free agent with Toronto in September and on Wednesday was placed on the active roster for the Rock season opener in Buffalo. He’s small — 5-9 and 160 — but fast. Slade, 23, played minor and junior indoor lacrosse in Orangeville, Ontario, and field lacrosse at Brock University in St. Catharines, Ontario.
Big Crowds
The Saskatchewan Rush said it will cap season ticket sales at 11,000 after announcing it has exceeded 10,000.
The Rush plays out of the 15,100-seat SaskTel Centre in Saskatoon, which is the largest city in the province with a metro population of 295,000. The world’s largest publicly-traded uranium company and the world’ largest potash producer have corporate headquarters in the city, which is 350 miles north of Montana’s border with Canada.
Playoff Format
Division finals revert to one-game showdowns with the league ditching the two-game (plus 10-minute mini-game in case of a split) experiment. The championship series remains a best-of-three affair.
Expansion Markets
The league says it has targeted for further expansion metro New York, Dallas, Washington/Baltimore and San Francisco/San Jose.
WEEK 1
(All times EST; last season’s regular-season record in parenthesis)
Friday, Dec. 8
GEORGIA (13-5) at NEW ENGLAND (8-10), 7:30 p.m.
Georgia was 3-1 against New England last season. This will be the first of three meetings.
“They’re going to be a very different team than what we’ve seen in the past,” Swarm captain Jordan MacIntosh said of the Black Wolves. “All we can do is prepare for the players we know are going to be there and start the season with a bang.”
Georgia had a league-best 6-3 road record last season, while New England was 5-4 at home.
“We’re going to get a good test right off the bat,” Black Wolves coach Glenn Clark said. “Georgia is the gold standard right now so we’ll get to see how we match up.”
The Swarm is also on the road for its second game Dec. 23 at Colorado and plays its home opener Dec. 30 versus Rochester.
The Black Wolves are back in action Dec. 23 at Saskatchewan.
TORONTO (9-9) at BUFFALO (6-12), 7:30 p.m.
The teams split 2-2 last season with each getting one road win. This will be the first of three meetings.
Toronto is a good road team, going 5-4 last season. Buffalo coach Troy Cordingley needs his team to improve on its 3-6 home record to have a shot at a playoff position.
“It’s a tough place to play and it’s a divisional game so we’re going to have to be ready right off the hop,” Rock coach Matt Sawyer said. “I know they’ve had a lot of turnover but Troy will have them ready and chomping at the bit so it’s important that we go in there and we’re ready right from the get-go. We don’t want to fall behind down there because they can feed off that crowd.”
Cordingley said Alex Buque will start in goal.
The Rock plays its home opener Dec. 16 against Saskatchewan.
The Bandits follow this one with road games Dec. 23 in Rochester and Dec. 30 in Toronto.
COLORADO (9-9) at VANCOUVER (9-9), 10:30 p.m.
The Stealth prevailed 3-1 last season before the Mammoth won the NLL West semifinal 13-12 in British Columbia. They meet four times again this season.
“We have added a ton of talent to our roster and cannot wait to put on a show for our fans this season,” said assistant Stealth captain Logan Schuss.
Colorado was 4-5 on the road last season, while Vancouver was 4-5 at home. Stealth star Rhys Duch was hampered by a strained Achilles tendon last season. He’s over that now and says he feels great.
The Stealth is at Calgary on Dec. 15 and at New England on Dec. 29.
Second game for the Mammoth is the home opener Dec. 23 versus Georgia. The team announced earlier this week that it will retire John Grant Jr.’s No. 24 sweater on March 24.
Saturday, Dec. 9
CALGARY (8-10) at ROCHESTER (7-11), 7:30 p.m.
In the one meeting last season, on April 1, Calgary won 11-9 in Rochester. This will be the first of two meetings. The second will be in Calgary on March 17.
Calgary’s tepid 3-6 road record was a big reason why it missed the playoffs last spring.
Nothing reflects Rochester’s decline more than its home record. The Knighthawks were 8-1 at home when they won a third straight championship in 2014. They were 3-6 at home when they missed the playoffs in 2016 and 4-5 at home last season when they once again were postseason spectators. But head coach Mike Hasen senses a change heading into the new season.
“The optimism we have in the room right now is really good,” Hasen said.
Five more saves and Knighthawks goalie Matt Vinc will pass Toronto legend Bob Watson for second on the all-time list. Anthony Cosmo made 7,222 regular-season saves and Watson 6,471.
Calgary is at home Dec. 15 against Vancouver and Dec. 29 against Colorado before venturing back onto the road.
Rochester stays home to play Buffalo on Dec. 23.
Time Travel
Dec. 3, 1998: Toronto announces team nickname, Rock, and unveils logo and uniforms.
Dec. 6, 2002: New Jersey Storm goaltender Ginny Capicchioni becomes the first woman to play in the NLL. Capicchioni stopped 10 of 15 shots during her stint in a 14-12 preseason win in Buffalo.