It has been two months since John Grant Jr. played an NLL game but don’t assume the No. 2 all-time scorer is done.

He wants to play again.

“We’re hoping so,” he said. “I’m going through the protocol. It’s taking longer than expected, but I’m going to get myself as healthy as can be and go from there.”

Back on Jan. 7 in Colorado’s second game, Grant Jr. took a hit that has put his storied career on hold.

“It was just lacrosse,” the 42-year-old lefty said without getting specific. “It’s a rough game. I’m old now, you know.”

He is sensibly working his way back slowly. He had a weightlifting session Tuesday and is preparing for a season opener as head coach of Valor Christian high school in Highlands Ranch, Colorado, on Thursday.

“I’m getting the boys prepared,” Grant Jr. said. “I won’t be making the trip [with the Mammoth to Saskatchewan] this weekend.”

What’s it been like on the NLL sidelines?

“It’s not something I cherish,” he said. “I don’t like missing games but the boys are playing well. The fact they’re getting wins is a good thing. That’s all I can hope for. You’re helpless when you’re not playing. All I can do is cheer them on.

“If I keep progressing, then I can resume game play," he added. "I’m not quite there. We’re not rushing it. I’m just sitting back and waiting ‘til I get the go-ahead. Injuries are not something to play around with. I’ve done too much of that in the past, racing back before I’m ready.”

Grant Jr. is no stranger to adversity. He missed the 2009 season after an infection following knee surgery laid him low.

The Mammoth have been benefitting from winning goaltending by Dillon Ward and Callum Crawford and Eli McLaughlin have been scoring lots of goals to help compensate for the absence of Grant Jr., Jeremy Noble and Zack Greer the last three games. McLaughlin is logging plenty of floor time in helping fill the role Grant Jr. played on the lefties’ side of the attack.

“Eli is having a career season,” said Grant Jr. “It’s been exciting to see him blossom.”

Grant Jr. emerged from the University of Delaware and began to etch his superstar status into the pro indoor history in 2000 when he got the nod as NLL rookie of the year after scoring 37 goals and amassing 77 points with the Rochester Knighthawks when teams played 12-game schedules rather than the current 18.

He was regular-season and Champion’s Cup MVP in 2007 when Rochester won the championship and was regular-season MVP again in 2012 with the Mammoth. He is second to retired Buffalo star John Tavares in all-time goals and points.

Grant Jr. was the centerpiece of one of the most significant NLL trades when, on Oct. 27, 2010, Rochester traded him along with defenseman Mac Allen to Colorado for goaltender Matt Vinc, who had just been picked up in an Orlando Titans dispersal draft, and transition players Matt Zash and Brad Self.

He has three world indoor gold medals. He has two world field gold medals, one as a player in 2006 and one as an assistant coach in 2014. He has won five MLL titles with four teams and is currently on the roster of the Ohio Machine. He won five Mann Cup senior Canadian titles with his home-city Peterborough team before announcing his retirement from the Lakers last summer.

A career quirk: Grant Jr. was originally drafted by Buffalo. Grant, whose father played for Philadelphia in a 1970s pro indoor league that went belly up, was selected by the Bandits in the third round in 1995 but did not sign, preferring instead to go the NCAA route. Rochester took him first overall when his name reappeared for the 1999 draft.

Grant Jr.’s dream of winning an NLL championship with the Mammoth is as yet unrealized. A Champion’s Cup celebration in Denver would cap an illustrious career. His teammates will do their best to see it happens.

INCREDIBLE FINISH

The most unexpected finish last weekend, and the most thrilling if you are a fan of the Knighthawks, occurred in Rochester on Saturday afternoon.

The Bandits, who defeated the ‘Hawks 13-9 in Buffalo on Friday night, led 8-7 and had possession of the ball near their own crease with 12 seconds left. Dhane Smith ran it out of the zone. Now, if anybody was capable of running out the clock, it was the league’s 2016 MVP and scoring champion.

Scott Campbell chased him. Just over center and along the boards, the ball popped out of Smith’s stick. Rochester defenseman Graeme Hossack scooped up the loose ball and threw it into Buffalo’s zone to rookie Josh Currier, who evaded two Bandits and sprinted towards the net. Six-foot-three goalie Davide DiRuscio had the net blocked. Currier waited until DiRuscio knelt and fired the ball into the top of the net with two seconds left, tying it 8-8.

Sixty-two seconds into overtime, Dan Dawson showed why he’s known as Dangerous Dan. The 35-year-old Brampton firefighter fired an overhand shot through DiRuscio’s legs to win it for the ‘Hawks.

Dawson, alluding to the loss the previous night, said he and his teammates needed to “show the fans that when we get slapped in the face we’re not going to fall down.”

He heaped praise on Currier.

“Josh showed such character and poise with two defenders on him,” said Dawson. “He could really be our best player.”

It seemed only fair that Matt Vinc got the goaltending win given his remarkable play in the two games in 18 hours between the NLL East rivals.

7,000 SAVES

Anthony Cosmo, who earned the Friday goaltending win for the Bandits, reached a career milestone in surpassing 7,000 saves. The 39-year-old teacher lives in Orangeville, which is an hour’s drive northwest of Toronto. He played his first pro indoor game in 2001 with Toronto, winning championships with the Rock in 2002 and 2003, and suited up for the San Jose Stealth and the Boston Blazers before signing with the Bandits in 2012.

The all-time saves leaders:

1. Cosmo: 7,009

2. Bob Watson: 6,471

3. Pat O’Toole: 6,464

4. Dallas Eliuk: 6,356

5. Matt Vinc: 6,270.

COACHING CREDS

Buffalo’s Friday win was Troy Cordingley’s 93^rd regular-season win as a head coach, tying him with the late Les Bartley for third place on the all-time list. Cordingley was a star player under Bartley when the Bandits won the 1993 and 1996 championships and he won the Les Bartley Award as coach of the year in 2009 and 2013.

Former Bandits coach Darris Kilgour won a record 121 games. Saskatchewan’s Derek Keenan is second with 117 wins.

CRAWFORD SCORES SIX

Callum Crawford is a fan favorite in Denver. A crowd of 15,898 cheered his every move last Friday night, and for good reason. The 12-year veteran scored six goals in an 18-9 home win over Calgary.

Dillon Ward was, yet again, a difference maker. Ward made 50 saves as he helped hold an opponent to single digits for the fourth straight game.

DOBBIE SCORES SEVEN

Calgary rebounded with an impressive 18-11 home win Saturday over the No. 1 Georgia Swarm that finally rewarded their faithful yet victory-starved fans, who numbered 9,780 on this night.

Dane Dobbie scored seven goals as the Roughnecks ended a five-game losing streak. Frankie Scigliano outplayed former teammate Mike Poulin to get the goaltending win.

“We knew they were desperate and they certainly played desperate,” said Swarm coach Ed Comeau.

A HOME WIN, FINALLY

If Calgary’s big win wasn’t enough proof of parity, then Vancouver reinforced the truth that the Champion’s Cup could wind up in any of nine trophy cases by downing NLL West leader Saskatchewan 13-9 for its first home win in five tries.

Tye Belanger made 55 saves including 20 in the fourth quarter for his second win of 2017. That’s the most the 26-year-old native of Wallaceburg, Ontario, has had in a season since he won five with Colorado in 2013. A backup for much of his career, he’s earned the No. 1 job with the Stealth. He tried to score into an empty net as time expired, but the ball bounced just inches from the Rush net.

“I’m still numb after that game, but it is so nice to get that win for the fans and celebrate in front of the home crowd,” Belanger said after pulling off his pads. “You get in the zone. You get in the rhythm. I just got in front of the ball and the first thing I was thinking was sending it up the floor. I got three assists, but I absolutely should have gone one [goal] and three [assists] but I missed the empty net. Honestly though, I’m just glad we got our fourth win of the season.”

The announced gathering was 3,102, with fewer than that number actually in the seats, as the Stealth continued to draw the league’s smallest crowds.

SHOOTING PERCENTAGES

Tyson Bell of Calgary, Creighton Reid of Colorado and Craig England of Buffalo have the best shooting percentages.

Bell, a defenseman, has taken 10 shots on goal and has scored five times (.500). Reid, also a defenseman, has had six shots on goal and has scored three times (.500). England, who has a checking-transition role, has the first 12 NLL goals on 27 shots (.444).

England, 26, of Fergus, Ontario, could be a poster boy for perseverance. He played four games for Toronto in 2014, 13 for New England in 2015 and one with Buffalo in 2016 before earning with his rambunctious play a full-time role with the 2017 Bandits. He was the 30^th player selected in the 2011 entry draft.

STEENHUIS MOVES UP

Buffalo’s Mark Steenhuis scored two goals during the weekend to jump into seventh place on the all-time list.

The Top 10:

1. John Tavares: 815

2. John Grant Jr.: 668

3. Gary Gait: 635

4. Colin Doyle: 527

5. Dan Dawson: 460

6. Josh Sanderson: 449

7. Mark Steenhuis: 445

8. Shawn Williams: 444

9. Lewis Ratcliff: 440

10. Paul Gait: 410

TIME TRAVEL

MARCH 20, 1993: The Buffalo Bandits became the first team to sell out every regular-season game when they defeated the Detroit Turbos 20-14 in front of 16,325 spectators in Memorial Auditorium. (The Aud closed in 1996 and was demolished in 2009.)

WEEK 11

Four games are on tap. Colorado plays twice. Buffalo and Rochester are idle.

SATURDAY

CALGARY (4-6) at TORONTO (5-4), 7 p.m. 

Colin Doyle will be honored in a pre-game ceremony. The former Rock captain helped the team win six NLL titles, earning the Champion’s Cup MVP nod three times. He’s third on the all-time points list. He currently is program director at Rock owner Jamie Dawick’s Oakville double rink facility.

Toronto’s defense is No. 1 but it will have its hands full trying to stop the league’s leading goal scorer, Curtis Dickson, who has 30 in 10 games. Brett Hickey leads the Rock with 19. Toronto goalie Nick Rose has a league-best 9.39 goals-against average. At the other end, Frankie Scigliano will step into the crease with an 11.90 GAA.

Calgary ended a five-game losing streak when it slammed Georgia 18-11 at home last Saturday. The Roughnecks are the most penalized team in the league, averaging 22 minutes a game in penalty boxes, but Toronto has the second-worst power play in the league so it remains to be seen if it will capitalize.

Toronto lost 10-9 at home to New England last Friday. The Rock started out 4-1, including an 11-7 win in Calgary on Feb. 12, but are 1-3 in their last four. Toronto is 2-3 at home. Calgary is 2-2 on the road. The last time Calgary played in Toronto, a year ago on the same date, it won 15-10, and Dickson poured in six goals.

COLORADO (6-4) at SASKATCHEWAN (6-3), 8:30 p.m. 

First place in the NLL West will be at stake.

Colorado goalie Dillon Ward has a league-best save percentage of .803. Saskatchewan’s Aaron Bold is well back at .766. Callum Crawford is the leading Mammoth goal scorer with 20. Robert Church has a team-high 22 for the Rush.

Colorado, coming off an 18-9 home win over Calgary, has won four of its last five. The Mammoth are the least-penalized team in the league at just under 12 minutes a game.

Saskatchewan had a six-game winning streak stopped, 13-9, in Vancouver last Saturday.

This is the second of four meetings. The Rush won 8-7 at home Feb. 18. They are in Denver on March 25 and close out their schedule there on April 28. Colorado is 3-2 away. Saskatchewan is 4-0 at home.

SUNDAY

GEORGIA (7-2) at NEW ENGLAND (4-6), 1 p.m.

Mike Poulin has a .779 save percentage in the Georgia nets. That’s slightly better than the .771 of New England’s Evan Kirk.

Georgia’s Lyle Thompson is second in the scoring race with (27 + 37) 64 points. Kevin Crowley is New England’s top goal scorer with 25. Leading point-getter Shawn Evans remains out with wobbly left ankle. The Swarm have been without the injured Randy Staats for their last three games.

Georgia had its aura of invincibility shattered 18-11 in Calgary last Saturday, while New England pulled out a 10-9 win in Toronto on an OT goal by Sheldon Burns.

This will be the third of four meetings. Georgia won 14-9 at home Jan. 20 and 17-15 at home Feb. 11. After this one, they go at it again April 7 in Connecticut. Georgia is 3-2 on the road. New England is 2-2 at home.

VANCOUVER (4-6) at COLORADO (6-4), 9 p.m.

This is an interesting matchup between two of the league’s hottest goalies. Ward has the top save percentage, .803, and Tye Belanger is third-best, .791.

Vancouver’s Corey Small has a league-high (27 goals, 39 assists) 66 points.

A 13-9 home win over Saskatchewan kept Vancouver from sinking into the NLL West cellar and enabled Colorado to move within one-half game of the Rush atop the division. The Mammoth have displayed great roster depth in compensating for the losses of forwards John Grant Jr. in the season’s second game, Jeremy Noble in the fourth game and Zack Greer in the seventh game.

This will be the third of four meetings. The Stealth won 15-9 in Denver on Jan. 7, the Mammoth won 10-9 in overtime at Langley, B.C., on Feb. 12 and, after this one, they play in Langley again April 22.

Vancouver is 3-2 on the road. Colorado is 3-2 at home.

BYES

BUFFALO (4-6)
ROCHESTER (4-7)