There’s a LOT to go over today, and there will be a reading quiz afterwards, so take your time and take notes.

Buffalo Bandits 13 – San Diego Seals 12

All of the intensity and deadlock carried over from the Northeast to the Southwest, as Jake Govett wasted little time to get scoring underway with a goal in his season debut. However on their next possession, Buffalo would get themselves on the board with an over the top bouncer from Dhane Smith. Kyle Jackson found Tre Leclaire for a back door quick stick to give the Seals the lead back, but then the Bandits would once again tie it back with a sidearm picked corner from Chase Fraser. While Leclaire would score again in traffic to continue the trend, Kyle Buchanan would score on the first powerplay attempt of the game to make it 3-3, and then the trend would be finished courtesy of Steve Priolo sticking around for an offensive shift and burying a midrange shot for the first Bandit lead of the game. The Seals would respond with two goals in the final minute of the quarter, first with last week’s overtime hero, Wes Berg, and then Kyle Jackson scoring on a cross-floor pass in the final 4 seconds to give San Diego a 5-4 lead after 15.

The run would continue into the second quarter, as Dylan Watson joined in on the scoring with a powerplay marker, but the Bandits would end it right there. Buffalo would win the ensuing faceoff and get a goal on a rifle shot from Josh Byrne, and then Connor Farrell was the catalyst for another faceoff win and springing Clay Scanlan to find Chase Fraser in transition to even the game up at 6. The Bandits found themselves as victims of back-to-back penalties, and while they killed the first, Watson got his second goal of the quarter from around the same spot as his first to push the Seals back in front. Kyle Buchanan nodded the game back up on a behind the back look in front of the net, and then minutes later with a delayed penalty against the Seals, Chris Cloutier found himself doing a Tehoka Nanticoke impression, shooting with 3 defenders making contact with him in front of the net and unable to stop him from putting a no look roller on net with his back turned to give the Bandits a lead, but it would only last another minute and a half, as Danny Logan would pick up a loose ball after an errant Bandit pass and take it down the floor to tie the game at 8, which the score would remain heading into the locker room for halftime.

Dylan Watson scored on the opening possession of the first half on a goal Matt Vinc would probably want to have back, and then the Bandits would head back to the box on the next possession, leading to a powerplay goal from a Wes Berg point shot to go up 10-8. However, the Bandits would make the next push and control play for most of the rest of the way in the third quarter. A powerplay of their own was finished off early on by Dhane Smith on a shot that trickled through Chris Origlieri just enough for the goal. While the Bandits would draw another penalty on the ensuing faceoff, their powerplay was unsuccessful, but their first possession as the game returned to 5-on-5 led to the tying goal, courtesy of Ian MacKay with the ankle breaking crossover on Kellen LeClair and bumping off of the help defender and beating Origlieri in front. A late powerplay led to Tehoka Nanticoke finishing on a dunk with 1:29 left in the quarter to give the Bandits an 11-10 lead, but as happened in the second, the Seals were able to sneak one more goal in to ensure the game would hit the period’s end tied, with Tre Leclaire getting open in front for a goal on their next touch with 56.2 to play.

The fourth quarter began with extended long possessions for both offenses set the tone for a defensive final 15 after such an open opening quarter in contrast, with the lone goal of the early going coming from a rebound finish by Clay Scanlan that was overturned from a John Tavares challenge after the officials initially thought Josh Byrne had not established himself outside of the crease after his shot attempt led to said landing. They would be immediately tested after the goal, as Ian MacKay was called for a questionable trip alongside what became an illegal substitution simultaneously, sending the Seals to a 5-on-3 for two minutes. A save, a forced turnover caused by Josh Byrne, and then a wide shot leading to a shot clock violation allowed the Bandits to hold up with a penalty kill back to even strength with a half a period still to play. The Seals would be the next team to strike, with Tre Leclaire finding the back of the net with 4:50 to play, but the Bandits got the ball right back and saw Dhane Smith feed an open Kyle Buchanan in front of the net, and the veteran would finish near side high as he has so many times this year on similar looks to give the Bandits the lead back. While San Diego would possess the ball for the majority of the final two minutes, Matt Vinc made 5 saves during that span to ensure that there would be no repeat of last week’s drama. After one final timeout, San Diego’s final possession play saw a stray pass that was grabbed by Cam Wyers, who iced the closing seconds and ensured the Bandits would return to the win column with a 13-12 road win.

Josh Byrne led the way for the Bandits, distributing 5 assists in addition to adding a goal. Kyle Buchanan had a hat trick and an assist, while Dhane Smith and Chase Fraser each had 2 goals and 2 assists. Matt Vinc made 13 of his 38 saves in the fourth quarter to ensure the win despite a slow start. The Bandits defense as a whole forced the Seals into about half of their shots to miss the net.

For the Seals, Dylan Watson had 3 goals and 3 assists for a new career high in points, while Wes Berg had 2 goals and 4 assists. Tre Leclaire had 4 goals and added an assist, while Kyle Jackson had a goal and 4 assists. While goalless, Rob Hellyer distributed 4 assists. Zach Currier was a late scratch, as he returned home to be with his wife expecting the birth of their newborn.

Rochester Knighthawks 15 – Calgary Roughnecks 10

For the second straight week, the Knighthawks were able to start strong offensively in the first half. Ryan Smith scored on their first shot of the game. Matt Gilray scored in transition for his second goal in as many weeks halfway through the quarter, and then Thomas McConvey drew 3 defenders and sent a pass to an open Kyle Waters for a dunk to make it 3-0 with 5:36 left on the clock. While Curtis Dickson found Haiden Dickson on a pick-and-roll for a goal on the next possession to put the Roughnecks on the board, and then Curtis would score on his own cut to the net minutes later, a second goal from Smith with 2.2 seconds to go in the quarter would give Rochester a 4-2 lead after 1.

A run would continue into the early second quarter, starting with Ryan Lanchbury’s first goal during the Knighthawks first possession of the new frame. A forced turnover from Ian Llord in transition led to Thomas McConvey scoring back the other way to extend the lead up to 6-2, sending Cam MacLeod to the bench in favor of Gowah Abrams. Another turnover on the next possession led to another Rochester possession, where Connor Fields would welcome the new netminder with a behind the back heat check from well outside with the shot clock expiring. Curtis Dickson would end the run with his second goal of the game with just over 10 minutes left in the quarter. Powerplay goals would be exchanged amidst the middle of the quarter, with McConvey intercepting a transition pass to lead to an extra possession and then a quick stick goal on a pass from Lanchbury for the goal. Calgary’s goal with the man advantage was almost polar opposite, as they controlled a single possession for the duration until Dane Dobbie got on the board with 6:23 left. Haiden Dickson and Curtis Knight would exchange goals on the next two possessions, and then the quarter would end with McConvey beating the buzzer for a second quarter hat trick after his teammates killed off a late penalty.

While the offense had evaporated after the first 15 minutes in Saskatoon, it had carried over throughout the game here in Calgary.

Into the third, things would stay the same, as with the game at 4-on-4, McConvey scored on the run on Rochester’s first touch of the quarter. Calgary would score the next two, with a goal in traffic from Brayden Mayea and an outside sweeper from Curtis Dickson to cut the deficit to 4, but the Knighthawks would respond next, with Ryan Lanchbury feeding a cutting Kyle Waters for his second goal of the game. Calgary’s defense would come up with an extended stop at 4-on-4 similar to that of their offense’s powerplay earlier in the game, and while their offense would be the next to score, as Curtis Dickson sent a shot from outside the restraining line that surprised Rylan Hartley, presumably to attempt to gain a late-quarter 2-for-1, but the Roughnecks would still be trailing 12-8 after 3.

And into the fourth, once again, Rochester was able to score on their first possession, this time with a sidearm outside shot from Connor Fields. Chad Tutton would extend the lead to five with a transition goal with 9:33 to play. While Matt Gilray had a goal of his own taken off the board by a Josh Sanderson challenge, and Jesse King would be the next to score courtesy of a powerplay goal, Rochester’s lead was stable the rest of the way, as Thomas McConvey scored on a roll and pass from Fields. Tanner Cook would score on Kevin Orleman with 34 seconds left, as Rylan Hartley was pulled to end the quarter after a final minute fight between Tyler Biles and Bennett Smith, and that was it for this one, as the Knighthawks improved to 5-7, with games against Albany and Las Vegas on the radar with the aspirations to improve to return to .500.

A 5 goal 2 assist game from Thomas McConvey, his new season high in goals, helped to lead the way for the Knighthawks, as he also is now one point short of his point total from his rookie season with 5 games in hand in his sophomore campaign. Connor Fields was the top point getter on the evening, with 2 goals and 7 assists. Ryan Lanchbury had a goal and 6 assists. With 27 of his 42 saves in the middle two quarters, Rylan Hartley got back in the win column in front of his first start at home of the season which is slated for this weekend.

For the Roughnecks, who dropped to 6-5, outside of Curtis Dickson’s 4 goals and 5 assists, the rest of the offense was relatively stifled Haiden Dickson was the lone other Roughneck with multiple goals. With a combined 36 saves and 15 goals allowed between the two Calgary goaltenders on the evening, perhaps it was a foreshadow to what was going to come down the wire in the days to follow…(Told ya to read all the way through)

Week 13 Around The League

Halifax Thunderbirds 14 – Ottawa Black Bears 9

The script continues to work for the Thunderbirds, as they have now won 6 of their last 7 games and their transition game continues to throttle teams between the 30 second possessions. Ryan Terefenko once again had a hat trick while he, Jake Withers, and Graeme Hossack combined for 6 assists and 24 loose balls. Randy Staats led the way for them with 4 goals and an assist. Warren Hill made 40 saves, and Nonkon Thompson had 2 transition goals, including an empty netter, in his season debut after being injured in the fall. The Black Bears fell to 5-5 despite their efforts to claw back into the lead after a slow first half in which they trailed 7-2, but the Thunderbirds scored 7 of the final 8 goals after that. Jeff Teat had 3 goals and 2 assists to lead Ottawa’s offense, while Zach Higgins held up as best he could with 47 saves despite the loss.

Las Vegas Desert Dogs 14 – Colorado Mammoth 7

The Desert Dogs scored 8 straight goals between the second and start of the third quarter on their way to an upset at Ball Arena over a Mammoth team that was unable to channel it’s traditional home magic. The familiar names led the way, with Jonathan Donville and Jack Hannah each registering 2 goals and 5 assists. Adam Poitras had 3 goals and an assist, and Landon Kells stood tall with 39 saves in the win. Will Malcom had 2 goals and 4 assists despite the loss for an offense that has since announced that Zed Williams will head to [non-season-ending] injured reserve.

Saskatchewan Rush 10 – Vancouver Warriors 7

The Rush pulled away with a 4-0 third quarter to handle the Warriors with a road win to improve to 9-2. Clark Walter led with 2 goals and 4 assists, while each of Brock Haley, Robert Church, and Austin Shanks had multi-goal games on the back of 31 saves from Frank Scigliano, including 13 in the fourth quarter. Keegan Bal had 2 goals and 2 assists to lead the Warriors.

Georgia Swarm 11 – Toronto Rock 10 F/OT

Before the Bandits and Seals faced off, it looked like this was going to be the game of the weekend (still probably a good debate either way), and while Corey Small (5G 1A) scored two goals in the final three minutes to force overtime, Lyle Thompson (3G 4A) found brother Miles (2G 1A) goal line-extended for a quick stick and the game winner 6:28 into the extra frame. Shayne Jackson added 3 goals and 3 assists, and while the Rock outshot the Swarm 65-51 on goal, Brett Dobson made 55 saves, including 7 in overtime. Chris Boushy and Josh Dawick scored the other 5 goals for Toronto, while Dan Craig and Tom Schreiber combined for 11 assists despite being held goalless. Nick Rose finished with 40 saves in the loss (We’re almost there don’t worry).

Albany FireWolves 11 – Philadelphia Wings 6

After being blown out in their last game, the FireWolves bounced back and shut it down on defense to the tune of a bounceback win over the Wings, led by Doug Jamieson bouncing back personally with 47 saves. Tye Kurtz had 4 goals and 2 assists to lead Albany’s offense, while John Piatelli had a new career high in points with 2 goals and 3 assists. Alex Simmons and Dyson Williams combined for 2 goals and 7 assists. Joe Resetarits had a goal and 3 assists to lead a Wings offense that struggled most of the way.

Okay now we’ve made it. Let’s talk Tuesday:

Toronto Moves On

In the end. perhaps this was always going to be a season to forget for the Toronto Rock amidst what has been a relatively successful move to Hamilton out of COVID. Their one year move to Mississauga while major renovations are taking place back west in Hamilton’s FirstOntario Centre alongside a season where several core players have suffered major injuries and bounces have not gone their way in a handful of other games, resulting in their 3-8 record, have brought us to this point where for Jamie Dawick, it was time to look towards the future. And with the trade deadline on March 10, the Rock got out in front of potential competition on the seller market, while in the meantime starting with a stunner.

Toronto trades Nick Rose, Tyler Hendricks, and their 2025 4th Round Pick to Calgary in exchange for Robert Hudson, Gowah Abrams, Calgary’s 2026 1st Round Pick

On the other side, Mike Board showed that he believes his team has the firepower to not only be a playoff team but find themselves towards the top of the congestion in spots 3-11 in the standings (see below). Having given up 12.73 goals per game, the third most in the NLL so far, while they had given Cam MacLeod the run way in his Age 25 season to prove himself early on, the goaltending upgrade could be what helps them maintain their winning record, especially with a stretch coming up where they travel to Colorado and Buffalo before hosting Buffalo, San Diego, and traveling to Saskatchewan in their next 5 games. The upgrade from a 12.74 GAA and .746 SV% from MacLeod to a 10.81 GAA and .782 SV% in Rose could be crucial for that stretch. Their offense, in contrast, is currently 3rd in goals for per game.

For the context of Rose, who turned 37 a couple of weeks ago, he returns to Calgary where he spent the 2012 season behind Mike Poulin and a rookie Frank Scigliano after he played with the Boston Blazers in his first two seasons in the prologue to his Rock tenure, and he does so with familiar surroundings on the coaching staff as well, as he played with fellow Orangeville native, Josh Sanderson, for multiple seasons and was coached by Troy Cordingley in 2013.

Rose is a UFA at the end of this season, so the chance to make another run at a championship will be of value to him in the twilight of his career, and while he continues to work as the general manager of the Toronto Rock Athletic Centre, it’s likely that if he does continue to play next season that he’ll probably head back to the Rock. So from that perspective, they are adding another draft pick and a young defender in Robert Hudson in addition to a backup for Troy Holowchuk in Gowah Abrams.

And also, to some’s surprise, this deal did not include Christian Del Bianco, who remains a Franchise Tagged UFA holding out this season for a trade.

Toronto trades Chris Corbeil and Mitch de Snoo to Philadelphia in exchange for Philadelphia’s 2025 1st Round Pick

One of the two teams to give up more goals per game so far this season has been the Philadelphia Wings, who are 4th in goals for and went 0-4 in February after a 5-2 start to the season. While Nick Damude’s save percentage is down to .776 from .799 the season before in his age 26 season, a lot of the issues for the Wings defense have come in the transition game. Injuries played some part in this, as Scott Dominey is out for the season and Tony Malcom has missed extended time as well. Enter Mitch de Snoo there, who was the Rock’s leader in loose balls (107), caused turnovers (19), and blocked shots (18). Not only is he a strong all-around defender, but he has added 6 goals and 7 assists out the back end. Chris Corbeil adds additional defensive experience to assist a still relatively young defensive core in Philadelphia in their push to the playoffs. And all at the price of a single first rounder for the rental.

With their own pick and the second of two picks they received back in 2022 from the Desert Dogs for Rob Hellyer, this gives the Rock three first round picks in the upcoming draft, Calgary’s pick in 2026 (Halifax has their 2026 first rounder from the Chris Boushy trade), and two second rounders in 2026. A team that doesn’t traditionally make a lot of picks because of their ability to attract Ontario-based free agents, the Rock will have a full cabinet to help determine where they go from here, which includes adding Sam English to the right side of the offense next season after being the 2024 second overall pick.

And they might not be done either. Other pending UFAs who can reject the franchise tag include Brad Kri, Corey Small, Billy Hostrowser, and…Tom Schreiber. Teams will certainly be continuing to call in regards to those names in the coming weeks, albeit not Buffalo.

The Wings had one more trade on Tuesday for their transition defense, trading Holden Cattoni to Las Vegas for Shane Simpson. Only appearing in 7 games with the Desert Dogs, Simpson’s tenure did not play out as Vegas may have anticipated when they traded for him from Calgary this summer, scoring 3 goals and picking up 31 loose balls. The move gives Shawn Williams a shooter for the left side of the offense in Cattoni, who was third on the Wings in goals with 21 through 11 games. From a Wings perspective, the move signifies being ready to give Brennan O’Neill more touches on the left side with Mitch Jones and Blaze Riorden, while giving them the chance to go righty heavy when Michael Sowers returns from injury. The 2024 first overall pick has 17 goals and 21 assists so far this season.

We will see early next week what the next handful of deals look like, with the week following being the trade deadline.

NLL Week 14 Preview

Buffalo Bandits (8-1) @ Saskatchewan Rush (9-2) – Saturday March 1, 8:00 pm

Here we go. The game with the most lead up hype so far will take place in Saskatoon this weekend, as the Rush look to see just how good they are with first place on the line. After an 8-10 season in 2024, the Rush have taken another step forward this season in a combination improved defense with the addition of Matt Hossack and the continued development of Jake Boudreau and Ryan Barnable among others, also coinciding with improved goaltending year-over-year from Frank Scigliano and Thomas Kiazyk. They have won their last 5 games by no less than 3 goals to separate themselves from the middle-congestion, but can they prove they’re in the top tier instead of a second tier by themselves right now?

The last two meetings between the two teams have gone to overtime, first with a 15-14 win in Buffalo for the Bandits last year courtesy of Tehoka Nanticoke, and then previously all the way back on March 16, 2019 in Saskatoon, where Chase Fraser scored the winner.

Albany FireWolves (3-8) @ Rochester Knighthawks (5-7) – Friday February 28, 7:00 pm

With one more game played, the 11th place Knighthawks tend to be left out by some in the congestion conversation, but with matchups against the FireWolves and Desert Dogs in the next two weekends, two wins to get them back to 7-7 would almost serve as a season reset of sorts after a winless December and two heartbreaking home losses in January. In their first home game since that last late loss to Colorado, they take on an Albany team they beat twice last season but had lost to the season prior at home when Albany was in a similar position to the one they are currently in. If they can get through these next two weeks with wins, they have two games with Ottawa and three home games with bye weeks in as well to spread the schedule out to finish the year, with the other two games against San Diego and Toronto.

Georgia Swarm (6-4) @ Ottawa Black Bears (5-5) – Friday February 28, 7:00 pm

Since Ottawa won the first matchup back on January 10, they have struggled offensively outside of the blip of their 18-9 win in Albany, while the Swarm have played 3 one goal games, two of which have gone to overtime. There’s no question about it right now that these two teams are smack dab in the world of the congestion and could have the same record after 11 games if Ottawa wins, but a Swarm win to get to 7-4 could be pivotal ahead of a meeting with the Rush next weekend.

Calgary Roughnecks (6-5) @ Colorado Mammoth (6-5) – Saturday March 1, 9:00 pm

Neither team made the playoffs last season after strong seasons in 2023 but now find themselves tied for 5th through 11 games. Calgary won last season’s matchup in Denver 13-10, and they will play again in Calgary to end the season in the first matchup between them at the Saddledome since the Mammoth won to advance to their second straight finals. The framework of course changes with Nick Rose now in the fold, who was the winning goaltender when he faced the Mammoth back on February 1 in a 9-8 overtime duel.

Halifax Thunderbirds (6-4) @ Las Vegas Desert Dogs (3-8) – Saturday March 1, 10:00 pm

Looking for their 7th win in 8 games, the Thunderbirds make their inaugural trip to Nevada to take on a Desert Dog team who got their first win since January 18 last weekend. Halifax won last season’s matchup in Nova Scotia 12-10, and like the Swarm, a win could help them push ahead in looking to get closer to the Bandits and Rush than they are the rest of the congestion.

(Photo Credit: Jenn Pierce)