The Swarm's Newest Most Important Season Has A Schedule for 2010

2010 Schedule

September 3, 2009

The Minnesota Swarm now know the route they must travel for Champions Cup glory in 2010. The 2010 schedule was announced for the National Lacrosse League and the Swarm know their slice of it. It all begins on Sunday, January 10 in Calgary as the Swarm will be hosted by the 2009 Champions Cup winners, the Roughnecks, who will raise their championship banner that afternoon. Calgary will return the favor the following weekend as they will be the guests in the Swarm's home opener on Friday, January 15 at the Xcel Energy Center. All home games begin at 7:35 pm Central this season which is a change from previous seasons.

The league will go with sixteen games again this season, eight at hoome and eight on the road. They will play every team in the league at least once except for the Toronto Rock. The league this offseason lost the Portland LumberJax, the Stealth moved from San Jose to Everett, Washington and the Titans moved from New York to Orlando.

The Swarm will play ten times within their division, the West, with the remaining six games against the East. The ten games against the West is one more than last year. The Swarm will play the Calgary Roughnecks at home once and in Calgary twice. They will host the Colorado Mammoth twice and go to Colorado once. They will play the other West teams, the Washington Stealth and the Edmonton Rush twice this season., once at home and once on the road. East teams coming to the X in 2010 are the Philadelphia Wings, Rochester Knighthawks and the Orlando Titans. The Swarm road games out east will be against the Philadelphia Wings, Boston Blazers and the Buffalo Bandits.

Last year, the Swarm finished 2-6 at home and 4-4 on the road. They have lost nine of their last eleven at home dating back to 2008 season including the 2008 playoff loss to the then New York Titans. In their history, the Swarm are 17-23 at home and 21-19 on the road. Playoff action has seen them go 0-1 at home and 0-2 on the road.

The Swarm have two home and two road games in both January and February. With state high school tournaments and other events at the X, the Swarm will have their usual nearly month and half road trip from the end of February through the end of March. The Swarm will finish the season in April with five games, four of them at the X. The league will start a week later this season on January 8 and finish a week later on April 24. With the season starting a week later, it is possible there will not be a week off between the regular season and the playoffs like last season. The NLL All-Star game has not been announced yet but I would project either the weekend of March 6 or March 20. There are two games each of those weekends on Saturday in Buffalo, Orlando, Calgary and Edmonton, so if indeed their is an All-Star game this year, it probably is on a Sunday during one of those two weekends in one of those four locations.

The Swarm have five Saturday and three Friday home games this season. Three of the Saturday home games are in April.

The complete NLL schedule can viewed here.

Let's take a closer look, game by game, at the 2010 Minnesota Swarm schedule:

1. Sunday, January 10 on the road vs. Calgary Roughnecks - Roughnecks lead series 3-1
   The Swarm open on the road for the third straight season, this year in Calgary against the defending champs. Last year, the Swarm lost both games to Calgary and have lost three straight to the Riggers dating back to 2007. This game will mark the head coaching debut of new Minnesota Swarm Head Coach Mike Lines.
2. Friday, January 15 at home vs. Calgary Roughnecks - Roughnecks lead series 3-1
   The Swarm home opener at the Xcel Energy Center is a rematch of the previous weekend as Calgary comes to St. Paul. The fans will be able to see the blue and gold home debuts of Ryan Benesch, Scott Self and Jay Thorimbert. Josh Sanderson and Tracey Kelusky are the top scorers for Calgary.
3. Friday, January 22 at home vs. Colorado Mammoth - Mammmoth lead series 4-0
   The Mammoth arrive in St. Paul for the first of three games against the Swarm. The Swarm have never beaten the Mammoth in their history. The Mammoth swept the Swarm last year. Aaron Wilson scored four goals on March 22 against the Mammoth last year. Gavin Prout is the headlining act in Colorado.
4. Saturday, January 30 on the road vs. Buffalo Bandits - Bandits lead series 12-2
   The Swarm's first trip out East takes them to Buffalo to play the Bandits. If there is any week the Swarm will be able to have a great practice it is leading up to this game. The two teams split last year with each team winning on the road. The NLL's all time leading scorer is John Tavares and he is helped by Mark Steenhuis on offense while Billy Dee Smith returns after being named NLL Defensive Player of the Year. Last year's 16-15 win in Buffalo may have been the highlight of the Swarm's 2009 season as Dan Marohl won it with his "Air Marohl" move.
5. Friday, February 5 on the road vs. Washington Stealth - Swarm were 4-1 against the San Jose Stealth
   The Swarm's first trip to Everett, Washington takes place this night. Everett is the new home of the Stealth after they resided in San Jose since 2004. This game takes place at 10:00 pm CST, but since it's Friday night, who cares. Chad Culp will turn 28 on this night. He enters this season with 86 goals in his Swarm career. Colin Doyle and the league's 2009 rookie of the year, Rhys Duch, have top billing in Washington. Former Swarm Andrew Biers plays for Washington.
6. Saturday, February 13 at home vs. Washington Stealth - Swarm were 4-1 against the San Jose Stealth
   The Swarm and Stealth play for a second straight time, this time in St. Paul. The Swarm split the series against the Stealth last year with each team winning at home. The Stealth's 18-8 victory from last April may have been the worse game in Swarm history, so look for the Swarm to come out to redeem themselves. Andrew Watt was the Swarm's first pick in the 2008 Entry Draft and had a great rookie season. What stings for Watt, is that loss to the Stealth was his last game as he did not play after that.
7. Saturday, February 20 at home vs. Colorado Mammoth - Mammoth lead series 4-0
   The Swarm host the Mammoth for the second time this year. Eric Pacey's 2009 season ended in Colorado on March 22. He looks to make a big return to form in 2010. Both Mammoth goaltenders, Andrew Leyshon and Curtis Palidwor, scored wins against the Swarm last year. This is the last home game until April 3.
8. Saturday, February 27 on the road vs. Colorado Mammoth - Mammoth lead series 4-0
   It's the Mammoth again, this time in Denver, where they pack the fans in "The Can". The Swarm play the Mammoth three times in their first eight games. The end of this game marks the halfway point in the season. The Swarm will have played seven of their first eight against the West. This is the beginning of the Swarm's four game road trip. Will the Swarm know by then who the #1 goaltender is - Nick Patterson or Kevin Croswell?
9. Saturday, March 13 on the road vs. Philadelphia Wings - Swarm lead series 7-5
   It's always Funny in Philadelphia as the Swarm travel to play the Wings. Both games last year were in Philadelphia and both games ended in 13-12 scores as each team won once. Brad Favero scored his first ever NLL goal last year against the Wings. Geoff Snider is the league's tough guy and Merrick Thomson is coming off a MLL MVP season to lead the Wings.
10. Friday, March 26 on the road vs. Calgary Roughnecks - Roughnecks lead series 3-1
    The Swarm make their second trip to Calgary in 2010. This is the first weekend that the Swarm have a double dip. They will get to know the province of Alberta as they play in Edmonton the next night. Noah Talbot enters the season having played in 41 straight games. He can tie Jon Sullivan's team record of 51 this night in Calgary if all goes well for Noah. Michael Kilby and Nolan Heavenor play for the Necks.
11. Saturday, March 27 on the road vs. Edmonton Rush - Swarm lead series 2-0
    The Swarm continue their trip in Alberta in Edmonton to play the Rush. This is the first time the Swarm have visited Edmonton since 2006. The Swarm have never lost to the Rush and they got their last win of last year against Edmonton. It was also their last home victory. Brodie Merrill is a huge headliner for the Rush as he was the first pick in the LumberJax dispersal draft. Ryan Cousins will do battle with Merrill to determine the best defender in the league. The Rush have never made the playoffs in their history.
12. Saturday, April 3 at home vs. Edmonton Rush - Swarm lead series 2-0
    The Swarm finally return home for four of five to end the season. Sean Pollock enters the season with 101 goals, 156 assists and 257 points which are all second in team history. He can pass the record holder Ryan Ward, who will return to Minnesota for the first time to play against his old team since the July 7, 2009 trade, in all three parts at various times during the season. Lots of player movement between the two teams in the last couple of years which includes Benesch and Self arriving here and Ward, Justin Norbraten, Scott Stewart and Andy Secore going to Edmonton. This is the last game for the Swarm against the West as they finish up with four teams from the East.
13. Friday, April 9 at home vs. Rochester Knighthawks - Knighthawks lead series 6-4
    The Swarm have a double dip this weekend with the first at home and second on the road. Rochester was the only team that Minnesota did not play last year. Each team won once against the other on the road in 2008. Craig Point and Dean Hill return to Minnesota since the trade for Wilson on February 20, 2009. The Knighthawks John Grant will be making his return to action after missing the entire 2009 season due to a knee injury. The Swarm have the third pick in next week's entry draft but will have to wait until the Knighthawks make the first and second picks in the draft.
14. Saturday, April 10 on the road vs. Boston Blazers - Blazers lead series 1-0
    This is the Swarm's first trip to Boston to complete the weekend double dip. Last year, the Blazers were born again and they beat the Swarm, 16-12, in St. Paul on February 20. Marty O'Neill played five seasons with the first version of the Blazers from 1993 - 1997. Kevin Buchanan leads the Swarm offense against the Blazers. Thorimbert was acquired in a trade from Boston on August 13, 2009. Former Swarm Kyle Ross plays for the Blazers. The Blazers are led by league MVP Dan Dawson and goaltender Anthony Cosmo.
15. Saturday, April 17 at home vs. Philadelphia Wings - Swarm lead series 7-5
    The Wings make their first trip to St. Paul since 2008 when Pollock got the game winner in overtime. Colin Achenbach got his first ever NLL goal in that game. The Swarm are 4-2 against Philadelphia at home which is nearly 25% of the home victories (17) in team history.
16. Saturday, April 24 at home vs. Orlando Titans - Swarm won series 4-1 when the Titans were in New York
    The home and regular season finale is against the Titans for a second straight season only this year the Titans will travel up from Orlando than from New York. The Swarm have lost two in a row against the Titans including the 2008 playoff loss at the X. Kevin Ross scored three goals and an assist against the Titans for a strong individual finish to the season. The Titans counter with a strong offense led by Casey Powell, Jordan Hall and Brendan Mundorf and solid goaltending in Matt Vinc.

Playoffs

1. Saturday, May 1 at home vs. TBA
   First round playoff game victory will advance the Swarm to the West Finals. First ever playoff victory in team history.
2. Saturday, May 8 at home vs. TBA
   The Swarm should beat either Calgary or Washington to advance to the Champions Cup.
3. Saturday, May 15 at home vs. Some team in the East
   The Swarm win their first ever Champions Cup as they revenge the Titans at the X.