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The Swarm's Victims in 2011: A Schedule Preview

2011 Schedule

September 4, 2010

The Minnesota Swarm enter the 2011 season with a sense of urgency. The last two years, the Swarm have went 6-10 and 5/11 with a playoff loss in their only playoff game in that period. Changes have been made at the player level, but changes higher up could come if significant improvement is not made. The problem is that the schedule released on September 2nd is loaded with opponents that don't much care about the Swarm's troubles and those opponents are already making moves to be better for the 2011 season.

The Swarm will play in the division ten times for a second straight year. The other four division rivals will play twelve times in the division. Only four of those division games will be at home and they will play the defending NLL Champions, the Washington Stelath, twice in Everett. Will the lack of divisional hoem games be an issue in 2011 for the Swarm? We shall see.

The Swarm will have an different opponent for each of their eight home games this year. The only team in the league they don't play at home or for that matter at all is the Toronto Rock. That should once again give Swarm fans a great opportunity to experience the league as a whole. Alwasys something new at home. The Swarm will have seven of their eight home games on Saturday with the other game on Sunday, March 27 versus Buffalo. With three home games in January, the Swarm will need to win all three because they will be road weary in February and March with five of seven games on the road. Four of the six games against the Esat will be at home. The Swarm will be teh main event on April 2 as they will have a doubleheader with the Wild that day, with the Swarm turning out the lights in evening.

The Swarm will have five Friday, two Saturday and a Sunday game on the road this year. Two games each in Colorado and Washington take up half of the road schedule. As usual the Swarm will have the dreaded month long road trip during the middle of the season as other events take place at the X.

Now for the way too early but much loved breakdown of the schedule, game by game.
  1. Saturday, January 8 at hoem vs. Rochester Knighthawks - Knighthawks lead series 7-4
    The Swarm will open the season at home for the first time since 2007 as they unveil Treasure Island Field at The Hive. Sean Pollock will enter the game with 304 points in his Swarm career. A big seven point game will make him the Swarm's all time leading scorer passing Ryan Ward. Big time lefty scoring machine John Grant wil come to town with his arsenal of behind the back shots and passes. The Swarm are 3-3 in home openers winning three straight. They are also 3-3 in regular season openers.

  2. Friday, January 14 on the road vs. Washington Stealth - Series tied 1-1
    The Stealth ousted the Swarm in the first round of the playoffs last sesson on their way to winning the Champions Cup. Swarm owner Andy Arlotta says the Swarm were the one team the Stealth did not want to face in the playoffs. That may be debatable but last year's games were quite spirited and should be the same again. Noah Talbot is scheduled to play in his 60th consecutive game on that date.

  3. Saturday, January 22 at home vs Edmonton Rush - Seires tied 2-2
    Ward will make his only appearance at The Hive on January 22 for the Rush. In his first appearance back here last year, Ward scored three goals and three assists. The Rush swept the Swarm in two games last year with a two goal and an overtime victory. The Rush made the playoffs for the first time last year and already have one more playoff victory (1-1) in their history than the Swarm do (0-4).

  4. Saturday, January 29 at home vs. Washington Stealth - Series tied 1-1
    Ryan Benesch will 26 the following day and came off a successful Swarm debut last sesaon with 28 goals and 55 assists. When the Stealth vistied the Swarm last year, a bench cleariong brawl occured started by Stealth goaltender Tyler Richards. Many of those players on both teams should be back. Like Joe Cinosky said in the booth after getting tossed about the Stealth shenanagians, "Gutless".

  5. Friday, February 4 on the road vs. Buffalo Bandits - Bandits lead series 11-2
    The Swarm travel to Banditland to take on NLL all-time leading scorer John Tavares and the orange shoe clad Mark Steenhuis. The Swarm will see Scott Self and Jay Thorimbert, both of whom the Swarm traded to the Bandits on August 23, 2010. Both only had one season with the Swarm and each will be with their third team in three years.

  6. Saturday, February 12 on the road vs. Rochester Knighthwks - Knighthawks lead series 7-4
    Zack Greer turns 25 on game day and we should have an idea by then if there is improvement in his game after his rookie season of ten goals and thirteen assists. Pat O'Toole will be in the net for the Knighthawks for a thirteenth season and will build on his NLL record of all time saves with 6,466. Cody Jamieson, who should be the number one pick in the draft next Wednesday by the Knighthawks, is heralded as the next big thing in the NLL as a lefty scorer.

  7. Saturday, February 19 at home vs. Bosotn Blazers - Blazers lead series 2-0
    The Blazers are the only active team the Swarm have not yet beaten and the Swarm will hope that the third time is a charm. This weekend is the first of three doubleheader weekends for the Swarm. The Blazer offense will be tough to handle with Dangerous Dan Dawson and Swarm killer Josh "Shooter" Sanderson, who the Blazers acquired in a trade from Calgary this offseason.   In addition, Kevin Buchanan will return to The Hive as a member of the Hive. The player the Swarm got in return for Buchanan is Mat Giles who is expected to be a huge transition threat for the Swarm. Giles turned 35 yesterday and is the oldest player on the Swarm roster.

  8. Sunday, February 20 on the road vs. Colorado Mammoth - Mammoth lead series 5-2
    Only a Tim Campeau goal separated the Swarm and Mammoth last year. The Swarm made the playoffs and the Mammoth finished with the worst record in the league. Unfortunately, the Mammoth traded that first overall pick to the Knighthawks before last season. Matt Vinc, 2010 NLL Goaltender of the Year, will be number one netminder in Colorado after he was the first pick in the Orlando Titans dispersal draft last month by the Mammoth.

  9. Friday, March 4 on the road vs. Colorado Mammoth - Mammoth lead series 5-2
    The Swarm take a week off and then go right back to Coloardo for a rematch with the Mammoth. Chad Culp will look to improve in his second year with the Mammoth after being traded prior to the 2010 season for Callum Crawford. Crawford definitely proved his worth and then some setting Swarm single season records with 64 assists and 96 points. This should be the first year in the NLL that Callum will play with the same team for a second year. If he continues on in 2011 like he did in 2010, Crawford will be in Swarmville for many years to come.

  10. Friday, March 25 on the road vs. Edmonton Rush - Series tied 2-2
    The Swarm return to action after a three week break by going to Edmonton. By this time in the season, Swarm fans will know if Travis Hill is a healthy and productive member of the team after missing 2010 due to injury. Will Hill be taking the majority of faceoffs or will it be newcomer Erik Sage, who the Swarm signed as a free agent last month. The Swarm may even draft Andrew Suitor at number four in next week's draft. Suitor is projected by NLL Insider to be the fourth pick and he can take draws.

  11. Sunday, March 27 at home vs. Buffalo Bandits - Bandits lead series 11-2
    The Swarm return to The Hive after a 36 day hiatus for a Sunday matinee. This will be the first game for the Swarm after the trade deadline, so there may be some key players in other places and new ones in the lineup. One player expected to reamin is Jon Sullivan, who has ascended to being the Swarm's best defender. Sully's game has grown leaps and bounds as he enters his seventh season with the Swarm after becoming assistant captain last year and playing with Team Canada in the World Field Lacrosse Championships this past summer.

  12. Friday, April 1 on the road vs. Calgary Roughnecks - Roughnecks lead series 4-3
    On this game day, Ryan Cousins will turn 29. The question and maybe the biggest going into 2011 will be "Will Ryan Cousins be celebrating his birthday in the Swarm locker room or in the firehouse in Peterborough?". The Captain only played seven games for the Swarm last season before he started his firefighing training in February. Swarm General Manager Marty O'Neill believes he will be back but firefighting does takes a first seat and pays the bills for Cousins, even with the extravagant salaries that NLL players earn. Nick Patterson set a record with 59 saves in a game last year in Calgary, but the question is will Nick be in Minnesota still to make those saves after the trade deadline.

  13. Saturday, April 2 at home vs. Calgary Roughnecks - Roughnecks lead series 4-3
    Both teams come to The Hive after playing agianst each other the night before. The Swarm acquired Rory Smith with the fourth pick in the Titans dispersal draft. The NLL's leader in penalty minutes last year was acquired for games like this one against Calgary who has NLL tough guy Geoff Snider. Snider was with the Wings last year and over the last two years, Smith and Snider have fought and taunted each other constantly. Now with both in the West and Smith in blue and gold, Swarm fans get to see this match up live and in person. Who knows, maybe former Swarm player Michael Kilby will take a shot at Smith. Just to let you know, I don't think we have to wait until game thirteen to see Smith's fists in action. My hunch is game one will see Smith doing what he does best and probably against one of those crazy Evans brothers with the Knighthawks.

  14. Saturday, April 9 on the road vs. Washington Stealth - Series tied 1-1
    This game starts at 10:30 pm Central, so get some sleep early in the day to get ready to watch. The Stealth have three top ten scorers in Rhys Duch, Lewis Ratcliff and Jeff Zyqicki that the Swarm will have to contend with. By this time, playoff positioning will be in vogue and a victory here could clinch a tiebreaker for the Swarm against the Stealth. Last year, Aaron Wilson scored a team record 40 goals and finished the season as Swarm captain during Cousins' absence. Wilson's work around the net will be needed again if the Swarm expect to improve. Kevin Croswell amde only one start last year and it was a victory over the Stealth at The Hive. He also relieved Patterson in the playoff game against the Stealth and did well there too.

  15. Saturday, April 16 at home vs. Philadelphia Wings - Series tied 7-7
    This will the first year that the Swarm will not play the Wings at least twice in a season but these games have either been close Swarm wins or huge Wings blowouts. Look for s Swarm close win here. The Wings are rebuilding with new coaches and GM for their 25th Anniversary and the rumor is that they may draft or entice via free agency, Eagan, Minnesota-born Ryan Hurley to play with the them and former Cornell teammmate Max Seibald. The potential here may be that this game could be the first ever NLL game that could have a Minneosta-born player playing against another Minnesota-born player, the Swarm's own Colin Achenbach.

  16. Saturday, April 23 at home vs. Colorado Mammoth - Mammoth lead series 5-2
    As with every NLL season, playoff positiong comes down to the last game of the season and this should be no exception. This is one of only two games in the last weekend of NLL action, so all eyes out West will be focused at The Hive. This is a game that could see someone that flies under the radar like Kevin Ross make the difference between starting the playoffs at home or on the road. The Mammoth will have the Gajic brohters (Nenad, Ilija and Alex) to counter the Swarm. The Swarm have won the last two games against the Mammoth after losing their first five to them.

    Playoffs

  1. Saturday, April 30 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 7 at home vs. TBA
    The Swarm should beat either Edmonton or Washington to advance to the Champions Cup.
  3. Saturday, May 14 at home vs. Some team in the East
    The Swarm win their first ever Champions Cup as they crush the Rock at The Hive.