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Sunday, January 10, 2010 - 4:00 pm CST
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| West | W | L | GB | +/- | East | W | L | GB | +/- | |
| Washington | 1 | 0 | - | 9 | Toronto | 1 | 0 | - | 10 | |
| Minnesota | 0 | 0 | 0.5 | 0 | Orlando | 1 | 0 | - | 5 | |
| Calgary | 0 | 0 | 0.5 | 0 | Rochester | 1 | 0 | - | 5 | |
| Edmonton | 0 | 0 | 0.5 | 0 | Philadelphia | 0 | 1 | 1.0 | -5 | |
| Colorado | 0 | 1 | 1.0 | -9 | Buffalo | 0 | 1 | 1.0 | -5 | |
| Boston | 0 | 1 | 1.0 | -10 |
| Minnesota | Overall | Home | Road | Home-2009 | Road-2009 |
| vs Calgary | 1-3 | 0-1 | 1-2 | 0-1 | 0-1 |
| vs Calgary-Playoffs | |||||
| Total | 1-3 | 0-1 | 1-2 | 0-1 | 0-1 |
| Roster | Picture Roster | Stats |
| Goaltenders | Defense (Left) | Defense (Right) | Forwards (Left) | Forwards (Right) |
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| General Manager | Head Coach | Assistant | Assistant |
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| Roster | Picture Roster | Stats |
| Goaltenders | Defense (Left) | Defense (Right) | |
| 30-Matt King | 14-Jeff Moleski | 37-Andrew McBride | |
| 33-Chris Levis | 26-Craig Gelsvik | 20-Bruce Codd | |
| 55-Michael Kilby | |||
| 16-Mike Carnegie | |||
| 24-Scott Carnegie | |||
| 80-Peter McFetridge | |||
| 15-Rob Kirkby | |||
| 10-Curtis Manning | |||
| Transition (Left) | Transition (Right) | Forward (Left) | Forward (Right) |
| 7-Rob Van Beek | 4-Devan Wray | 19-Josh Sanderson | 17-Tracey Kelusky |
| 40-Nolan Heavenor | 44-Dane Dobbie | 9-Kaleb Toth | |
| 77-Jeff Shattler | 71-Scott Ranger | ||
| 28-Carlton Schuss | 8-Craig Conn |
| President & General Manager | Head Coach | Assistant | Assistant |
| Brad Bannister | Dave Pym | Rod Jensen | Curt Malawsky |
It sure was a lot warmer when yours and mine favorite local professional indoor lacrosse team, the Minnesota Swarm, last played a meaningful game on April 18, 2009, when the Swarm lost their regular season final at the Xcel Energy Center against the New York Titans. The months in between have passed by extremely slowly to get to where we are now, on the precipice of the start of the regular season.
The schedule makers in the National Lacrosse League office have arranged quite a challenge for the newest regular season opener for the Swarm as they will go to Calgary to face the defending 2009 NLL Champions, the Roughnecks. In this game, the Swarm and their fans will definitely get a fantastic first test to see how well the 2010 Minnesota Swarm have retooled to avenge the not so stellar 2009 Minnesota Swarm season.
The Swarm in the past few months have brought in new young stars like Zack Greer and experienced NLL veterans like Scott Self to energize the team, to re-orientate the team after they went slightly astray. The team also has a new coaching staff led by Mike Lines, who was promoted from his assistant position to replace Duane Jacobs. Players like Ryan Ward, Chad Culp and Kevin Fines have been traded away and replaced by the likes of Callum Crawford, Ryan Benesch and Jay Thorimbert. Other new players include Richard Morgan, Sean Thomson and Tim Campeau. Altogether, the Swarm brought in some new offense and some new defense to give a boost to both sides of the ball.
The Swarm, like every team can dress eighteen players, two of which are usually goaltenders, so who look to be the starting eighteen this weekend. Look for Nick Patterson getting the start in net over Kevin Croswell. Thorimbert will probably get the majority of the face off chances against Devan Wray and Nolan Heavenor of the Roughnecks. Eric Pacey should make a return to the line up after missing nearly the last half of last season due to injury. Morgan was hurt in the last pre-season game against Colorado but probably will get a start. Expect Andrew Watt to be given more time to recover from injury inflicted in the same game. The Swarm coaching staff hope that their offense as listed below will be able to add more punch to the power play and be more on target. Greer will definitely get attention as the big time rookie but expect the offense to go through Sean Pollock and Aaron Wilson with Benesch directing the traffic. With this being a Sunday afternoon game, both teams especially the Swarm, may juggle the line up due to work commitments.
Goal
Defense
Offense (Righties)
Offense (Lefties)
Calgary comes off quite a successful past season as NLL champions. They only played 21 players last year and did not have one player placed on injured reserve or acquired a player during the season. Even so, the Roughnecks did bring in some new blood like Craig Conn and Rob Van Beek. The Roughnecks captain, Tracey Kelusky, is presently on the physically unable to perform list, but the perennial all-star is expected to be activated to the active roster by game time. He will join up with the best playmaker in the league in Josh Sanderson to provide a deadly one-two punch to the Necks offense. Keep an eye on Dane Dobbie, who scored four goals for the Necks against the Swarm in their last match up on March 28, 2009, a 13-10 Calgary win at the X. Matt King should get the start in net for the Roughnecks. The defense will be lead by Andrew McBride and Jeff Moleski, both of which were highly considered for 2009 NLL Defensive Player of the Year. After winning the championship last year, Head Coach Troy Cordingley went to Toronto along with top assistant Terry Sanderson, who became Rock GM. He is replaced by Dave Pym, who like Lines was promoted from an assistant position with Calgary. Also like Lines, this is Pym's first NLL Head Coaching gig.
Minnesota has lost three straight to Calgary including twice last season in their first year of play in the West Division by scores of 13-8 in Calgary and 13-10 in Minnesota. Swarm General Manager Marty O'Neill believes the Swarm have a better offensive unit to combat the Roughnecks strong defense. Hopefully with Self teaming up with Ryan Cousins on defense will offset Sanderson and Kelusky. It may come down to coaching, as both teams have new head coaches and all new assistants. Which staff will adjust to the limelight of the NLL regular season faster? The game may be decided on which rookie head coach makes the best decisions at the end of the game. Will it be Lines or Pym? We will find out. In a game that I see leaning more towards a defensive battle, look for the Swarm offense to capitalize on power play opportunities that were missed last year and squeak out an one goal win. Remember, to watch the game on Channel 45 so you can have an idea of what to expect at the home opener on January 15, when the Swarm host the Roughnecks.
