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Saturday, January 30, 2010 - 6:30 pm CST
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| West | W | L | GB | +/- | East | W | L | GB | +/- | |
| Washington | 4 | 0 | - | 20 | Toronto | 3 | 0 | - | 25 | |
| Edmonton | 2 | 1 | 1.5 | -3 | Orlando | 2 | 1 | 1.0 | 6 | |
| Colorado | 2 | 2 | 2.0 | -8 | Rochester | 2 | 2 | 1.5 | -12 | |
| Calgary | 1 | 2 | 2.5 | 2 | Philadelphia | 1 | 2 | 2.0 | -2 | |
| Minnesota | 1 | 2 | 2.5 | -4 | Boston | 1 | 3 | 2.5 | -11 | |
| Buffalo | 0 | 4 | 3.5 | -13 |
| Minnesota | Overall | Home | Road | Home (2009) | Road (2009) |
| vs Buffalo | 2-10 | 0-5 | 2-5 | 0-1 | 1-0 |
| vs Buffalo-Playoffs | 0-2 | 0-2 | |||
| Total | 2-12 | 0-5 | 2-7 | 0-1 | 1-0 |
| Numerical 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) | Forward (Left) | Forward (Right) |
| 29-Ken Montour | 3-Billy Dee Smith | 6-Chris White | 81-Roger Vyse | 9-Mark Steenhuis |
| 55-Angus Goodleaf | 15-Chris Corbeil | 63-Thomas Montour | 19-Sean Greenhalgh | 44-Mike Accursi |
| 2-Ian Llord | 93-Chris Driscoll | 84-Brandon Francis | 26-Brett Bucktooth | |
| 91-Darryl Gibson | 23-Steve Priolo | 51-Kevin Dostie | 5-Frank Resetarits | |
| 24-Kyle Schmelzle | 22-Kyle Clancy | 7-Jon Harasym | ||
| 14-Joe Smith | 11-John Tavares |
| General Manager | Head Coach | Assistant | Assistant | Assistant | Assistant | |
| Derek Graham | Darris Kilgour | Chuck Brown | Ron Henry | Duane Jacobs | Emmett Printup |
Difference between second place and fifth (last) place is just one goal. The Minnesota Swarm (1-2) didn't get that goal last Friday at home against the Colorado Mammoth and right now are looking up at the rest of the West Division. This Saturday they play the team looking up at the rest of the East Division, the Buffalo Bandits (0-4) at HSBC Arena in Buffalo at 6:30 pm CST.
This Toilet Bowl Tussle was definitely not expected when the schedule came out in September but right now both teams would be flushed right out of the playoffs if the season were to end. The Swarm acquired players this past offseason that were to help keep the team out of this situation. The Bandits have not missed the playoffs since 2002 and were in the East Division Championship game last season. So they have now put themselves in a early must win game.
The Swarm have definitely shown improvement this year. Nick Patterson (1-1 12.17 GAA .743 Sv%) has had a pretty good start to the season in net, notwithstanding last week's game where the transition game left him hung out to dry. He has had his struggles in his career against the Bandits, but he has earned the start for his play this year.
After three games this season, it's not Sean Pollock (2g 6a), Aaron Wilson (8g 6a) or Zack Greer (3g 7a) leading Minnesota in scoring it is journeyman Callum Crawford (4g 11a), who is with his fifth team in five years. Crawford has good size and does not fear treading to the net to score. He scored a career high eight points last week against Colorado and his scoring has increased from game to game to game this year.
Andrew Watt (4g 1a) may be the Swarm's best player this year. He has done just about everything this year. He goes after loose balls like something fierce, which you don't always see enough with the team. He has provided the team with big goals this year and for a guy drafted to be an offensive player, he probably is the Swarm's best two way player.
Look for both Kevin Buchanan and Nick Inch to get game action this week for the first time. This being a Saturday game, work won't be an issue for Buchanan. With Inch, we have all-star from last year now ready to go to give the defense a bit of a different look and a sense of urgency especially getting on the floor quicker defending the opponent's transition.
Ryan Benesch (2g 5a) should return to the lineup after missing the last game due to the flu. That should help out the power play. A little more motivation for Benesch is that he will be celebrating his 25th Birthday on Saturday night at the game.
The Bandits are struggling this year, which was quite a story in the NLL. The struggling may come down to one player who isn't playing. That player is John Tavares and he is the NLL's all-time leader in goals, assists and points. Injured to start this season and expected to miss this game also, Tavares has been the star of the Bandits since they joined the league in 1992. In fourteen games against the Swarm, Tavares has scored 34 goals and 54 assists including three game winning goals. Without Tavares, the Bandits don't have Old Faithful to rely on to get the big goal, to force a turnover with a forecheck or to run the offense. Only one player even has ten or more points after four games for the Bandits and that is Mark Steenhuis with ten goals and eight assists.
Swarm fans will recognize a familiar face on the Bandits bench as former Head Coach Duane Jacobs is now an assistant with the Bandits. The Bandits back up goaltender is Angus Goodleaf (0-0 10.46 GAA .739 Save%) who the Swarm drafted in 2007 and was their practice goaltender in 2008.
The Swarm have played the Bandits the most times in their history as they will meet for the fifteen time, which includes two playoff losses for the Swarm in 2006 and 2007. The series has been one sided with the Bandits holding a 12-2 advantage but the Swarm won the last time these two teams played which was a 16-15 victory on February 28, 2009 in Buffalo. With the Bandits struggling without Tavares, this is a prime opportunity for a victory in Buffalo. This is a game where the defense should be able to shine, especially if they contain Steenhuis. The possible addition of Buchanan to the offense should continue to keep the goal count up for the team. Even with a near capacity crowd in Buffalo for the Bandits second home game of the season to cheer their team on to their first victory, look for the Swarm to win a low scoring match up against their former East Division rival.
