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Saturday, February 20, 2010 - 7:30 pm CST
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| West | W | L | GB | +/- | East | W | L | GB | +/- | |
| Washington | 6 | 1 | - | 20 | Toronto | 6 | 2 | - | 36 | |
| Calgary | 3 | 3 | 2.5 | 6 | Orlando | 3 | 1 | 1.0 | 13 | |
| Edmonton | 3 | 3 | 2.5 | -14 | Rochester | 4 | 3 | 1.5 | -8 | |
| Colorado | 2 | 4 | 3.5 | -16 | Boston | 3 | 4 | 2.5 | -5 | |
| Minnesota | 2 | 4 | 3.5 | -7 | Buffalo | 2 | 5 | 3.5 | -11 | |
| Philadelphia | 1 | 5 | 4.0 | -14 |
| Minnesota | Overall | Home | Road | Home-2010 | Road-2010 |
| vs Colorado | 0-5 | 0-4 | 0-1 | 0-1 | |
| vs Colorado-Playoffs | |||||
| Total | 0-5 | 0-4 | 0-1 | 0-1 |
| 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) | |
| 41-Andrew Leyshon | 28-Tom Ethington | 48-Rich Catton | |
| 30-Chris Levis | 20-Bruce Murray | 5-David Morgan | |
| 24-Ryan McFadyen | |||
| 14-Steve Forsythe | |||
| 36-Chris McKay | |||
| Transition (Left) | Transition (Right) | Forward (Left) | Forward (Right) |
| 8-Nick Carlson | 19-Nenad Gajic | 9-Ilija Gajic | 6-Brian Langtry |
| 18-Brad Richardson | 85-Jamie Shewchuk | 91-Cory Conway | |
| 27-Cliff Smith | 7--Chad Culp | 33-Peter Veltman | |
| 1-Jed Prossner | 10-Alex Gajic | ||
| 25-Chris Gill | 77-Shawn Dhaliwal |
| GM & Head Coach | Assistant | Assistant | Assistant | Assistant |
| Steve Govett | Bob Hamley | Dan Perreault | Dan Pratt | Ward Sanderson |
When we last saw our local professional indoor lacrosse team, the Minnesota Swarm (2-4), there were many brilliant goals, smashing hits and especially good cheer in abundance amongst the blue and gold. The cause of that was the Swarm's crushing 16-12 victory over the now once beaten Washington Stealth last Saturday night at the X. To think the Swarm actually down 1-0 in early in the game, is quite unbelievable considering how well they played. The five straight goals to take the lead in the first quarter firmly established control of the game in the Swarm's favor for the rest of the night. The win ended the Swarm's three game losing streak and gave them a 2-1 home record for the 2010 season.
The only way to keep up that good cheer flowing is by beating the next victim or ,to be politically correct, the team that appears next in date order on the 2010 Minnesota Swarm schedule, the Colorado Mammoth (2-4). Both teams are tied for last in the West but the Mammoth hold the tiebreaker right now due to their 15-14 overtime win against the Swarm last month at the X. The teams meet this Saturday and the following Saturday in Denver and the Swarm need to win both games to win the three game season series. The problem for the Swarm is to figure out to be the prehistoric but young Mammoth who hold a 5-0 all-time series lead. We definitely proved last month and last weekend that we can put goals in the net at home but we will have to tighten up the transition defense which gave up goals to the likes of Tom Ethington (nine in seven seasons). The Swarm to a man will say they lost that game more so than the Mammoth won that game. The memory is still fresh in the team's mind and I am sure they will game plan to prevent those type of breakdowns.
The left side of the offense put together the best performance of the year. Tim Campeau got a career high four goals and Ryan Benesch is showing why they traded Ryan Ward to acquire him in the offseason with three goals and three assists. Add in a goal from Kevin Ross and it looks like the Swarm's left side is done shooting to get hot but is now shooting to stay hot.
Another week as The Goaltender Turns for the Minnesota Swarm. Who does Head Coach Mike Lines go with this weekend to start the game in net? Does he go back to Nick Patterson, who started the first five games this year, or does he ride the hot hand of Kevin Croswell, who in his first start of the season helped end the three game losing streak for the team. In the game last month, Patterson got the hook in the second quarter mainly due to Swarm deficiencies on transition defense. He never got back in as Croswell finished the game. I guess right now the buzz word is to keep the other team guessing up to the last possible moment.
The Mammoth enter this game on a two game losing streak and themselves are looking to turn their season around like it appears the Swarm may have last weekend. The Swarm will have to keep Jamie Shewchuk and Cory Conway in check who each got three and three in January against the them. Andrew Leyshon will probably start again in net but he is far from steady. The Mammoth have already played four goaltenders this year after acquiring Chris Levis a couple weeks ago. Former Swarm Chad Culp had his best game of the year against the Swarm last month with a goal and six assists; however, in his five other games he has only two goals and three assists.
The Swarm have increased the scoring at home by increments of two throughout the season. 12 against Calgary, 14 against Colorado and 16 against Washington. So it looks like 18 this weekend. The wins against Calgary and Washington were after the Swarm suffered losses to them. The Swarm learned from both of those losses and exacted vengeance. Expect the same again versus the Mammoth. The Mammoth showed their hand but they didn't get to see Benesch in action in January so that extra boost of lefthandedness should lead the Swarm to a two game winning streak.
This is the last home game for the Swarm until April 3. The break in between is much too long so unless you have the disposable income to burn, which yours truly does not have, you best get to Saturday's game to cheer the Swarm onto victory and to wish them the best success and good health as they embark on a four game road trip that will fill in the homeless void. So get to this weekend's game to give the boys a proper send off.
