- 08/28/14 - The 2015 Minnesota Swarm Schedule is Unveiled
The Minnesota Swarm announced their 2015 schedule for their eleventh season of play. They will open at The Hive on Saturday, January 3rd against the Colorado Mammoth. It will be the first time that the Swarm open the regular season at home since 2011 when they played the Rocheter Knighthawks on January 8th. The home opener on January 3rd is the earliest home opener in Swarm history beating the January 6th opener in 2006 against the Philadelphia Wings.
| Date |
Day |
Time |
H/A |
Opponent |
Location |
| 01/03/15 |
Saturday |
7:00 pm |
Home |
Colorado Mammoth |
The Hive |
| 01/10/15 |
Saturday |
8:00 pm |
Away |
Edmonton Rush |
Rexall Place |
| 01/24/15 |
Saturday |
6:00 pm |
Away |
Connecticut |
Mohegan Sun Arena |
| 01/30/15 |
Friday |
6:30 pm |
Away |
Buffalo Bandits |
First Niagara Center |
| 02/06/15 |
Friday |
7:30 pm |
Home |
Rochester Knighthawks |
The Hive |
| 02/13/15 |
Friday |
7:30 pm |
Home |
Toronto Rock |
The Hive |
| 02/14/15 |
Saturday |
6:00 pm |
Away |
Toronto Rock |
Air Canada Centre |
| 02/28/15 |
Saturday |
9:00 pm |
Away |
Vancouver Stealth |
Langley Events Centre |
| 03/14/15 |
Saturday |
7:00 pm |
Home |
Connecticut |
The Hive |
| 03/15/15 |
Sunday |
8:00 pm |
Away |
Colorado Mammoth |
Pepsi Center |
| 03/21/15 |
Saturday |
6:30 pm |
Away |
Buffalo Bandits |
First Niagara Center |
| 03/28/15 |
Saturday |
6:00 pm |
Away |
Connecticut |
Mohegan Sun Arena |
| 04/03/15 |
Friday |
7:30 pm |
Home |
Connecticut |
The Hive |
| 04/04/15 |
Saturday |
6:30 pm |
Away |
Rochester Knighthawks |
Blue Cross Arena |
| 04/11/15 |
Saturday |
7:00 pm |
Home |
Buffalo Bandits |
The Hive |
| 04/18/15 |
Saturday |
7:00 pm |
Home |
Calgary Roughnecks |
The Hive |
| 04/25/15 |
Saturday |
7:00 pm |
Home |
Edmonton Rush |
The Hive |
| 05/02/15 |
Saturday |
7:00 pm |
Home |
Rochester Knighthawks |
The Hive |
- 08/26/14 - Projected 2015 Minnesota Swarm Schedule
By the time the NLL schedule comes out, the Minnesota Swarm get the scraps leftover by the Minnesota Mild, the Minnesota State High School League, the WCHA, the World's Toughest
Rodeo and who knows what else at the Xcel Energy Center. So now I try to predict based on what is already taken and project your 2015 Minnesota Swarm Schedule. See at the link above what
I have come up with.
- 08/23/14 - Flint Wins MLL Steinfeld Cup
Cameron Flint has had a pretty good summer. First he won Gold with Team Canada at the World
Field Lacrosse Championships in Denver in July. Tonight, Flint won the 2014 MLL Steinfeld Cup with the Denver Outlaws as they beat
the Rochester Rattlers by a 12-11. Flint did not dress for the game but on the season he had 5 goals and 2 assists in 7 games.
- 08/21/14 - Downing Signs Up for 2015
Defenseman Greg Downing signed an one-year contract today with the Minnesota Swarm. Downing has been with the Swarm since being selected in the Boston Blazers Dispersal Draft on September 9, 2011. Downing has played 42 regular season games with the Swarm with 5 goals, 13 assists, 172 loose balls and 45 forced turnovers. Downing has played six NLL seasons, the first three with
the Boston Blazers, and in 87 games he has 10 goals, 41 assists, 446 loose balls and 56 forced turnvoers. Downing was given an qualifying offer by the Swarm on July 29, 2014 to avoid restricted free agency. After next year; however, Downing will be an unrestricted free agent under the new CBA rules.
- 08/20/14 - Swarm acquire O'Connor and pick from Rock for Sorensen
The Minnesota Swarm and the Toronto Rock made the following trade today:
The Minnesota Swarm get:
The Toronto Rock get:
- 08/16/14 - The MLL Steinfeld Cup Next Weekend - Who is Swarming?
The Denver Outlaws and the Rochester Rattlers will meet in the Steinfeld Cup next Saturday, August 23rd at 6:00 pm Central
in Atlanta, Georgia on CBS Sports Network. Jordan MacIntosh will be leading the Rattlers while
Cameron Flint will be representing the Outlaws. MacIntosh had one goal and two assists as the Rattlers
beat the Ohio Machine, 15-11. Logan Schuss had two goals and three assists for the Machine.
- 08/16/14 - Gillam Seeing a Specialist for His Knee Today
Josh Gillam is seeing a specialist today about the knee injury he suffered Thursday night in Game 1 of the
MSL Finals. Swarm Assistant Head Coach Bobby Keast, who also is assistant with the Peterborough Lakers, was
interviewed on today's "Peterborough's Lax Show" hosted by Scott Arnold on
Extra 90.5. Keast said that Gillam stuttered stepped and then hurt his knee. Keast says the
injury is not good and expects to hear back from Gillam later today for a better diagnosis.
- 08/14/14 - Gillam Injures Right Knee but Lakers Win, 9-7, to Start MSL Finals
Josh Gillam suffered a right knee injury midway through the first period of Game 1 of the Best of Seven
MSL Finals between the Peterborough Lakers and Six Nations Chiefs. Gillam collided with former Swarm
Jon Sullivan and went down holding his knee. He was attended to by a Lakers trainer for two to three minutes and
carried off by the trainer and Andrew Suitor. Not sure the extent of the injury but I
would imagine Gillam knew what happened immediately based on his experience as a fitness trainer.
- 08/13/14 - Swarm and Stealth Conjure Up Trade
The Minnesota Swarm and the Vancouver Stealth made the following trade today:
The Minnesota Swarm get:
- D Mike Grimes
- Third round pick in the 2016 NLL Entry Draft
The Vancouver Stealth get:
- 08/12/14 - Gilbert Returning to Bluer Pastures
Jeff Gilbert has found his way back to Toronto as the unrestricted free agent
signed a two-year contract to return to the Rock. The Swarm acquired Gilbert in a trade from the Rock on September 9, 2011 during the
Boston Blazers Dispersal Draft. Gilbert has been the Swarm assistant captain since 2013 but the lure of playing
close to home in Toronto and probably a better financial deal from the Rock outweighed anything the Swarm could
offer, if they ever did.
The Swarm defense took a huge hit with their leader gone. The most veteran defender left is
Greg Downing and the rest of defense has been in the league no more than four years.
Reid Acton looks to be Gilbert's replacement in 2015 and the Swarm may go defense
in the draft as they look at somebody like Robert Hope out of
Peterborough, Ontario, who plays for the hometown Senior Lakers.
- 08/10/14 - Alex Turner to the Mammoth
The National Lacrosse League tweeted today that recently
reacquired Alex Turner is now a member of the Colorado Mammoth. The Mammoth signed the
restricted free agent on August 6th which gave the Minnesota Swarm 72 hours to match. The Swarm did not match and Turner's
eleven day return, which began when he came to the team in a trade on July 29th from Edmonton, ends.
- 08/09/14 - Summer Playoffs In MLL for Swarm Players
The MLL playoffs begin with single game semifinals on Saturday, August 16th on CBS Sports Network.
The Steinfeld Cup will be on Saturday, August 23rd in Atlanta on CBS Sports Network at 6:00 pm Central.
- 08/08/14 - Houtby and Acton Re-Sign with Swarm
The Minnesota Swarm re-signed defenseman Jordan Houtby and
Reid Acton to one-year contracts. Both were 2013 draftees the Swarm. Houtby played in six games for the Swarm last year
and had two assists and scooped fifteen loose balls. Acton did not play this past season for the Swarm for job reasons but
according to Swarm Owner and General Manager John Arlotta, he expects Acton to come to camp to compete
for a spot on the 2015 roster. This summer, Houtby
plays for Brooklin in the MSL and Acton plays for Florida of the MLL. Acton was placed on the Hold Out List on December 16, 2013
and needs to be activated to the active roster to participate in training camp.
If players like Jeff Gilbert and Tyler Hass do not return, both Houtby
and Acton look to move up and take their spots. Both are younger, have great size and mean streaks needed on a Swarm defense
that struggled many times last year.
- 08/06/14 - Swarm on 72 Hour Turner Watch
The Colorado Mammoth offered restricted free agent F Alex Turner an contract to sign with their team for
the 2015 season. The Swarm now have 72 hours to match the Mammoth's offer. If they don't, Turner will go to Colorado. Turner was acquired
in a trade last week from Edmonton for a third round pick in the 2015 NLL Entry Draft. Considering the Swarm just got him, one would think
the Swarm would match but my hunch is the Mammoth's offer is one to high for the Swarm to match.
- 08/06/14 - Wings Now in Connecticut
The National Lacrosse League announced today that the Philadelphia Wings will move to Uncasville, CT to play at
the Mohegan Sun Arena beginning in the 2015 season. A name and logo for the new team in Connecticut will be announced later.
No social media or team website has been announced yet. All players from the Wings now belong to Connecticut.
A interesting note is that Swarm player David Earl grew up Simsbury, CT and lives in, which is just
over an hour away from Mohegan Sun. Earl is under contract but he may be some one that Connecticut may inquire about in a trade to
give the team a bit of experienced local talent.
- 08/03/14 - Summer Playoffs In Canada for Swarm Players
The playoffs for the Western Lacrosse Association (BC) and Major Series Lacrosse (ON) begin today to determine
who will go to the Mann Cup in early September which the MSL champions will host.
- 08/02/14 - In Lacrosse We Trust: Toronto, Buffalo Interested in Jeff Gilbert
- 08/01/14 -
In Lacrosse We Trust: Hass Trade in the Works; Minnesota Makeover Coming?
- 08/01/14 - 2015 Minnesota Swarm Contract Status Tracker
Keep up with player contracts for the Swarm leading up to the 2015 season. The permanent link can be found
on the Transactions page. As of the end of July, the Swarm had fourteen players under contract for the upcoming
season and beyond.
Starting today, unrestricted and restricted free agents can be signed to contracts for the 2015 season and beyond.
The Swarm have the following free agents:
The entire list of free agents in the NLL can be found here.
An interesting possiblity for Swarm fans is that former Swarm and current Twin Cities resident
Sean Pollock is an unrestricted free agency. The lure of playing at home
with his new family is powerful and he is the just the type of grinder the Swarm need on offense. However,
the end for Pollock for the Swarm was not best as he just set picks in his last year in 2011 and was traded unexpectedly
in September of that year. In addition, his last three years in Colorado have gone well for Pollock as he has been a
solid contributor on offense for the Mammoth and the support that franchise gave him concerning his wife's cancer treatment
was simply fantastic. So basically, Pollock's decision comes down to play at home with the Swarm or play
with a team that has treated him very well the past three years, the Mammoth.
