Champion’s Cup Match-Up Decided

Both teams came out firing to start the East Division final, combining for eleven goals in the first quarter. Buffalo opened the game with two straight goals and led 3-1 (on two short-handed goals) before Rochester scored four straight goals to take the lead. Rochester held that lead until 2:42 into the second quarter when Mark Steenhuis tied the game. Buffalo then went on to take the lead at 4:22 and by halftime, the lead had grown to two.

Buffalo expanded their lead to three going into the last quarter. Rochester seemed to take over in the fourth quarter, peppering Mike Thompson, and came back to tie the game with less than three minutes remaining. Mike Accursi’s fifth goal of the game gave Rochester the lead at 12:37 of the quarter. On the other end of the field, Rochester’s defence only allowed Buffalo to get eight shots on Pat O’Toole in the fourth quarter. Less than a minute after Rochester went ahead, Delby Powless scored his lone goal of the game for Buffalo to force overtime. Twenty-six seconds of overtime was all that was needed as John Grant Jr. beat Thompson to give Rochester the 14-13 victory.

Mike Accursi led the goal scoring for Rochester with five goals while his teammates, Scott Evans and John Grant Jr. each scored a hat trick. Mike Accursi also added two assists in the game to lead in points with seven. Scott Evans (3G, 3A) and Shawn Williams (1G, 5A) had six points. For Buffalo, five players scored two goals while John Tavares (2G, 3A) and Kevin Dostie (2G, 3A) again led the team in points with five. Pat O’Toole made 43 saves for the win while Mike Thompson made 52 saves in the loss.
In the West Division final, Arizona took control of the game early and held on for the win. Arizona scored first and after San Jose tied the game, they went on to score six straight goals to take a 7-1 lead into the half. Entering halftime there was only one way for San Jose’s game to go, and they did not disappoint. San Jose took over in the second half outscoring Arizona but could not quite make up the six-goal deficit they found themselves in after the first half. Final score Arizona 9, San Jose 7.

Rob Blasdell, Arizona’s goaltender, kept San Jose scoreless for about twenty-five minutes from the first quarter until the third quarter and made 44 saves in the win. Leading the charge offensively for Arizona was Dan Dawson (2G, 3A) and Craig Conn (1G, 4A) with five points each. For San Jose, Gary Rosyski (4G, 3A) and Colin Doyle (6A) were the most successful players offensively with seven points and six points respectively. Anthony Cosmo did not fare too well in net for San Jose making only 28 saves in the loss.
With the win, Arizona will travel to Rochester to challenge the best team in the league on May 12.

The Division Finals

With the first round over, we now look forward to the second round: the Division finals. The East Division will be the first division to be decided as the Buffalo Bandits travel to Rochester Friday night to face the Knighthawks. The West Division will be decided the next night as the San Jose Stealth challenge the Sting in Arizona. The two winners of this weekend’s games with meet on May 12 to battle it out for the Champion’s Cup in a one game showdown.

The East Division Final

The advantage for this match-up lies with the Rochester Knighthawks, who finished the season with a perfect 8-0 record in the Blue Cross Arena and currently have a twelve game winning streak at home, including last weekend’s first round playoff game. Their last loss at home was on March 18, 2006 when they lost to the Buffalo Bandits in overtime. Rochester had the most potent offence this season with 249 goals, including a league high 67 power play goals and a league high 23 short-handed goals. Two of the top five goal scorers and two of the top five in points were Knighthawks, including John Grant Jr. the leader in both categories. As a team, Rochester is 70-25 all time in front of their home crowd with a 14-5 all-time record at home versus the Bandits. Rochester also leads the all time head-to-head match up 23-14.

After losing both games on the last weekend of the season to the Knighthawks, Buffalo is going to be looking for some revenge. With their starting goalie unlikely to start due to an injury suffered in a game on April 13, Buffalo’s chances may lie on backup goaltender Mike Thompson. Thompson has proven he can play in this league as he shut out the Swarm in the second half of last weekend’s first round playoff game to go along with the five wins he earned during the regular season. For Buffalo to win, they will need Tavares to continue to play the role of leader and the defence to hold the Knighthawks to ten goals or less.

This is a key game for both teams, as it will decide not only who will go to the cup final from the East, but also where the final will be played. Buffalo wants nothing more than to avenge their loss in the finals last year at home by winning the cup this year in front of their fans. A win in Rochester will give them that chance. This game has the making of a classic and if Buffalo can play a full game to their potential, they have the ability to beat Rochester. Rochester looks to win only their second championship despite making the playoffs every season since their inception into the league, losing five times in the championship game (the most losses in the championship game).

The West Division Final

In the West, San Jose has a tough road ahead. They already beat the Mammoth in Colorado, their first ever win in the Pepsi Center, and now travel to Arizona on Saturday night where they have only one victory in five visits. Colin Doyle, the best big game player in the league, is hoping to lead the young Stealth to their first Championship game appearance since moving to San Jose from Albany for the 2003 season. San Jose has the number one goalie from the regular season in both goals against average (10.22) and save percentage (79.2%) in Anthony Cosmo. Cosmo stumbled early in their first round playoff game but recovered by the second half where he kept Colorado to three goals. This team proved they can play against the big teams when they beat the best from the West in the first round, the only question remains is if they can continue their winning ways for two more games with the amount of travel they will have to endure?

Arizona stumbled into the playoffs, losing three straight to end the season, but recovered in the first round to beat the Calgary Roughnecks. Arizona beat San Jose in both of the head-to-head match ups this season, is 4-1 all time at home against the Stealth, and have a 7-3 all-time record versus San Jose. Arizona won their only other playoff game at home, beating Colorado in 2005, and has a 4-2 record all-time in the playoffs. Leading the way offensively for the Sting is Dan Dawson, the number two point getter and the number 3 goal scorer in the regular season this year. They have a roster full of guys who can score so they do not rely solely on any one player thus, making it hard for teams to defend against them. Arizona’s goaltender, Rob Blasdell, finished the regular season with the second best goals against average with 10.94 but only the ninth best save percentage at 76.1%. Arizona definitely has what it takes to win but every player needs to show up and play hard for a full sixty minutes if they hope to go on to the Champion’s Cup final.

Both teams finished the season with a 9-7 record but they achieved them differently. Arizona seemed to ease up once they secured a playoff spot while San Jose made it to the post season by winning. Arizona comes in to the game as the favourite, at least on paper, while San Jose is seen as the underdog in these playoffs. Arizona relies on a team game where anyone can score from anywhere while San Jose relies on a few players to score and solid goaltending from Cosmo. As mentioned, San Jose’s offence relies primarily on four players, Doyle, Rosyski, Wiles and Zywicki, if they are kept off the scoreboard then more pressure will be put on Cosmo to shut down Arizona’s multi-pronged attack. This should be a close game featuring the two best goaltenders in the regular season this year. No matter which team wins this game, they will make for a tough opponent for the East Division finalist and will make the cup final interesting.

My picks:

Rochester over Buffalo
San Jose over Arizona

To the Victor Goes the Spoils

The first game in the 2007 NLL Playoffs went as predicted: Rochester defeated Toronto by a score of 10-6 in front of 7,003 fans at the Blue Cross Arena. Toronto stayed in the game into the fourth quarter thanks mainly to the strong performance of Bob Watson who stopped 50 of 58 shots. On offence, Toronto was lead by rookie sensation Ryan Benesch (my vote for rookie of the year honours) who scored three (3) goals and Aaron Wilson with three (3) assists. On the other side of the floor, Rochester’s offence was lead by Shawn Williams with seven (7) points (2G, 5A), Scott Evans with four (4) assists and Mike Accursi who scored a hat trick. Pat O’Toole was also solid in net stopping 46 of 52 shots. Rochester will continue their run for the Champion’s Cup Friday April 27 against the Buffalo Bandits in the East Division final.

In the first game Saturday night, Colorado came out of the gates firing and had a 7-3 lead after the first quarter. It looked like Colorado might run away with the game but San Jose shook off their first quarter jitters to reduce Colorado’s lead to three by halftime. It took only 1:16 of the third quarter for San Jose to get to within one goal and Jeff Zywicki tied the game late in the quarter. At the end of regulation, this game was tied at 14 and became the first overtime game of these playoffs. In the overtime, San Jose killed off an early penalty before Jeff Zywicki netted the winner over ten minutes in to defeat the defending champions and give San Jose their first ever win at the Pepsi Center. Colin Doyle led the San Jose attack with ten points (1G, 9A) while his team mates Jeff Zywicki scored seven goals for eight points and Gary Rosyski tallied seven points on two goals and five assists. In the loss, Brian Langtry and Jamie Shewchuk led Colorado with five points on three goals and two assists each. San Jose will travel to Arizona Saturday for the West Division final.

In the second game Saturday night, the two teams battled hard and ended the first quarter in a three-three tie. It looked like Arizona was starting to take control early in the second quarter with four goals in the first five minutes but Calgary hung in there and clawed back to even early in the third quarter. Arizona finally did take control of the game early in the last quarter by scoring two quick goals to extend their lead by four. Arizona held Calgary scoreless for the last quarter and coasted to only their second victory ever at the Saddledome. Dan Dawson (5 points) and Curt Malawsky ( 4 points) each scored a hat trick to lead in goals scored for Arizona while Derek Malawsky (2G, 4A) and Craig Conn (1G, 5A) led Arizona in points with six apiece. Scott Self also had a five-point night for Arizona with two goals and three assists. Tracey Kelusky (3G, 1A) and Jeff Shattler (4A) led the attack for Calgary. Arizona will host San Jose Saturday to determine the Champion’s Cup representative from the West Division.

In a repeat of last years first round match up, Minnesota came out strong by scoring the first four goals of the game. Buffalo woke up halfway through the period and got on the board with a goal by Pat McCready. Buffalo was able to lull Minnesota to sleep and they ended the first quarter tied at four. Amidst the sloppy play, Minnesota was able to head into halftime with a disappointing 8-7 lead on an empty net goal late in the half. The sloppy play continued into the second half but Buffalo was able to score three goals to take the lead. Buffalo really came alive in the fourth quarter playing tight defence and solid offence, scoring another four unanswered goals. After some first quarter nerves, Mike Thompson settled down, allowed three more goals in the second quarter then shut the door in the second half of the game. John Tavares came alive in the second half of the game to lead the Bandits in scoring along with Kevin Dostie with three goals and two assists each. Clay Hill and Delby Powless also had solid offensive games for Buffalo with 4 points each, one goal and 2 assists for both players. Minnesota’s offence was well spread out, maybe too well, as the leader, Ryan Sharp, only had three points (1G, 2A). Four other players for Minnesota had two points, including the goaltender, Nick Patterson. The Bandits will need another solid outing by Mike Thompson in the East Divisional final Friday in Rochester if they are to make it to the Champion’s Cup Final on May 12.

The NLL playoffs now come down to four teams, Rochester and Buffalo in the East and Arizona and San Jose in the West. Due to the better records in the regular season, the winner of the East Division final will also host the Champion’s Cup final. Rochester is still the favourite but San Jose has proven that any team can win on any given night so the Champion’s Cup is still for the taking.

2007 IIHF U18 Championship

The 2007 IIHF Under 18 Championship concluded this past weekend with Russia beating USA 6-5 in the gold medal game and Sweden embarrassing Canada 8-3 in the broze medal game.

Here are the final rankings of the tournament:

1. Russia
2. USA
3. Sweden
4. Canada
5. Slovakia
6. Switzerland
7. Finland
8. Germany
9. Czech Republic
10. Latvia

As a result of these results, Czech Republic and Latvia are relegated to the 2008 IIHF World U18 Championship Div I.

The Lowly Jays

The past five days have not be good to the Toronto Blue Jays. After starting the season 8-5 and leading the AL East for a short period in that stretch, the Jays have lost their last five games. With some close games lost in the late innings by the bullpen, many people are putting the blame solely on the pitching staff while not much has been said about the hitting, or lack thereof.

The 2007 Blue Jays have been designed to be an offence minded team, with a mediocre pitching staff at best. With a few exceptions, the pitching has not been great but it has not been that bad either, it has been what was expected. What was not expected was the underachieving offence. During the recent slide, the offence has only generated 13 runs, which is only an average of 2.6 runs per game while the pitching staff has only given up 26 runs, an average of 5.2 runs per game. Out of those 26 runs, 19 were charged to the starters and out of those 19 runs, only 5 were inherited runs allowed to score by the bullpen. That still leaves 14 runs directly given up by the starters, one run more than the offence scored in that period.

Some may argue that by averaging out the five games like this, I am not taking into account of the situations the relievers faced. I fully admit that myself; however, general statistics also deal with performance over a period and do not take into account the situational aspects. My purpose here is to generally show that no one cog is solely responsible for the Jays recent performance and that the entire team is playing below expectations and ability.

When one looks at the numbers this way, it shows that the pitching has kept the Jays in a position to win these games; the offence is the hindrance to the team’s success. Scoring only 2.6 runs per game are not going to win too many games in the bigs. On the positive side, the Jays hitters are too good to be this bad for long. They will inevitably break out of this team slump and when they do, the rest of the league had better be ready. As long as the relievers ERA can remain at or below 4.00 (the relievers currently have a 3.48 ERA; 2.66 ERA with B.J. Ryan's stats omitted), the Jays still have a chance at the playoffs. If they do not make it to the postseason, they should at least be very entertaining to watch once the team turns things around.

As a side note: the Jays starters currently have a 4.49 ERA. I do not think it is the bullpen that is really hurting the Jays right now.

*All figures were calculated using information provided on mlb.com and bluejays.com

NLL Playoffs Begin

Today begins the 2007 NLL playoffs as the Toronto Rock travel to Rochester to play the league best Knighthawks. Historically, the Toronto franchise has performed poorly in Rochester, having just one win at Blue Cross Arena in 14 visits (one visit in 1998 as the Ontario Raiders and 13 more as the Toronto Rock). On the positive side, the only victory for the Rock in Rochester came in the championship game in 2003. This year Rochester beat Toronto in both games they met. Providing Toronto gets solid goaltending from Bob Watson, they should stay in this game until the fourth quarter. In the end, Rochester’s potent offensive attack (league best 249 team goals) of Scott Evans (87 points), Shawn Williams (91 points) and John Grant Jr. (league leader with 111 points) will be too much for Toronto and Rochester will win by four or more goals.

Two more games are to be played Saturday night as Colorado hosts San Jose and Calgary hosts Arizona. Colorado and San Jose split their meetings this year with both teams winning at home. Colorado is the defending champions and has one of the best players in the league in Gavin Prout 89 points this year). Supporting Prout is a list of players including Dan Carey (76 points), Brian Langtry (67 points) and Jamie Shewchuk (53 points) to name a few. San Jose should not be overlooked as they also have a solid scoring punch with Luke Wiles (82 points), Colin Doyle (81 points), Gary Rosyski (76 points) and Jeff Zywicki (70 points). This game should be close to the end but Colorado has more depth than San Jose and they definitely know what it takes to win the cup so they will prevail. History is also on their side as San Jose has yet to win in the Pepsi Center (0-6 all-time in Colorado).

Calgary and Arizona are evenly matched as they both finished with a 9-7 record in 2007. Each team relies heavily on three main players: Dan Dawson (second this year in scoring with 107 points), Craig Conn (76 points) and Lindsay Plunkett (66 points) for Arizona, and Lewis Ratcliff (third this year in scoring with 104 points), Tracey Kelusky (88 points) and Kaleb Toth (75 points) for Calgary. Calgary had a disappointing season, in which they had a coaching change, and will be looking to redeem themselves in the playoffs. Calgary won the season series 2-1, winning one game at home and one game in Arizona. Arizona has only one win in six visits to the Saddledome but that one win was in the semi-final game in 2005, the year Arizona made it to the Champion's Cup final in Toronto. Calgary is on a two game winning streak (one of those wins was against Arizona) while Arizona is on a three game losing streak. This game should be a nail-biter until the end but I think Calgary will pull it off in front of their home crowd.

The first round of the playoffs will finish up on Sunday when the Buffalo Bandits host the Minnesota Swarm. Buffalo won both season match-ups versus the Swarm this season but Minnesota is hungry for their first playoff win in team history. Historically Buffalo has dominated Minnesota having lost only once to Minnesota in nine tries including a win last year in the first round of the playoffs in Minnesota’s first ever playoff appearance. Minnesota is led by Ryan Ward (75 points), Sean Pollock (67 points) and Dean Hill (53 points) while Buffalo is led by the legendary John Tavares (103 points), Kevin Dostie (62 points), Dan Teat (50 points), Mark Steenhuis (49 points) and Cory Bomberry (49 points). Buffalo will be without their number one goaltender as Steve Dietrich suffered an injury during a game April 13 but that should not be a big factor in the game. Minnesota will come out running and will make this game interesting but I think Buffalo will come out on top in this one.

The second round of the playoffs will be played next weekend (April 27 to April 29) with the Champion’s Cup Final being played on May 12. The winner of the Rochester/Toronto game will play the winner of the Buffalo/Minnesota game while the winner of the Colorado/San Jose game will face the winner of the Calgary/Arizona game. In this league, any team can win on any night and with only one game per round, the NLL playoffs are sure to be exciting.

*Photo originally posted on NLL.com

Dumb Baseball

The Toronto Blue Jays are not going to be playing baseball come October if they continue on their path of stupidity. In the top of the eighth inning of today’s game against the division leading Red Sox, Roy Halladay, who was well on his way to his third win of the season, was yanked from the ballgame by his manager only to watch from the bench as his two run lead evaporated with one swing of the bat.

Playing a team like the Red Sox, losing a close game is understandable; however, today’s game should have ended with a different result. Throughout Halladay’s career, the Blue Jays bullpen has continually cost him wins but the managers continue to pull him in close games when he is pitching well. When will these managers learn? I am sure Halladay would prefer to remain in these games and lose them himself than to sit on the bench and watch the bullpen fumble the lead away.

Today’s game was exactly how J.P. has pictured things I am sure. Having Halladay (or any other starter) pitch into the eighth or even the ninth inning and then bring BJ Ryan in to close out the game. Unfortunately, BJ was unable to pitch today so Gibbons decided to try to get fancy instead of just leaving Halladay in to finish the inning/game. When Scott Downs got David Ortiz to chase a pitch for the strikeout I thought things would work out fine after all. Walk Manny Ramirez, one of the most dangerous hitters in the American League even when he is hitting below .200, and go after the next batter, which happened to be JD Drew. To the detriment of Halladay and the Blue Jays, that was not Gibbons plan.

Gibbons decided to try to pitch to Manny. Even though Manny has not been hitting well so far this year, I still would have given him a free pass even if the guy behind him was hitting over .300. Once the count got to 2-0 on Manny I thought for sure they would just finish the walk and start fresh with the next batter but of course that didn’t happen and Marcum served up a nice steak dinner and Manny ate it up for a two run homerun to tie the game. The bullpen still might have given up the runs and lost Halladay the win but it would not have been Manny that did the damage. Is not one of the cardinal rules of any sport: not to get beat by the other teams best player?

Losing to a team that historically finishes higher in the standings is not a good practice to get into if the Jays are serious about a playoff appearance. Playoff teams play smart baseball throughout the year and not just down the stretch.

Why the Delay?

An event occurred in the Bandits vs. Knighthawks lacrosse game Saturday night that perhaps irritates me most about referees. Unfortunately, this event occurred several days ago so I might not have the player right but I believe this occurred near the end of the second quarter. A Rochester player was running with the ball and a Buffalo player (Brett Bucktooth I think) gave him a wicked two-handed slash to the legs as if he was trying to cut down a century old tree with one swipe. To my surprise, no penalty was going to be called, that is until the Rochester player fell to the floor. The incident occurred at the ball so the ref had to have been watching so why did it take the player falling down for the penalty to be called?

In the occurrence described above, the play should have resulted in a penalty but I have witnessed several other occasions, in lacrosse but mostly in hockey, where there should not have been a penalty but one was called because the player was injured or acted as such. Many of these instances in hockey occur close to the boards and include an awkward fall of some sort while an opposing player is closing in. On rare occasions, the penalized player does not even touch the injured player at all. Hey refs, if the play does not warrant a penalty or you are not watching the play, do not call a penalty solely based on the players’ reaction; most athletes dabble in the dramatic arts during the off-season and know how to act hurt.

Another variation of this type of ignorance includes the basketball style skirmishes behind the play. Unless the punch, slash, or shove is even seen or if they are intended to cause injury, there is no need to stop the game to call a penalty. I have seen some officials allow play to continue by skating between players to encourage their separation. If the skirmish begins to escalate into something more aggressive, then by all means call a penalty but quit giving penalties on hits or slashes by players who hit their teammates harder in celebration of a goal.

While I am on the subject of bad officiating, it seems NHL’s priorities need to be adjusted in respect to the types of penalties called. The focus this year, and in the recent past, seems to be on the ‘small stuff’ that happens behind the play while almost entirely ignoring the head shots and hits from behind. It is time for the NHL to protect its assets, all of their assets and not just the stars, and put an end to head hunting and hits from behind. Referees seem to give two minute boarding penalties instead of five minute checking from behind penalties and charging penalties instead of boarding. It is time for this practice to end and a check from behind should be penalized as such. Unfortunately, it is going to take a player like Sidney Crosby to be killed on the ice before the NHL takes illegal hits seriously.

One further thing that I think the NHL needs to do better is to protect the goalies. In the limited amount of hockey I have subjected myself to this year, I have seen the goalies being abused with no repercussions. I think the NHL needs to implement rules similar to the NLL of previous years; any contact of the goalie by the opposing team while the goalie is in the crease is a penalty. I felt the rule in the NLL was a little ridiculous but I think it is exactly what the NHL needs for the goalies to get some respect back.

Tavares Falls Short

History will have to wait one more year for John Tavares. With only one goal in each of the last two games Tavares played in, he is still six goals away from taking the all-time lead in goals scored in the NLL. With any luck, the Bandits schedule next year will be favourable to allow John to break the record on home turf in front of his fans. They definately deserve it. Even without breaking the all-time record, Tavares still had a great year with 42 goals and 61 assists for 103 points. This point total was good for fourth overall in the league this year.

The playoffs start this coming weekend and the Bandits play Sunday afternoon at home at the HSBC arena where they will host the Minnesota Swarm. Buffalo beat Minnesota both games they played this year, 22-13 in Buffalo early in the season and then 16-15 in Minnesota at the beginning of March. The winner of this game will likely face the Rochester Knighthawks (the best team in the NLL this year) in Rochester the following weekend. Rochester, at 14-2, will host the Toronto Rock, 6-10, this Friday. Toronto has only one career victory in Rochester and lost both games this season versus Rochester (10-6 in Rochester and 19-15 in Toronto).

Let's Go Bandits!

Johnny Who?

8. That is the number of goals John Tavares needs to become the all-time leading goal scorer of the National Lacrosse League. In the grand scheme of things, this little fact may be meaningless, after all, the league expects to grow and therefore play more games each season. The increased play will definitely lead to all current season high and career high stats being surpassed (with the exception of the goalie’s GAA and save percentage stats, which will take more consistent play to top).

Don’t get me wrong, John Tavares truly is one of the best players in the league, if not the best; the same could have been said for Gary Gait when he played being number two in all-time points in the NLL. As witnessed in the World Field Lacrosse Championship last summer, Gary has not lost his skills. Tavares currently holds the all-time lead in points & assists, and is the only player to record 500 goals and 500 assists. He is one of only a few players in the league who can single-handedly change the complexion of the game. He is always a threat to score and seems to be able to find the open man to pass to if they have a better scoring chance.

With three games remaining in the season, Tavares should be able to score the needed eight goals and become the league leader in goals. After all, he averages just over three goals a game. These last three games are against teams that have already secured a playoff spot so Johnny will be at the top of his game to help his team win. If the Bandits win all three games, they will finish first in their division, giving them home field advantage for the first two rounds. And, if Colorado loses one or more games, the Bandits will get home field advantage for the Champions Cup Final too, if they get that far.

Even though the league is still in the growing stage, anyone who does break a record has tremendous skill and should be honoured accordingly. John Tavares will break the goal scoring record and become the NLL’s all-time leader in goals scored; it is just a matter of time. The league will celebrate this feat and the fans will acknowledge John Tavares to be the top goal scorer in the league, if not the best. Even though the record will be surpassed in the future, and seeing the talented young kids the record may not stand for long, John Tavares will always be remembered for his skills and knowledge of the game and he may be seen as a builder of the league along with Gary Gait. I was too young to really appreciate Gretzky’s greatness on the ice but I am glad I am able to witness and appreciate John Tavares’ greatness on the turf.