National Lacrosse League Power Rankings
Herald Writer Aaron Lommers ranks the NLL's teams from first to worst each week
Thursday, January 19, 2012 | 4:54 pm
For every week of the 2012 National Lacrosse League season I will be ranking the teams from first to worst. This is the first installment of my power rankings, the following installments will come each Tuesday.
Also, after each Stealth game for the remainder of the season, I will be posting on the blog my thoughts on each contest as well as naming my own player of the game as well as an unsung hero for the Stealth. If any blog readers out there have any other thoughts on things they would like to see this season, please feel free to email me at alommers@heraldnet.com
Here we go with the rankings:
1. Calgary Roughnecks (2-0), Not much to debate here. To open the season the Roughnecks have defeated the Toronto Rock and the Washington Stealth, both teams appeared in the Champion's Cup a year ago. It may be early in the season, but Calgary is already making a case for itself as the team to beat in the West.
2. Buffalo Bandits (1-0), Every other team in the league besides Calgary and Toronto only have one game to go off of (except Edmonton, who is yet to play), but the Bandits were impressive in their opening victory over Toronto. I picked the Bandits to come out of the East this season (though I had them as the No. 3 seed), but the Bandits look tough. A game this weekend against Rochester should give us a better idea as to how good the Bandits really are. Rochester is coming off a dominant 22-12 victory over Philadelphia.
3. Washington Stealth (0-1), Being that we have only really had one full week of NLL games, I feel I can still put Washington this high despite its loss to Calgary. The fact is, the Stealth did not play well against the Roughnecks and struggled mightily in transition, but still found themselves tied with Calgary late in the fourth period. If the Stealth open up their scoring and stop giving up goals in transition they will be fine. Washington travels across the country this weekend to face Philadelphia, a win there could get the Stealth back on track. A loss and it might be time to re-evaluate just how good the Stealth are.
4. Rochester Knighthawks (1-0), Not a whole lot you can say when a team puts up 22 goals as the Knighthawks did against the Wings. Rochester is a young team with a lot of talent, but we will find out if they are for real this weekend when they face Buffalo.
5. Colorado Mammoth (1-0), Only the Knighthawks and the Mammoth put up a 20-spot in week 1 and getting 20 goals in an NLL game isn't easy. To be honest, I don't know how good the Mammoth really are, but after scoring that many goals you have to give them their due. On the other hand, the Mammoth finished tied for last in the league last season and gave up 14 goals to Minnesota in the first game. But for now, they have earned a spot this high.
6. Edmonton Rush (0-0), The Rush are the only team to not play an NLL game yet this season and for that reason they earn the No. 6 spot. It doesn't really say anything about their team though, it mainly says that the three teams below them really laid an egg so far.
7. Toronto Rock (0-2), To be fair to the Rock, I don't think for one second that they are this bad or will be this low in the rankings for long. After all, they are the defending champs. But, I have to judge them on the body of work so far and so far -- two games, two losses. The Rock are off this weekend before getting Rochester and Calgary next week. Two wins and they are right back in it, but two losses could spell doom for Toronto.
8. Philadelphia Wings (0-1), I admit, I was drinking the Philadelphia Kool-Aid going into this season. They added three key pieces to their offense to make them much more dynamic, but they opened the season with a 10-goal loss to Rochester. I think Philadelphia will get it together and have a successful season, but I just don't think it will happen this week against Washington.
9. Minnesota Swarm (0-1), The Swarm hung in with the Mammoth for most of the game, but Colorado broke it open late. Like Rochester, Minnesota is young and has a lot of unproven talent. Much of the Swarm's season could depend on how things go early, if they get a win or two and gain some confidence they could surprise some people. But if they continue to lose it could be a very long season.
Also, after each Stealth game for the remainder of the season, I will be posting on the blog my thoughts on each contest as well as naming my own player of the game as well as an unsung hero for the Stealth. If any blog readers out there have any other thoughts on things they would like to see this season, please feel free to email me at alommers@heraldnet.com
Here we go with the rankings:
1. Calgary Roughnecks (2-0), Not much to debate here. To open the season the Roughnecks have defeated the Toronto Rock and the Washington Stealth, both teams appeared in the Champion's Cup a year ago. It may be early in the season, but Calgary is already making a case for itself as the team to beat in the West.
2. Buffalo Bandits (1-0), Every other team in the league besides Calgary and Toronto only have one game to go off of (except Edmonton, who is yet to play), but the Bandits were impressive in their opening victory over Toronto. I picked the Bandits to come out of the East this season (though I had them as the No. 3 seed), but the Bandits look tough. A game this weekend against Rochester should give us a better idea as to how good the Bandits really are. Rochester is coming off a dominant 22-12 victory over Philadelphia.
3. Washington Stealth (0-1), Being that we have only really had one full week of NLL games, I feel I can still put Washington this high despite its loss to Calgary. The fact is, the Stealth did not play well against the Roughnecks and struggled mightily in transition, but still found themselves tied with Calgary late in the fourth period. If the Stealth open up their scoring and stop giving up goals in transition they will be fine. Washington travels across the country this weekend to face Philadelphia, a win there could get the Stealth back on track. A loss and it might be time to re-evaluate just how good the Stealth are.
4. Rochester Knighthawks (1-0), Not a whole lot you can say when a team puts up 22 goals as the Knighthawks did against the Wings. Rochester is a young team with a lot of talent, but we will find out if they are for real this weekend when they face Buffalo.
5. Colorado Mammoth (1-0), Only the Knighthawks and the Mammoth put up a 20-spot in week 1 and getting 20 goals in an NLL game isn't easy. To be honest, I don't know how good the Mammoth really are, but after scoring that many goals you have to give them their due. On the other hand, the Mammoth finished tied for last in the league last season and gave up 14 goals to Minnesota in the first game. But for now, they have earned a spot this high.
6. Edmonton Rush (0-0), The Rush are the only team to not play an NLL game yet this season and for that reason they earn the No. 6 spot. It doesn't really say anything about their team though, it mainly says that the three teams below them really laid an egg so far.
7. Toronto Rock (0-2), To be fair to the Rock, I don't think for one second that they are this bad or will be this low in the rankings for long. After all, they are the defending champs. But, I have to judge them on the body of work so far and so far -- two games, two losses. The Rock are off this weekend before getting Rochester and Calgary next week. Two wins and they are right back in it, but two losses could spell doom for Toronto.
8. Philadelphia Wings (0-1), I admit, I was drinking the Philadelphia Kool-Aid going into this season. They added three key pieces to their offense to make them much more dynamic, but they opened the season with a 10-goal loss to Rochester. I think Philadelphia will get it together and have a successful season, but I just don't think it will happen this week against Washington.
9. Minnesota Swarm (0-1), The Swarm hung in with the Mammoth for most of the game, but Colorado broke it open late. Like Rochester, Minnesota is young and has a lot of unproven talent. Much of the Swarm's season could depend on how things go early, if they get a win or two and gain some confidence they could surprise some people. But if they continue to lose it could be a very long season.
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