It gets worse for the Stealth
Washington falls to 0-3 for the first time in franchise history
Sunday, January 29, 2012 | 3:49 am
After the defending National Lacrosse League West Division champion Washington Stealth lost their first two games of the season I thought it couldn't get any worse.
I was wrong.
The Stealth suffered a beat down at the hands of the Edmonton Rush on Saturday night at Comcast Arena, losing 16-5. The Stealth's five goals were the least they have scored since losing the West Division championship to Calgary 17-5 in 2009.
The Stealth's season opening loss to Calgary this season along with last weekend's overtime loss to Philadelphia still gave hope to Stealth fans that the team would turn it around. Washington had play well in most areas of the game - losing week one because of poor transition defense and in week two because the team's stars struggled offensively and the Stealth had trouble taking advantage of the power play.
Against Edmonton, everything went wrong. Goaltending, defense, offense, power play chances, you name it and the Stealth didn't do a good job of it. In all of the games I have covered since I have taken over as the team's beat writer, it was by far the worst performance that I have seen out of the team.
The coaches and players insist that it's not time to press the panic button and they may be right. Eight of the nine National Lacrosse League teams make the playoffs, so by no means are the Stealth out of the race. It is also important to note that the Stealth finished 8-8 last season and finished with the third seed in the West, but still managed to come out of the West and were just one goal away from forcing overtime in the Champion's Cup and a shot at back-to-back championships.
And this is a team that I picked to win the championship this season.
The Stealth look far from a championship caliber team right now. There are so many things that they need to improve on, but just winning a game would help.
Am I withdrawing my preseason endorsement?
No.
One of general manager Doug Locker and head coach Chris Hall's prerequisites of building this team has been finding character guys who will buy into the team philosophy. After getting to know these guys over the past two seasons I can assure you that Locker and Hall's assessment of their team is correct.
Character certainly doesn't guarantee victories on the lacrosse floor, but part of having character means being mentally strong. This team has that. Things are bad for the Stealth right now, but they have the ability and heart in that locker room to turn things around.
That character is part of the reason that I predicted the Stealth would win the championship this season.
I still firmly believe that this team will make the playoffs. And if they do, rest assured no one in the NLL wants to see the Washington Stealth come to town when everything is one the line.
Things will get better -- I have eaten my words before -- but after all, it doesn't seem that they can get much worse right now.
Here are my game awards for the Edmonton game:
Player of the game: Aaron Bold (goalkeeper) and Corey Small (forward), Edmonton Rush, Bold finished the game saving 43 of the 48 shots he faced and Small finished with nine points (two goals, seven assists) in the win.
Stealth player of the game: Chris Seidel (goalkeeper), Seidel came into the game in relief of Tyler Richards and saved 22 of the 29 shots he faced. It was tough to find a bright spot for the Stealth in the game, but Seidel at least slowed the bleeding.
Stealth unsung hero: Bob Snider (transition), Snider collected 17 loose balls and went 17-for-25 in the faceoff circle.
I was wrong.
The Stealth suffered a beat down at the hands of the Edmonton Rush on Saturday night at Comcast Arena, losing 16-5. The Stealth's five goals were the least they have scored since losing the West Division championship to Calgary 17-5 in 2009.
The Stealth's season opening loss to Calgary this season along with last weekend's overtime loss to Philadelphia still gave hope to Stealth fans that the team would turn it around. Washington had play well in most areas of the game - losing week one because of poor transition defense and in week two because the team's stars struggled offensively and the Stealth had trouble taking advantage of the power play.
Against Edmonton, everything went wrong. Goaltending, defense, offense, power play chances, you name it and the Stealth didn't do a good job of it. In all of the games I have covered since I have taken over as the team's beat writer, it was by far the worst performance that I have seen out of the team.
The coaches and players insist that it's not time to press the panic button and they may be right. Eight of the nine National Lacrosse League teams make the playoffs, so by no means are the Stealth out of the race. It is also important to note that the Stealth finished 8-8 last season and finished with the third seed in the West, but still managed to come out of the West and were just one goal away from forcing overtime in the Champion's Cup and a shot at back-to-back championships.
And this is a team that I picked to win the championship this season.
The Stealth look far from a championship caliber team right now. There are so many things that they need to improve on, but just winning a game would help.
Am I withdrawing my preseason endorsement?
No.
One of general manager Doug Locker and head coach Chris Hall's prerequisites of building this team has been finding character guys who will buy into the team philosophy. After getting to know these guys over the past two seasons I can assure you that Locker and Hall's assessment of their team is correct.
Character certainly doesn't guarantee victories on the lacrosse floor, but part of having character means being mentally strong. This team has that. Things are bad for the Stealth right now, but they have the ability and heart in that locker room to turn things around.
That character is part of the reason that I predicted the Stealth would win the championship this season.
I still firmly believe that this team will make the playoffs. And if they do, rest assured no one in the NLL wants to see the Washington Stealth come to town when everything is one the line.
Things will get better -- I have eaten my words before -- but after all, it doesn't seem that they can get much worse right now.
Here are my game awards for the Edmonton game:
Player of the game: Aaron Bold (goalkeeper) and Corey Small (forward), Edmonton Rush, Bold finished the game saving 43 of the 48 shots he faced and Small finished with nine points (two goals, seven assists) in the win.
Stealth player of the game: Chris Seidel (goalkeeper), Seidel came into the game in relief of Tyler Richards and saved 22 of the 29 shots he faced. It was tough to find a bright spot for the Stealth in the game, but Seidel at least slowed the bleeding.
Stealth unsung hero: Bob Snider (transition), Snider collected 17 loose balls and went 17-for-25 in the faceoff circle.
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