This is the second installment of my NLL Power Rankings. As I mentioned last week, the rankings will normally come out each Tuesday, but due to me being on vacation this coming week I’m putting them out early.
Here we go:
1. Colorado Mammoth (3-0), Last week in my rankings I said I wasn’t sure how good the Mammoth were after their opening victory against Minnesota. It appears I got my answer, the Mammoth defeated Edmonton and Calgary this weekend to improve to 3-0 with all three victories coming within the division. Not only do the Mammoth look like the best team in the league behind John Grant Jr.’s 13 goals, but they also appear to be in the early driver’s seat in the NLL’s West Division.
2. Buffalo Bandits (2-0), The Bandits slowed a Rochester team that scored 22 goals in its first game of the season and defeated the Knighthawks 12-9 to stay undefeated. The Bandits appear to have the early advantage in the East.
3. Calgary Roughnecks (2-1), The Roughnecks drop two spots after their loss to Colorado, but losing to the Mammoth this season doesn’t appear to mean what it has meant in seasons past. The Roughnecks are still in the thick of the race in the West and I expect them to be right there as the season goes on.
4. Philadelphia Wings (1-1), Now we are getting into the teams that still have a lot to prove, but the Wings have to be happy after a 10-9 overtime victory over the Stealth. Rookie Kevin Crowley has eight goals so far on the season and his addition along with that of Dan Dawson and Brodie Merrill appear to have the Wings poised for a very competitive season.
5.Rochester Knighthawks (1-1), The Knighthawks suffered their first loss of the season to Buffalo, but after putting up 22 goals against the Wings in week 1, they are still a team to watch out for on any given week.
6. Edmonton Rush (0-1), The Rush lost a close one to the Mammoth on Friday and still have a very small sample size to go off of, but falling to undefeated Colorado by just one goal doesn’t appear to be that bad of a loss.
7. Washington Stealth (0-2), The Stealth are one of four winless teams in the league, so they have underachieved so far. But having the luxury of watching every minute of both of their games, I can tell you that they aren’t this bad. The Stealth have to clean up some of the intangibles and they should be fine. But falling to 0-2 certainly should have the Stealth a little worried. Next week’s game against Edmonton is as close to a must win as it gets this early in the season.
8. Toronto Rock (0-2), The Rock were idle this week, so the good news is that they didn’t lose another game. The bad news for them is that they are still winless. Much like the Stealth I don’t expect the Rock to be down for long. But also like the Stealth, a win is much needed to right the ship.
9. Minnesota Swarm (0-1), The Swarm were also idle this week, so they stay at the bottom of the standings. The Swarm are young and sometimes all a young team needs is a win to get things going, they get that opportunity next weekend.
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