With the start of the National Lacrosse League regular season just three weeks away, the Washington Stealth on Thursday announced the active roster they plan to take into their season opener against the Calgary Roughnecks.
Most of the players who have led the Stealth to back-to-back NLL championship games are back, with a few notable offseason acquisitions added to the mix.
“The decisions this season were very difficult as we had a tremendously talented group in camp battling for a limited number of roster spots,” Stealth general manager Doug Locker said in a press release. “Our staff made some tough decisions, but ultimately this roster is deep, very talented and one that we feel gives us the opportunity to compete at the top echelon of the league this season.”
Perhaps the most surprising addition to this season’s roster is right-handed forward Brett Hickey. Hickey was selected by the Stealth in the fifth round of the 2011 NLL entry draft (43rd overall) and beat out right-hander Craig Conn, who played with the Stealth last year, and right-hander Jaime Rooney, selected by Washington in the first round of the NLL dispersal draft earlier this year. Hickey impressed Locker and head coach Chris Hall at training camp and recorded a hat trick in Sunday’s 15-9 scrimmage loss to Colorado.
“He had two exceptional weeks of training camp,” Locker said. “He showed exceptional poise and is clearly a natural goal scorer and will do whatever it takes to make his teammates better. And we felt like the upside for him is tremendous.”
Hickey joins Rhys Duch and Jeff Zywicki as the team’s right-handed forwards. Right-handed transition player Paul Rabil also is expected to play a bigger role in the Stealth’s offense this season.
Another addition for the Stealth is left-handed forward Dean Hill, who signed with Stealth in the offseason as a free agent. Hill spent the past two seasons with the Edmonton Rush.
Hill joins Lewis Ratcliff, Cam Sedgwick and Cliff Smith as the team’s left-handed forwards.
“The incumbents on this roster are pretty darn good,” Hall said. “We lost a few guys, but you need to make changes to continue to improve. We have a very unselfish group on offense with a lot of weapons. They will certainly force opposing defenses to make some tough decisions as every guy up front can put the ball in the net.”
Kyle Ross is another new face on roster. The right-handed defenseman was acquired in an offseason trade with the Toronto Rock for Washington’s backup goalkeeper, Matt Roik. The addition of Ross should help boost an already talented back end for the Stealth.
“I love the personnel we have on defense,” Hall said. “It’s a group of big, strong, athletic guys that can do a little bit of everything. All of these guys can play shut down defense with an edge, force a turnover, pick up the loose ball, take it down the floor to lead a fast break and create a scoring chance.”
Goalkeeper Tyler Richards is back and for the first time begins the season as the unquestioned starter, but with the departure of Roik, the Stealth needed a backup goalkeeper, which they found in Chris Seidel.
Seidel earned the backup job in training camp behind a 26-save performance in just over 30 minutes of action in an exhibition game against the Rock.
Transition player Nenad Gajic is another new addition, but will begin the season on the physically unable to perform list.
Aaron Lommers covers the Washington Stealth for The Herald. Follow him on twitter @aaronlommers and contact him alommers@heraldnet.com.
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