Blazers spoil party in Buffalo, win in OT

04/17/2009

The Boston Blazers prevented the Buffalo Bandits from clinching their second consecutive East Division regular season title by winning an overtime affair at HSBC Arena, 13-12, on Saturday night. Forward Sean Morris scored the game-winner just 26 seconds into overtime on the same night when teammate Dan Dawson tied Josh Sanderson for the league lead and new single season record for assists with 74.

Bandits forward Mark Steenhuis opened the scoring 54 seconds into the game with his 49th goal of the season. With 52 seconds left in the first quarter, Steenhuis scored again to notch his 50th goal of the season and give the Bandits a 5-4 lead. That lead was stretched to 8-4 during the second quarter, as the Bandits went on a 3-0 run to begin the period. The first goal of that stretch was scored by forward Brett Bucktooth, who played in his first game of the year after sitting out the previous 15 games due to an injury. John Tavares scored the other two, giving him 49 goals at that point and helping the Bandits to an 8-5 halftime lead.

Tavares scored again 1:30 into the second half, making Steenhuis and Tavares the first teammates to each score 50 goals in the same season since brothers Paul (54 goals) and Gary Gait (50) accomplished the feat while playing for Washington in 2002. After Roger Vyse made the score 10-5, Boston scored the last five goals of the quarter to tie the score at 10.

The fourth quarter scoring started quickly, as Steenhuis scored his 51st goal with 19 seconds having passed. After the Blazers recaptured the lead on a Brenden Thenhaus goal at the 2:44 mark, Tavares pulled even with Steenhuis with his 51st goal to tie the game at 12 with 2:41 left to play.

In overtime, Sean Morris sprinted down the right side and made his move towards the goal, diving across the crease and finding the back of the net for the game-winner.

Dawson came into the contest with 69 assists on the season and finished his night with two goals and five assists. His final mark of 74 assists puts him in a first-place tie with Calgary Roughnecks forward Josh Sanderson for the league lead, as well as the highest single season total in league history. Sanderson held the old mark of 71 assists, which he set in 2005 as a member of the Toronto Rock.

Steenhuis and Tavares finish in a first-place tie for the league lead in goals with 51.

Due to the New York Titans’ victory over the Minnesota Swarm, the Bandits will enter the playoffs as the #2 seed in the East Division and will host the third-seeded Blazers in a rematch of this contest on Saturday, May 2 at 7:30pm ET.

The two teams both finish with a 10-6 record, but the Bandits own the tiebreaker over the Blazers. The two squads split their head-to-head series and finished with the same divisional record (7-5). As a result, their playoff seedings were determined by the third tiebreaker, which is record versus common opponents played an equal number of times. The only team that Buffalo and Boston each played an equal number of times is the Portland LumberJax. They each played Portland once, as the Bandits won their matchup (14-4 on March 21) while the Blazers lost theirs (9-8 on January 31).

ROUGHNECKS DEFEAT LUMBERJAX, 12-9

Calgary enters playoffs with league best 12-4 record

04/17/2009

The Calgary Roughnecks defeated the Portland LumberJax 12-9 at Rose Garden on Friday night. Calgary finishes the regular season with a league best record of 12-4, and has home floor advantage throughout the playoffs. Portland finishes the regular season with a 9-7 record, and enters the playoffs as the #2 seed in the West Division.

Heading into the contest, the coaches from both teams stated that they wanted to stay sharp as they had their final regular season game before heading into the playoffs.

The game was tied 2-2 after the first quarter. From that point on, it was all Calgary. The Roughnecks outscored the LumberJax 6-0 in the second quarter. Tracey Kelusky and Jeff Shattler each scored twice as Calgary took an 8-2 lead into the locker room at halftime and never looked back.

Both teams will get a weekend of rest before opening the playoffs. Calgary, the top seed in the West, will host fourth-seeded Colorado on Sunday, May 3rd at 5pm ET. Portland, the second seed in the West, will host third seed San Jose on Friday, May 1st at 10:30pm ET.

OVERALL SEEDING FOR PLAYOFFS

Calgary is top overall seed; seeding used to determine home floor for Championship Game

04/18/2009

With the regular season complete, the league has completed an overall seeding of the eight playoff teams. The higher overall-seeded team among the eventual playoff champs of the East and West Division can host the Championship Game. By posting a league-best 12-4 regular season record, Calgary has earned the #1 overall seed. As winners of the East Division, the New York Titans are the #2 seed.

Overall seeding of the eight teams in the 2009 Playoffs:

1 Calgary (12-4)

2 New York (10-6)

3 Buffalo (10-6)

4 Boston (10-6)

5 Portland (9-7)

6 San Jose (7-9)

7 Rochester (7-9)

8 Colorado (7-9)

New York edged both Boston and Buffalo in a three-way tie based on best head-to-head record against the other two (4-1). In the tiebreaker between Buffalo and Boston, the two teams split their head-to-head meetings (1-1) and finished with the same divisional record (7-5). As a result, their seedings were determined by the third tiebreaker, which is record versus common opponents played an equal number of times. The only team that Buffalo and Boston each played an equal number of times during the season is the Portland LumberJax. They each played Portland once, as the Bandits won their matchup (14-4 on March 21) while the Blazers lost to Portland (9-8 on January 31).

In the three-way tie for the final three spots, the tiebreakers are broken by head-to-head matchups from the regular season. San Jose over Rochester, and Rochester over Colorado.

All eight playoff teams will have next weekend off to rest and prepare for the playoffs, which begin on the weekend of May 1st.

PLAYOFFS BEGIN THIS WEEKEND

Action begins on Friday night as New York hosts Rochester at MSG

04/27/2009

The waiting is almost over. The 2009 NLL Playoffs begin on Friday, May 1 with the Divisional Semifinals weekend. The first of the four games takes place at Madison Square Garden, as the New York Titans host the Rochester Knighthawks at 7:30pm ET. Later that evening, the Portland LumberJax host the San Jose Stealth at the Rose Garden arena, 10:30pm ET.

On Saturday, the action returns to the East Division as the Buffalo Bandits host the Boston Blazers. Gametime at HSBC Arena is 7:30pm ET.

The opening round of the playoffs concludes on Sunday, as the Calgary Roughnecks host the Colorado Mammoth at the Pengrowth Saddledome. Gametime is 5pm ET.

Eight teams have advanced to the playoffs. Following this weekend’s single elimination games, only four teams will remain. This weekend’s winners will meet in the East and West Division Finals on the weekend of May 8-10.

Tickets for all playoff games transportion visit http://www.knighthawks.net.

In Denver, the Colordo Mammoth are going to host a fan viewing party at Brooklyn’s at Pepsi Center on Sunday, May 3. Visit [email protected].

All NLL Playoff Games can be watched live online via the NLL Network at NLL.com.

NLL Playoffs, Divisional Semifinals

Friday, May 1

Rochester Knighthawks (7-9, #4 East) at New York Titans (10-6, #1 East),

7:30pm ET at Madison Square Garden

San Jose Stealth (7-9, #3 West) at Portland LumberJax (9-7, #2 West), 10:30pm ET at Rose Garden

Saturday, May 2

Boston Blazers (10-6, #3 East) at Buffalo Bandits (10-6, #2 East), 7:30pm ET at HSBC Arena

Sunday, May 3

Colorado Mammoth (7-9, #4 West) at Calgary Roughnecks (12-4, #1 West), 5pm ET at Pengrowth Saddledome