The Calgary Roughnecks have advanced to the National Lacrosse League west division final after a 15-10 win over the Colorado Mammoth in the west division semi-final at the Scotiabank Saddledome on Saturday night.
Forward and transition player Jeff Shattler of Edmonton, Alberta led the Roughnecks in scoring with three goals and four assists. Shattler also led both teams with ten shots on goal.
The first half was even with the score tied at 7 heading into the break, but the Roughnecks dominated the third quarter. They outscored Colorado 4-0, thanks to two shorthanded goals (one by Shattler and the other from Scott Ranger).
The Calgary Roughnecks are the 2013 National Lacrosse League western division regular season champions.
Saturday night at Rexall Place in Edmonton, the Roughnecks defeated the Edmonton Rush by a score of 12-11 in overtime. Shawn Evans scored the game winning goal for the Roughnecks at 10:05 of the extra period from Scott Ranger.
It was Evans’ first goal of the game, as he assisted on nine of the Roughnecks’ first eleven goals. Daryl Veltman also had a strong game for the Roughnecks with five goals and three assists.
The Roughnecks ended up with identical records to the Rush and Washington Stealth at nine wins and seven losses, but won the tie-breaker and finished in first place. They will play the Colorado Mammoth in the western division semi-final at the Scotiabank Saddledome on April 27.
In a drastically different type of game from a week ago, the Calgary Roughnecks had a strong defensive performance in a 9-8 win over the Edmonton Rush Saturday night at the Scotiabank Saddledome.
According to the National Lacrosse League website, Curtis Dickson of Port Coquitlam, British Columbia scored with 39 seconds left in the fourth quarter to break an 8-8 tie.
The Roughnecks showed National Lacrosse League fans they could win a tight defensive battle, like they did this week, and an offensive explosion, as they did last week when they beat the Rush 18-15.
Dickson led the Roughnecks with four goals and 13 shots. Calgary improves to 4-2 this season and have now won four in a row after a slow start, while the Rush drop to 1-4.
The Calgary Roughnecks simply have no problem beating the Edmonton Rush in the regular season. Saturday night in Edmonton, the Roughnecks tightened up defensively and defeated the Rush 18-15.
In the first meeting between the Alberta provincial rivals in 2013, the first half was very even with the game tied at 10. But in the third quarter, the Rush really struggled offensively, only scoring twice and then only three times in the fourth quarter.
With the win, the Roughnecks beat the Rush for the ninth straight time in the regular season. The Rush surprised the Roughnecks 19-11 in the first round of the Western Division playoffs in 2012.
The 47th Super Bowl will take place Sunday in New Orleans (CBS, 4:30 p.m.) with the Baltimore Ravens playing the San Francisco 49ers.
The 49ers have won the Super Bowl five times, while the Ravens won it once in 2001. This will also be a record tenth time the Super Bowl is in New Orleans. The last Super Bowl in Louisiana was in 2002 as the New England Patriots defeated the Saint Louis Rams 20-17.
Super Bowl XLVII will also be historical because brothers will be coaching against each other for the first time. Jim Harbaugh will take the reigns for San Francisco, with his older brother John Harbaugh in charge of Baltimore.
The Ravens (10-6) led the AFC North, while the 49ers (11-4-1) led the NFC West.
It has been quite the week for the Edmonton Rush of the National Lacrosse League.
Earlier in the week they drafted forward Mark Matthews of Oshawa, Ontario with the first overall pick in the 2012 NLL Entry Draft, and then on Friday confirmed the hiring of local communication sports guru Dave Jamieson as team president.
If the city of Edmonton is going to have a champion in the month of May, it will have to rest on the shoulders of the Edmonton Oil Kings at the Memorial Cup in Shawinigan, Quebec.
Last night in Rochester, the Edmonton Rush continued to play great defense, but at the end of the day couldn’t get the job done by scoring enough goals as the Knighthawks defeated the Rush 9-6.
Despite having a convincing 5-1 lead at halftime, the Rush played a poor third quarter where the Knighthawks outscored the Rush 6-0.
This was not the first time this season the Knighthawks had a great comeback. I had the privilege of watching the Knighthawks play in Calgary live and in person April 6 at the Scotiabank Saddledome. Despite trailing the Roughnecks 11-5 at the half, Rochester had a great second half before losing 15-14 on that particular night.
This was the third championship in Knighthawks franchise history as they also won in 1997 and 2007.
For the first time in franchise history, the Edmonton Rush are in championship game. Tonight in New York state, the Rush take on the Rochester Knighthawks for the 2012 Champion’s Cup (Shaw HD, 5:30pm).
Now I’m not a huge supporter of a team with a losing record in the regular season making the playoffs, as the Rush were 6-10 and in fourth place in the Western Division, but you have to give the team credit for getting hot at just the right time.
The Edmonton Rush have advanced to their very first championship game in franchise history.
In one of the grittiest defensive playoff performances in the history of the National Lacrosse League, the Edmonton Rush only allowed three goals the entire game Saturday en route to a 15-3 win over the Minnesota Swarm in the Western Final.
I know Calgary Roughnecks goaltender Mike Poulin was named the National Lacrosse League’s top goaltender on Thursday, but the play of Edmonton goaltender Aaron Bold cannot be ignored. Bold made 39 saves on 42 shots in a magnificent performance and one for the ages. According to the Canadian Press, there was a span of 37:50 when the Swarm could not score.
Edmonton is trying to win the championship despite going 6-10 in the regular season. They will play the Rochester Knighthawks in the Champion’s Cup next Saturday in upstate New York. The Knighthawks defeated the Toronto Rock 17-13. The Rock were the defending NLL Champions.
Despite an excellent regular season, the Calgary Roughnecks were stunned 19-11 to the Edmonton Rush in the western semi-final of the 2012 NLL Playoffs.
According to the Canadian Press, Ryan Ward led the Rush offensive attack with five goals and six assists. Corey Small also had a huge game with five goals and three assists while Tom Johnson recorded a hat trick.
Roughnecks goaltender Mike Poulin, who had been suffering from an injury the last while, was pulled after giving up six first quarter goals. Frank Scigliano replaced Poulin but didn’t play mich better.
The Calgary Roughnecks and Edmonton Rush were relatively even last night at the Scotiabank Saddledome, before the Roughnecks dominated the fourth and final period.
Leading 9-7 heading into the fourth stanza, the Roughnecks scored seven times and did not give up a goal en route to a 16-7 thrashing of their provincial rival.
With the win, the Roughnecks improve to 7-3, only 1.5 games back of the first place Colorado Mammoth, while the Rush fall to 2-6.
The Roughnecks were led in scoring by forward Shawn Evans, who scored five goals. Evans was the Roughnecks’ number one acquisition in the offseason from the Rochester Knighthawks. Peter McFetridge also notched five points with three goals and two assists.
The Roughnecks also beat the Rush Friday night in Edmonton by a score of 13-10 as Curtis Dickson scored four goals and three assists.
The Roughnecks have now won nine straight games against the Rush. Calgary next plays the Buffalo Bandits at the Scotiabank Saddledome on March 24. Edmonton meanwhile next plays the Philadelphia Wings on March 17.
According to the Canadian Press, the Edmonton Rush were involved in a blockbuster trade with the Philadelphia Wings on Tuesday.
The Rush traded the 2010 NLL Transition Player of the Year and team captain Brodie Merrill, along with forwards Dean Hill and Mike McLellan, a fifth round pick in 2011 and a fourth round pick in 2013 to the Wings for goaltender Brodie MacDonald, forwards Athan Iannucci and Alex Turner, along with the Wings’ first round draft choices in 2012, 2013 and 2014.
The fact that the Rush are getting a total of three consecutive first round draft choices from the Wings, shows two major things. Merrill was very valuable to Edmonton, and the Rush are committed to rebuilding their franchise.
It’s Monday and that means another 15 Minutes of Fame video with Jim and Geoffrey.
This week, your humble hosts talk a great deal about suspension in the NHL and the fights that have caused the NHL to hand out those suspensions. Then they talk about some trades speculation across the world, especially in the NBA.
In this week’s GABBYs – on the good side: The National Lacrosse League’s Edmonton Rush get their first win of the season, the NHL’s New Jersey Devils – and their $100 million man Ilya Kovalchuk is turning up the heat and The Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Los Angeles Clippers to end a long run of losses.
On the bad side: Those same Cavaliers set a North American pro sport record with 26 straight losses, Manchester United plays Manchester City in the most expensive match ever to be played and right now the NHL is taking it’s cues from the movie “Slapshot.”
In Quick HIts: Quebec City’s arena prospects and the UFC sets records for ticket sales in Toronto.
Check it out.
Lot’s more after the jump. Click “continue reading.” ———————>
It’s time for another 15 Minutes of Fame video for your enjoyment.
This week, the boys talk about the rash of concussions NHL players seem to be playing with. Is it an issue with the players? With management? With NHL team’s medical staff?
They then talk about all of the players begging out of the NHL All-Star game next week. Then they talk about the NHL scandal of the week – LA Kings GM Dean Lombardi coming out against NHL VP Mike Murphy and getting fined for it. They finish the first stage of the video with more rumours about Lance Armstrong’s doping.
In this week’s GABBYs, first the good: The NHL Sabre’s Nathan Gerbe scores two goals in five seconds. Vernon Wells is dealt to the LA Angels and Saku Koivu makes his return to Montreal.
On the bad side, the woes of the Ottawa Senators, The National Lacrosse League’s Boston Blazers’s lap dance half-time show and yet another scandal involving Brett Favre.
In Quick Hits: Peter Forsberg practices with the Colorado Avalanche, Evgeni Nabakov won’t report to the New York Islanders and Jim and I are hosting a sports hot stove.
Check it out:
Lot’s more after the jump. Click “continue reading.” ———————>
The Calgary Roughnecks have advanced to the National Lacrosse League west division final after a 15-10 win over the Colorado Mammoth in the west division semi-final at the Scotiabank Saddledome on Saturday night.
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