2017 Playoffs - East - First Round - #3 Black Wolves @ #2 Rock - Saturday May 6 - 7 PM EST

2017 Playoffs - East Division - First Round
#3 New England Black Wolves (8-10) @ #2 Toronto Rock (9-9)
Saturday May 6th, 2017 7:00 PM EST
Air Canada Centre - Toronto, Ontario, Canada




Places to Watch with Others:
Arooga's - Route 32 in Uncasville, CT
http://blackwolves.com/view/blackwolves/news-1697/news_373911

Places to Watch Online:
NLLTV.com (US, Canada, & International)
nll.twitter.com (US, Canada, & International)
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Season Series Info:
Friday March 3 - Away @ Toronto = Won 10-9 OT
Sunday April 2 - Home vs. Toronto = Won 15-14

Black Wolves Won Series 2-0!

Key Information Going into the First Round of the East Playoffs:
Winner Faces #1 Georgia in East Division Finals
Game #1 would be next weekend (May 12-14) at Toronto or New England
Game #2 & 3 would be at Georgia the following weekend (May 19-21)

Team Info:
NEW ENGLAND BLACK WOLVES
Current Record: 8-10
2016 Record: 10-8
Playoffs: Lost in Eastern Division Finals to Buffalo
2016 Plus/Minus: +17
2017 Plus/Minus: -24
Last Champion's Cup Title: 2001, as Philadelphia Wings

Top Two Players From Last Year:
Shawn Evans 50g, 68a
Kevin Crowley 33g, 57a
Evan Kirk (2016 NLL Goalie Of The Year)

Top Players This Season:
Shawn Evans 38g, 65a
Kevin Crowley 45g, 40a
Kevin Buchanan 25g, 49a
Kyle Buchanan 31g, 38a

GM: Rich Lisk (2016 NLL GM of the Year Runner-Up)
Coach: Glenn Clark (2016 NLL Head Coach of the Year - The Les Bartley Award Winner)
Assistant Coaches: Tracey Kelusky (2016 NLL Hall Of Famer), Jim Veltman
Captains: Shawn Evans (C), Brett Manney (A), and Kyle Buchanan (A)

Key losses: F Jordan Hall, D Andrew Suitor, F Pat Saunders
Key additions: F Reilly O’Connor, D Scott Self, F Seth Oakes, D Chad Culp, D Jay Thorimbert.

Draft Additions: Selected Seth Oakes (Albany) with first-round pick, Selected Doug Jamieson (Onondaga) with second-round pick, and Selected Joel Coyle (Conestoga) with a third-round pick. Seth and Doug have made the Active Roster for the Season.

Roster:
# - POS - PLAYER
2 - T - Hotaling, Ryan
7 - D - Suddons, Derek
9 - F - O'Connor, Reilly
12 - F - Oakes, Seth
13 - D - Manney, Brett
15 - F - Evans, Shawn
17 - D - Reid, Zac
18 - D - Searle, Derek
19 - F - Clup, Chad
21 - F - Crowley, Kevin
26 - F - Bucktooth, Brett
27 - F - Buchanan, Kevin
30 - G - Jamieson, Doug
35 - G - Kirk, Evan
39 - D - Ball, Dan
71 - D - Burns, Sheldon
75 - T - Thorimbert, Jay
91 - F - Buchanan, Kyle
96 - D - OBrien, Bill
99 - F - Veltman, Daryl

Practice Squad: Joel Coyle, Rance Vigneux, Matt Spanger, and Connor Brown
Retired: Scott Self


TORONTO ROCK
Current Record: 9-9
2016 Record: 5-13
Playoffs: Did Not Make Playoffs in 2016
2016 Plus/Minus: -34
2017 Plus/Minus: +19
Last Champion's Cup Title: 2011

Top Two Players From Last Year
Rob Hellyer 45g, 68a
Stephan LeBlanc 32g, 38a

Top Players This Season
Tom Schreiber 33g, 61a
Brett Hickey 45g, 32a
Stephan LeBlanc 20g, 53a
Turner Evans 8g, 37a

Owner/GM: Jamie Dawick
Coach: John Lovell

Key losses: F Colin Doyle, F Josh Sanderson, Kevin Ross.
Key additions: G Steve Fryer, F Kieran McArdle, F Tom Schreiber, D Connor Buczek.

Roster:
# - POS - PLAYER
4 - T - Gamble, Jesse
5 - D - Chapman, Sandy
6 - F - McArdle, Kieran
11 - F - Hickey, Brett
15 - F - Evans, Turner
17 - F - Leblanc, Stephan
20 - D - Kri, Bradley
22 - F - Caputo, Phil
23 - D - Rogers, Challen
26 - F - Schreiber, Tom
35 - G - Miller, Brandon
37 - T - Merrill, Brodie
41 - F - Lintner, Dan
44 - D - Gilbert, Jeff
45 - D - Edwards, Damon
66 - G - Rose, Nick
82 - D - Magnuson, Jordan
91 - D - Hostrawser, Billy
93 - D - Harris, Latrell
97 - F - Reinholdt, Reid
33 - F - Beirnes, Kasey
## - D - Marshall, Rob

 

Playoff game between teams that are a combined 17-19. Should be quality.

 

So they are well matched, which often leads to a good game.

 

for whatever reason, post philly the blackwolves seem to play toronto as well as anyone. kirk needs to come alive.

 

Saturday is up to Kirk, rose goes to sleep as equally, NE can score at will, but opposition has been picking Kirk apart glove side all season
Worried

 

He can sleep all he wants on the bench as long as Miller is stoning the Wolves cold a la Bob Watson against the Wings in 1999.

 

ahh the good old days, bring on the smack.

what has brandon ever win? pinning your hopes on a goalie who last saw significant playoff actin as an albany attack?

 

2015 Rock, buddy. Took em to the final, might have forced game 3 but the zebras had other plans.

 

Thought about buying the broadcast....seems like a good decision to skip.

 

So there goes the season. At least we made the playoffs but this one, not good. First Quarter it was close but after that, Toronto got up and never looked back. Essentially we got manhandled quarter 2 on. Oh well, hopefully they will make some smart moves for next season and we can go farther next year.

 

Positive patrol, I have to admire it.

 

Miller.

 

traded let go away hall, belanger, and ranagan - a floor leader, a goalie and a defender - was the difference tonight.

 

good call as much as it hurts. the wings fan still in me still admires his demeanor under duress.

 

Miller was never quite Dallas, or maybe even Bilger, but he has always been quality and a great guy.

 

miller has that ken dryden like calmness that is rare in goalies that i always admired.

 

Totally right there. We should of kept Hall around, same for Ranagan who was a crowd favorite. Belanger, I understand needed to move to become a starter and well happy he found a place but he is a huge loss. Not having them probably cost us at least a few for sure.

 

That hits it right. The perfect goalie/shortstop mentality. One play over focus on the next, erase the previous.

 

Only because I was at work until 1030
Give me a few hours to get drunk and I'll be back

 

kirk is becoming another matt roik / anthony cosmo - when the dam springs a leak, it just crumbles.