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For the first time in almost a month, the Calgary Roughnecks will call the Pengrowth Saddledome home on Saturday night. The Riggers take on the Colorado Mammoth on The FAN 960 (7:30 faceoff, 7 pm pregame). It’s the second meeting this year between Calgary and Colorado.
The Riggers return to action after their all-too-easy 22-10 win over the Edmonton Rush last Friday night at Rexall Place. It was a game where Calgary dominated right out of the hop, and this game was never in doubt for the duration. When looking at this season as a whole, there is no question that was Calgary’s most complete effort thus far. They were smothering defensively, consistent offensively, and even though he wasn’t tested, Matt King was great in net.
This game is a little different though. The Mammoth are 5-4 on the season and are certainly a much better test than the Rush. Colorado handed Calgary their first loss of the season back on Valentine’s Day, a 13-12 setback for the Riggers which dropped them to 5-1. The Mammoth matchup very well with the Roughnecks, and we won’t see any 22 goal outbursts this time around. Colorado is 1 of 3 NLL teams to have allowed less than 100 goals this season, and play a very solid defensive system.
In their first game, Calgary carried a 2 game lead into the 4th quarter, leading 8-6 at the time. It started a trend the Riggers are hoping to change…4 straight games where they have been outscored in the final frame. In that game, Colorado outscored the Riggers 5-2 en route to the 11-10 win. The following game, Calgary lead 9-7 over Boston heading to the 4th before falling 11-10; New York had a 4-3 advantage in the final frame in their game at MSG, the Roughnecks did win that game.
Then last week, Edmonton outgunned Calgary 3-2 in the 4th. Now, you can basically throw that out. Calgary was leading by such a silly amount, it would have been tough to bear down any more…the game was over long ago, so to me, I don’t count that. However, in talking to Andrew McBride and Devan Wray on Thursday, they still were a little ticked that Edmonton was able to put up 10 on them. The moral of the story; Calgary wants to bear down late in games, regardless of the score.
Will be interesting to see who gets the start in net for the Roughnecks on Saturday. Paddy Campbell had been the unquestioned starter before the game against New York, but the coaching staff wanted to give Matt King a start, and he showed well. Last Friday in Edmonton, King got the start again. The other interesting story to watch will be Nolan Heavenor. He’s sat out the last 2 games as a healthy scratch, his first 2 scratches in his NLL career.
This could almost be considered a trap game for the Riggers (see also Flames vs. Blues). I doubt that Calgary will take the Mammoth lightly, but I hope they are not still too high from last weeks win. Colorado knows they have what it takes to beat Calgary, and if Calgary is thinking they can roll over their opponents like they did last week…they will get a shock. As you pointed out, the calibre of team tonight is much better, they are not the same dominant team as in years past but neither are they anyone’s doormat! Calgary should be prepared for a hell of a fight.
PS: Bob, give credit to the Mammoth, they kept it close with Calgary all night and would not go away. But Calgary was able to stave off any 4th quarter push, which was the most important part for me on Saturday.
- Bob in the AbbeyThis is going to be a great game Pat, as all Calgary/Colorado games are.
I think we’ll still see the strong opening by the Necks, and we’ll just have to make sure they keep pressing. The talent is there as is the will, let’s just hope for the execution.
The key is going to be peppering Leyshon with shots and not letting up.
Hopefully, last week’s big game upped the attention of the Calgary public and the crowd breaks 12 thousand for these last couple of home games.
Why has Nolan been sat the last couple of games, Pat? If I recall, he hasn’t done poorly in faceoffs. I think he’s a better transitional player than D-Wray.
PS: Craig, you proved prophetic, as just throwing balls at Leyshon proved to be very successful for this team. The underhand shots especially started to fool the Mammoth netminder, and that was a huge reason why Calgary won. As for Nolan, we know now he got back in and played great on Saturday, but basically it was a situation where the team wanted to try a few different things. I like Nolan and Wray, Devan is much better defensively, but Heavenor gives you much more offensively.
- CraigLike I said, great game. The intensity was there both on and off the field.
MK and the defense played really well but I think the offense could have been better in the first half. There were a lot of missed passes and weak shots in the first quarter. But the Mammoth defense was probably the cause of that. Calgary had to resort to taking shots from the perimeter since they couldn’t get to the net very often. Luckily that changed after the half.
Didn’t like how the Mammoth seemed to get away with 3 blatent shots to the head.
How come Curt Mulawsky’s goal in the fourth was disallowed?
PS: Loved the game Kilby had on Saturday Craig, loved it. He’s one of the most reliable guys in the NLL back there, and was feeling sick before the game. He almost missed and still came back and played stellar. As for the Mouse goal, he was sprung on an illegal screen which was why he had all that daylight, so the whistle had gone prior to the goal being scored.
- CraigSaturday’s game was probably one of the best games we have seen from the Necks, they played a solid 60 minutes. No faltering in the 4th quarter, and solid offence & defence for the entire game. Had to make some minor adjustments after the 1st, to break the Mammoth D, but great after that.
Craig makes a great point… the officiating has been severly lacking this season. Lots of blatent hits that should be called like the cross check to Rangers head, for instance. What’s going on there???
PS: I haven’t seen very many well officiated games at home or on the road this year, Dave. There are 2 problems I see. 1 is what you pointed out…the blatant missed head shots and cross checks that have been on display all year long, highlighted very nicely in the Mammoth game. The second being the raw inexperience of officials in some of these other markets. In New York, I’ve never seen a game so poorly managed by a crew, as we had 2 minutes discussions on simple possession changes. Something has to change, but it’s so low on the priority list of the NLL, I don’t think anything WILL change.
- DaveHey guys, the officiating has been a bone of contention for the NLL for many years. Similar to the CFL, the officials know the sport and rulebook very well, but they do not receive alot of training and when in game situations the pressure of trying to properly maintain order can effect how the game is called. It is frustrating when you see the same officials every game but the games never seem to be called with consistency, not just during the game but also game to game. Just remember, like the players, this is a part-time gig, they have jobs back home and they just do their best. Until the NLL can afford to put more training time in for these guys, what you see is what you get.
PS: Bob, you’re exactly right, 100%. And to be honest, I don’t see anything changing, which is really, really unfortunate, because it bogs down a great game. But because it is such a part time gig, even moreso than the CFL, I don’t think the NLL is going to put forth the resources to try and change it.
- Bob in the Abbey