The Calgary Roughnecks start the second half of the NLL season Friday night in Edmonton on The FAN 960 (7 pm faceoff).  After an impressive 6-2 record through the first half of the year, the Roughnecks will try and keep things going in the final 8 games of the season.  The best part is, the Riggers aren’t in a position where they need to make drastic changes.

Calgary is coming off a 12-10 win over the New York Titans on the 28th of February, a game that is impressive for a number of reasons.  Calgary and New York played a very tentative first half of that game, but it was Calgary who took over in the 3rd quarter and staked themselves to a 5 goal lead.  Now, while the Titans put on a 4th quarter push, Calgary did something they were unable to do in the previous 2 games: close out the game strong.  While New York outscored the Riggers in the final 15, Calgary scored when they needed to to seal things, and they came away with a well deserved victory.

That was the trademark of the team prior to a losses to Colorado and Boston.  The nature of the NLL is such that a team will seemingly always be able to put a push on late in games.  However, the mark of a good team is being able to withstand those runs and kill the momentum with a timely goal or 2.  Games against San Jose and Minnesota are perfect examples of that for Calgary.  They got away from it for 2 games, returned to it in New York, and need to make sure it continues.

To a man, every member of the team I talked to is feeling confident.  Captain Tracey Kelusky likes how this team is finding ways to win.  And it’s all about work ethic for Transition man Devan Wray.  He likes how this team has gone out and outworked teams for games, and have done it consistently.  It’s when the Riggers see a bit of a letdown in that work ethic that things start to unravel a bit.

Kelusky wants to see a more consistent offensive attack in the second half of the season.  There have been stretches where the team would go goal-less for 10 or 11 minutes of game time, and it’s stretches like those that allow teams to stick around.  For Wray, it’s all about staying out of the box.  As good as Calgary has been in man short situations, there have been times where they became too undisciplined and saw too much time killing penalties.

Calgary’s matchup on Friday may seem easy on paper, but as Kelusky told me, the Edmonton Rush are a dangerous team to meet right now.  The 3-6 Rush have their backs against the wall and are going to have to start winning games if they want to make any inroads towards their first appearance in the postseason.  The Rush may not be offensively prolific, but they’ll be dangerous, so that aforementioned work ethic for Calgary needs to be on display once again.  If it is, Calgary should run away with a win.  If they start to suffer some lapses, this is a Rush team that can stick around and deliver a winning blow when they need to.

A couple milestones for Riggers defenceman Andrew McBride.  Our lacrosse tutor on The FAN 960 will play his 100th game with the Calgary Roughnecks.  Against Boston, he dropped the gloves to become the franchise leader for all time penalty minutes.  Against Edmonton, he’ll become just the second Rigger to hit the century mark in games played, joining Kaleb Toth.  As Toth was quick to point out, his 101st game was his only game as a healthy scratch…Brider was quick to lobby for some sort of gift.  As if a mention in this blog isn’t a gift enough…congrats to Brider, hopefully he’ll shave for the occasion.

It was a knockout filled card at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio.  Saturday night, The Ultimate Fighting Championship put on UFC 96 and we were treated to a very exciting night of fights, culminating in a unanimous decision victory for Quinton “Rampage” Jackson.

Rampage won the decision over Keith Jardine which means Jackson will now get a title shot against “Sugar” Rashad Evans, most likely at UFC 98.  Evans and Jackson met in The Octagon following the fight and exchanged words.  I gotta say, Rampage knows how to trash talk and was a little more intimidating then Rashad…although Evans certainly won if they were contesting most “F” words.  Best line of 2009 came from Rampage, as UFC 98 apparently will let the world see a little “black on black crime.”  Rampage rules, plain and simple.

The fight itself was actually fairly close.  Jardine got rocked a few times but was able to recover quickly and landed some nice shots at the same time.  The knockdowns were the difference to me, as Jardine was felled in both the 2nd and 3rd rounds.  I had it scored 30-27 with Jackson eaking out 3 extremely close rounds.  The takedown was impressive in the middle round, and even though Jardine was able to scramble to his feet very quickly, it still scored impressive points for Rampage.  While Jackson landed the more devestating strikes, Jardine probably was more accurate with his shots; he just did less damage, which ended up being the difference.  I had no problem with the decision.

The main event was about the only fight that lasted the full 15 minutes, however.  Matt Hamill scored a devestating KO in his fight with Mark Munoz.  Hamill landed a perfect head kick at 3:53 of the first round…it was right on the cage and sent Munoz crumpling.  I wasn’t the only one surprised that Hamill had that in him.  Shane Carwin scored an impressive knockout on top heavyweight contender Gabriel Gonzaga.  For Carwin, the KO came just 69 seconds into the first round…it was a picture perfect right hand that dropped the giant Brazilian.  It’s even bigger for Carwin who vaults himself into the top of the heavyweight division; he’s now 11-0.

The most bizarre moment was when the fight between Pete Sell and Matt Brown was stopped…and then restarted.  Referee Yves Lavigne stepped in to stop the fight and then seemingly changed his mind…he probably should have stuck with his decision, as Sell proved once again he has no place around a professional fight.  The guy is always overmatched in fights and always ends up getting creamed.  Brown, an alumnus of The Ultimate Fighter, continued to pummel Sell until Lavigne called it off for good.

And finally, it was too bad to see Alberta’s Jason Day fall to Kendall Grove in the 1st round.  Maybe it’s sour grapes, but Grove’s celebration and subsequent post fight interview cemented my belief that the guy is a total clown.  Congrats on improving to 12-5, you dolt.  For Day, I think he’ll be back inside The Octagon.  It was a one punch KO, which means we didn’t see much of the new and improved Day.  I believe he’ll get at least 1 more shot.

Next up is a UFC Fight Night on April Fools Day followed by UFC 97 in Montreal.  That goes April 18th with Anderson Silva and Chuck Liddell both on the card.

He’s originally from Lethbridge, he now trains in Calgary, and he returns to The Octagon this Saturday night in Columbus, Ohio.  At UFC 96, Alberta’s Jason Day takes on Kendall Grove at 185 pounds.  It’s a bout where both fighters need a win to keep moving up the Middleweight Division.

Day (17-6) enters Saturday’s action with a 1-1 record in the UFC, coming off a loss at UFC 85 to title contender Michael Bisping.  However, that loss has completely changed Day, who has now committed his life to the art of mixed martial arts.  When we talked to him a few weeks ago on The Big Show, Day told me the loss to Bisping opened his eyes that he could no longer do this part time if he wanted to succeed.  So, he started training full time, quit his job roofing and started making MMA his full time job.  The results are yet to be shown.

In his UFC debut, at UFC 83, Day came in and lit the world on fire with a 1st round TKO win over Alan Belcher.  The expectations were high 2 months later when he stepped in against Bisping, but it had to be taken into consideration that he was coming in on very short notice.  Bisping was able to overwhelm Day in their fight at 85 and eventually win by TKO.

But those 2 fights inside The Octagon aren’t the only thing that tells the story in Day’s career.  Here’s a guy with almost 25 professional fights and a guy who is very well rounded in his fight game.  He’s committed himself to conditioning to make sure he won’t be wearing down in fights.  And Day also has very underrated skills on the ground, with a very good grappling game that could come out and shock his next opponent.

On Saturday, Day will fight the season 3 winner of The Ultimate Fighter, Kendall “Spyder” Grove, a guy who hasn’t been able to translate his TUF win to a lot of UFC success.  Grove is 11-5 and had lost 2 straight fights before a split decision went his way last June in a bout with the late Evan Tanner.  But make no mistake, Grove is a tenacious competitor who uses his height and reach to his advantage very well.  He has very good kick boxing and while on the ground is able to use his long limbs to lock in submissions.

But Day told me he gets a little added motivation when fighting guys coming off the Spike TV reality show.  Day had to fight his way up through the little shows, fighting in front of 200 people in sweaty buildings, until he finally was discovered by the UFC.  He wants to prove that his way is the right way, and we’ve seen the same happen with Red Deer’s Jason MacDonald. 

It will be very interesting to see what Jason is able to do after committing to making MMA his one priority.  The guy has incredible skill and is one of the most well rounded guys in the 185 pound division.  He didn’t show great in his last fight, but a hungry Jason Day is going to be trouble for Kendall Grove come Saturday night.  I call a unanimous decision win for a guy Calgary will be behind at UFC 96.

This is the 2009 NHL Trade Deadline blog, where every single trade from March 4th will go down.  Check back here all day long as I’ll bring you every trade in chronological order, with the newest stuff starting at the top.

Please post your comments at the bottom, we’d like you to be commenting all day long with rumours and your thoughts on deals.  I’ll be respond to the comments and we’ll chat back and forth on here as the afternoon rolls along.

All of this is thanks to our great sponsors: Atlas Pizza & Sports Bar… the best pizza, pasta, steaks and ribs since 1975; Glenmore Audi test drive the new Q5 Sports Utility vehicle today; and BayWest Homes Discover the Power of the Red Pen at BaywestHomes.com.

To Toronto: G Olaf Kolzig, D Jamie Heward, D Andy Rodgers
To Tampa Bay: D Richard Petiot

To Edmonton: F Ales Kotalik
To Buffalo: 2nd round pick

To Edmonton: F Patrick O’Sullivan, 2nd round pick (Car)
To Carolina: F Erik Cole, 2nd round pick (LA)
To Los Angeles: F Justin Williams

To San Jose: F Travis Moen, D Kent Huskins
To Anaheim: Nick Bonnino, G Tim Pielmeier, Conditional Pick

To Philadelphia: D Kyle McLaren
To San Jose: 6th round pick

To Chicago: F Sami Pahlsson
To Anaheim: D James Wisniewski

To Calgary: 4th round pick
To Columbus: G Kevin Lalande

To Florida: D Steve Eminger
To Tampa Bay: D Noah Welch, 3rd round pick

To Anaheim: F Erik Christensen
To Atlanta: Eric O’Dell

To Buffalo: F Dominic Moore
To Toronto: 2nd round pick

To New York Rangers: D Derek Morris
To Phoenix: D Dmitri Kalinin,  FNigel Dawes, F Petr Prucha

To New York Rangers: F Nik Antropov
To Toronto: 2nd round pick, conditional pick

To Phoenix: F Scottie Upshall, 2nd round pick
To Philadelphia: Daniel Carcillo

To Pittsburgh: F Bill Guerin
To New York: Conditional Draft Pick

To Boston: F Mark Recchi, 2010 2nd round pick
To Tampa Bay: D Matt Lashoff, F Martins Karsums

To Boston: D Steve Montador
To Anaheim: F Petterri Nokelainen

To Calgary: F Olli Jokinen, 3rd round pick
To Phoenix: C Matthew Lombardi, F Brandon Prust, 1st round pick

Dallas claims Brendan Morrison off waivers from Anaheim; Toronto claims G Martin Gerber off waivers from Ottawa; Pittsburgh claims Craig Adams off waivers from Chicago 

To Buffalo: G Mikael Tellqvist
To Phoenix: 4th round pick

To Pittsburgh: Andy Wozniewski
St St. Louis: Danny Richmond

To Calgary: D Jordan Leopold
To Colorado: D Lawrence Nycholat, D Ryan Wilson, 2009 2nd round pick

To Columbus: F Antoine Vermette
To Ottawa: G Pascal Leclaire, 2nd round pick