How Strong Are The Bandits For 2007

[shotgun]

Hey guys most of u know the nll league better then i do .
How strong are the bandits this year are thay the best in the east .
can thay make another run to the nll cup? how is there dpth..

thanks guys !!


gun

[MacRazor]

The new rule tweaks will have us scrapping for a playoff spot. BDS will serve at least 9 games in suspensions IMO. Laverty will get 4 games off, Couling and McCready too. A trip to the final, not likely until Darris hands the keys over to Cordingly. Buckle up for a roller-coaster season.

[Bandit]

I disagree with Mac. (Hey, we're married, that's what I'm supposed to do!)

I think that the division is the Bandits to lose at this point. The lineup hasn't changed all that much from last year's 11-5 team, and the addition of Kevin Dostie will only improve on last year's core. I've heard nothing but good about Brett Bucktooth as well. He should step in and make an immediate contribution. We already had a tremendous amount of firepower with Tavares, Teat, Powless, Steenhuis and Crosbie. Bucktooth and Dostie just add to that.

I'm not sold on Tony Henderson, but he is good for a goal or two a game as long as he doesn't have to run, or catch. He spends a good amount of time goal hanging, so when the ball does accidentally fall into his stick it usually ends up in the net. Even a blind squirrel finds a nut sometimes.

We have 2 of the top transition players in the league (IMO) in Steenhuis and McCready.

We still have the league's top goaltender, although he will miss the first game, he should be back by game 2. Mike Thompson should fill in nicely when he's needed, even though he doesn't have a whole lot of NLL experience. The defensive core is pretty much intact as well. We lost Langdale to apparent injury, and we'll miss him. But we still have Couling, Laverty, Hill and White. (And Billy Dee if he can keep his head out of his ass.) Toss in the size of Bonterre, Seymour and Sorci and we've got a pretty formidable defense.

Will the Billy Dee rule bite us? I'm sure it will once or twice, but not as bad as Mac thinks it will. Billy will sit a game or 5, but I think the rest of the D has much better self control. I also think that we have enough D power to be able to play our game without one of the core D guys if they should lose their head and have to sit a game. And I can just about bet that if they have to sit one game, it won't happen again. (And for the record, Billy Dee did not have the highest number of PIM last season, despite his tendancy to lose his cool and take the dumbest penalties at the most inopportune times.)

Philly has made some moves to improve their team, but I don't think it's enough to take them from out of the playoffs to division champs in just one season. Rochester has really done nothing to improve. While they are still a damn good team, they're getting old. They have the same fate every year, and this year should be no different. The jury is still out on Toronto. Trading Doyle, IMO, will leave a huge hole that will not be easily filled with their current roster. Yes, they needed to get some younger legs in there, as they're getting pretty old as well, but Doyle left some pretty big shoes to fill, and I don't see the youngsters they got in that trade filling them just yet. Maybe next year or the year after. Chicago and NY look to be pretty solid, for expansion teams, but I don't think they're solid enough to take the division.

I also like that Cordingley is taking over the D and the new assistant, Ron Henry will be running the offense. Darris has implemented a new system, so between these two changes I think we as fans may be pleasantly surprised with the product we see on the floor.

Time will tell I guess!

Bandit

[BanditsRock11]

I disagree with Mac. (Hey, we're married, that's what I'm supposed to do!)

I think that the division is the Bandits to lose at this point. The lineup hasn't changed all that much from last year's 11-5 team, and the addition of Kevin Dostie will only improve on last year's core. I've heard nothing but good about Brett Bucktooth as well. He should step in and make an immediate contribution. We already had a tremendous amount of firepower with Tavares, Teat, Powless, Steenhuis and Crosbie. Bucktooth and Dostie just add to that.

I'm not sold on Tony Henderson, but he is good for a goal or two a game as long as he doesn't have to run, or catch. He spends a good amount of time goal hanging, so when the ball does accidentally fall into his stick it usually ends up in the net. Even a blind squirrel finds a nut sometimes.

We have 2 of the top transition players in the league (IMO) in Steenhuis and McCready.

We still have the league's top goaltender, although he will miss the first game, he should be back by game 2. Mike Thompson should fill in nicely when he's needed, even though he doesn't have a whole lot of NLL experience. The defensive core is pretty much intact as well. We lost Langdale to apparent injury, and we'll miss him. But we still have Couling, Laverty, Hill and White. (And Billy Dee if he can keep his head out of his ass.) Toss in the size of Bonterre, Seymour and Sorci and we've got a pretty formidable defense.

Will the Billy Dee rule bite us? I'm sure it will once or twice, but not as bad as Mac thinks it will. Billy will sit a game or 5, but I think the rest of the D has much better self control. I also think that we have enough D power to be able to play our game without one of the core D guys if they should lose their head and have to sit a game. And I can just about bet that if they have to sit one game, it won't happen again. (And for the record, Billy Dee did not have the highest number of PIM last season, despite his tendancy to lose his cool and take the dumbest penalties at the most inopportune times.)

Philly has made some moves to improve their team, but I don't think it's enough to take them from out of the playoffs to division champs in just one season. Rochester has really done nothing to improve. While they are still a damn good team, they're getting old. They have the same fate every year, and this year should be no different. The jury is still out on Toronto. Trading Doyle, IMO, will leave a huge hole that will not be easily filled with their current roster. Yes, they needed to get some younger legs in there, as they're getting pretty old as well, but Doyle left some pretty big shoes to fill, and I don't see the youngsters they got in that trade filling them just yet. Maybe next year or the year after. Chicago and NY look to be pretty solid, for expansion teams, but I don't think they're solid enough to take the division.

I also like that Cordingley is taking over the D and the new assistant, Ron Henry will be running the offense. Darris has implemented a new system, so between these two changes I think we as fans may be pleasantly surprised with the product we see on the floor.

Time will tell I guess!

Bandit

Great post. I dont even have anything I can really add.

[Snarf]

I disagree with Mac. (Hey, we're married, that's what I'm supposed to do!)


We still have the league's top goaltender, although he will miss the first game, he should be back by game 2. Mike Thompson should fill in nicely when he's needed, even though he doesn't have a whole lot of NLL experience.
Bandit


Um, what did I miss. Why is Chugger going to miss Saturday's game? So that will be three guys missing Saturday againts Portland? I must say that don't look so good.

I must admit I know nothing about Mike Thompson, where did we get him, has he played in the NLL, or just box lacrosse in Canada?

[BanditsRock11]

Um, what did I miss. Why is Chugger going to miss Saturday's game? So that will be three guys missing Saturday againts Portland? I must say that don't look so good.

I must admit I know nothing about Mike Thompson, where did we get him, has he played in the NLL, or just box lacrosse in Canada?


Chugger had minor knee surgery about 3 weeks ago, so he'll, miss tomorrow night, but should be back for the home opener. I posted a pregame article that talks all about it in another thread.

Thompson is from Salamanca and we signed him in August. As far as I know he played in the NLL for Ottawa in 2001, he played in 8 games, had 8 loose balls, gave up 21 goals in 38 career mins and has 27 career saves for a lovely 32.76 GAA.

I sure hope hes improved since then, granted Ottawa was a terrible team.

[Bandit]

Mike Thompson played for Darris in Akwesasne last summer. He played in 17 games, allowed only 162 goals for a GAA of 9.87. Unfortunatley, the OLA doesn't track goalie stats like the NLL does, so there isn't any SV% available, but he did also record 11 assists in those 17 games.

I'd say that was an improvement over his days in Ottawa. Yes, the OLA is a bit different than the NLL, (although not as different as they used to be) and success in one does not always equal success in the other, however, would you rather have Derek General back?

I rest my case. :n4clapping:

Relax. He'll be fine.

Bandit

[D34dm4n]

i must have missed a post on this or something, but what is this new rule tweak everyone is talkin about?

[Bandit]

In a nut shell, checking from behind, cross checks to the head are now an automatic 1 game suspension for the first offense and 4 games for the second. The rule is also written to allow the league further disciplinary action once they review the game tape.

Bandit

[Snarf]

In a nut shell, checking from behind, cross checks to the head are now an automatic 1 game suspension for the first offense and 4 games for the second. The rule is also written to allow the league further disciplinary action once they review the game tape.

Bandit


So is there going to be anyone left to play for Colorado or Rochester since those two teams could not stop hitting each other in the head.

[buffmattky]

this maybe anti-Bandits of me but I like the new rules only for this purpose - I think we can all agree that if Billy Dee can rein in his actions he can become a HUGELY powerful player in the league as a whole on the defensive end. Aside from Bonterre he's the only real "big" guy that we have when I think of years past playing Toronto specifically when it seemed like they had 3 or 4 players at 7feet tall on defense (clearly I exaggerate but you get my point).

If BDS doesn't learn and gets suspended, the games that he's out means less Penalty Kill for those boys (I think last night may very well have been an example of that).

just my opinion of course and certainly I want to see a return to the Champions CUp FInal (and hopefully a victory)