NLL Power Rankings: Week 22

Every week during the 2022-23 National Lacrosse League season, The Lax Mag will publish updated NLL Power Rankings reflecting the previous week’s performances, as well as incorporating a team’s overall regular season rep, status, and success rate.

With the 2023 NLL Playoffs just days away from starting, in this week’s final edition of the NLL Power Rankings, we’re looking at the former Cup winners teams have on their current roster, plus how many rings each of those past champs possesses.

Does having Cup-winning experience on your roster matter when in search of success? Probably, but also not always.

Former Cup winners Dillon Ward & John Tavares (Photo: Bill Wippert)

There are five rosters with five or more Cup winners on them right now: Colorado (20), Calgary (11), Saskatchewan (9), Georgia (6), Philadelphia (6) and Vancouver (5). Just two of those teams have qualified for this year’s playoffs. Three of this year’s most consistent clubs – Toronto (3), Buffalo (2) and San Diego (2) – barely have a former title taker on the team.

Last year’s NLL Cup Finalists, the Colorado Mammoth & Buffalo Bandits, had more rings on their coaches’ fingers than all of their players digits combined. That of course changed after Colorado clinched the Cup, the Mammoth entering this year’s playoffs with the most former Cup winners in their lineup.

Buffalo Bandits 14-4 (1)

Matt Vinc (3) and Ethan O’Connor (1)

They’ve been to the Finals three times over the last five full seasons, and have come up empty. Will all those Cup losses and a season of perseverance finally push them over the top?

San Diego Seals 14-4 (2)

Dane Dobbie (2) and Curtis Dickson (1)

Like the Bandits, most of their playoff success is owned by their coaches when they competed in the league, but adding prized offseason pickups Dane Dobbie & Curtis Dickson over the last two years gives them two motivated Cup winners that won their most recent together in Calgary.

Toronto Rock 13-5 (3)

Dan Dawson (3), Chris Corbeil (3) and Stephen Keogh (3)

They tripled the ring count on their roster this past offseason with the additions of Chris Corbeil & Stephen Keogh. The last time they found themselves in the NLL Finals (2015), the Rock had nine players with past Cup-winning success. Three players still searching for their first NLL Cup that played for Toronto that year are now in San Diego (Brodie Merrill, Jesse Gamble and Kevin Crowley), as are most of the Seals’ coaching staff (Pat Merrill & Josh Sanderson).

Calgary Roughnecks 13-5 (4)

Jeff Cornwall (3), Dan Taylor (3), Jesse King (1), Tyler Pace (1), Zach Currier (1), Shane Simpson (1), Chris Del Bianco (1), Eli Salama (1), Curtis Manning (1), Mitch Wilde (1) and Reece Callies (1)

With a Cup win in 2019, Calgary has a significant amount of rings on their roster (15) and the second-most individual Cup clinchers too (11). The player with the most titles on the team, Jeff Cornwall, won all his with the Edmonton/Saskatchewan Rush.

Colorado Mammoth 9-9 (5)

John Lintz (4), Eli McLaughlin (1), Zed Williams (1), Connor Robinson (1), Ryan Lee (1), Chris Wardle (1), Tyson Gibson (1), Dylan Kinnear (1), Brett McIntyre (1), Robert Hope (1), Tim Edwards (1), Jordan Gilles (1), Jalen Chaster (1), Dillon Ward (1), Josh Sullivan (1), Anthony Joaquim (1), Warren Jeffrey (1), Joey Cupido (1) and Brett Craig (1)

They won last year and made few moves, so the Mammoth lead the league in both the amount of Cup winners on their roster (20) and total rings (25). Prior to last year’s heroics, however, Colorado had just three former winners on the team: John Lintz, Tyler Carlson and the since-retired Scott Carnegie.

Panther City Lacrosse Club 10-8 (8)

Tyler Burton (4), Matt Hossack (1) and Connor Sellers (1)

Last summer, PCLC essentially swapped one multi-Cup winner (Jeremy Thompson, traded to Georgia) for another (Tyler Burton, free agent), plus have Connor Sellers (Georgia 2017) & Matt Hossack (Saskatchewan 2018) to lean on for experience too.

Halifax Thunderbirds 10-8 (9)

Cody Jamieson (3), Randy Staats (1) and Tyson Bell (1)

Cody Jamieson is the lone player left from the team’s 2012-2014 three-peat (he’s one of the few to be named a Finals MVP twice too), while both Randy Staats (Georgia 2017) & Tyson Bell (Calgary 2019) played massively meaningful minutes during their recent Cup wins in other cities.

Philadelphia Wings 9-9 (11)

Ben McIntosh (3), Ian Llord (3), Angus Goodleaf (2), Kiel Matisz (1), Chad Tutton (1) and Alex Crepinsek (1)

The league’s oldest roster also not so surprisingly has an above average amount of Cup winners, half of which came from the Swarm’s 2017 success.

Rochester Knighthawks 10-8 (8)

Curtis Knight (3) and Paul Dawson (2)

Not a ton of titles on their still-young roster, but the ones Rochester does have come in the way of their two biggest leaders on and off the floor.

Georgia Swarm 8-10 (7)

Jeremy Thompson (3), Lyle Thompson (1), Shayne Jackson (1), Bryan Cole (1), Jordan MacIntosh (1) and John Ranagan (1)

Just five players remain from the team’s 2017 title, and one of them (John Ranagan) just came back in recent months. Miles Thompson would have been another ringer, but he’s been on the IR since just before the start of the 2022-23 season. Thompson is also one of only four players in NLL history to win his team a Cup in OT.

Saskatchewan Rush 8-10 (10)

Robert Church (3), Mark Matthews (3), Marty Dinsdale (3), Ryan Dilks (3), Kyle Rusbich (3), Rhys Duch (2), Ryan Keenan (1), Mike Messenger (1) and Matt Beers (1)

How many of the above vets will remain with the Rush over the offseason? Some will be free agents, some have already been included in trade talks, plus GM Derek Keenan did drop the R word (“rebuild”, relax) in a letter to fans this week when referencing the Rush’s glory years.

New York Riptide 5-13 (14)

Jay Thorimbert (1), Chad Cummings (1) and Dan MacRae (1)

With Dan MacRae on the IR for most of the season (played just two games), New York were without their defensive leader and one of their few former Cup winners during a season they most definitely needed him on the floor.

Las Vegas Desert Dogs 5-13 (12)

Zack Greer (1), Rob Hellyer (1) and Erik Turner (1)

Can the Desert Dogs convince any more Cup winners as good as Zack Greer was in 2023 to come to Vegas next year, a city most players told us they’d love to end up if they were forced to pick a new NLL destination?

Vancouver Warriors 4-14 (13)

Brett Mydske (3), Aaron Bold (2), Riley Loewen (2), Shawn Evans (1) and Tyler Codron (1)

Most of the above Cup wins happened a bit ago, but Vancouver HC and interim GM Troy Cordingley has proved in the past he can retool teams into contenders rather quickly.

Albany FireWolves 3-15 (15)

John Lafontaine (2) and Brett Manney (1)

There are not many former Cup winners on the current Albany roster (tied for last in the league), but maybe they’ll find some this summer. HC & GM Glenn Clark told the Times Union he’s hoping to add upwards of eight or nine new names to a roster that has already seen significant upheaval over the past two years.