The Links: Roughnecks force series-deciding Game 3; Bandits remain unbeatable after another Rock rout
Curt Malawsky, Calgary Roughnecks (Photo: Angela Burger)
We spent Sunday morning collecting all the media mentions from last night’s two Game 2s in the East & West Conference Finals.
In yet another one-sided scoreline skewering in the East, the Buffalo Bandits blew away the Toronto Rock 17-8, eliminating their long-time rivals and booking their third straight trip to the NLL Cup Finals.
Meanwhile, the Calgary Roughnecks did just enough to push the West Finals to a series-deciding Game 3 when they topped the Colorado Mammoth 13-12 at the Scotiabank Saddledome last night. The teams will meet again next Saturday to determine who’ll play the Bandits in the 2023 NLL Cup Finals.
Click here for The Lax Mag’s NLL Playoffs schedule, scores and more, plus keep reading for last night’s links from Hamilton & Calgary.
Buffalo Bandits, East Finals Game 3, FirstOntario Centre (Photo: Christian Bender)
For the second straight season, the East Conference Finals came to a conclusion at the FirstOntario Centre in Hamilton, Ontario, but unlike last year, the series-clinching results were unlike anything we’ve seen in previous Conference Finals.
The Bandits handed the Rock two of their worst postseason defeats in franchise history, last night authoritatively ending 2023’s ECFs with relative ease courtesy of a crushing 17-8 final. This was just 24 hours after their 14-5 victory against their bitter rival in Game 1 of what was an extremely short two-day series.
Buffalo’s combined score over their three playoff games so far this season sits at a simply absurd 51-21 tally and an equally enormous +30 goal differential. To put that in perspective, their average goal gap in wins over Rochester & Toronto is ten. The goal differential in all other 2023 playoff games that didn’t include the mighty Bandits? A tiny two.
Nick Rose and Dhane Smith (Photo: Christian Bender)
Last year, the Mammoth had the year’s highest playoff GD at +11. Although 2023’s Bandits have as many as three games to go before potentially breaking any additional records, below are the best goal differentials in NLL playoff history.
1994: Philadelphia Wings +21
2009: Calgary Roughnecks +21
2012: Edmonton Rush +17
1998: Philadelphia Wings +14
1999: Toronto Rock +14
1996: Buffalo Bandits +13
The Bandits were 3-0 during this year’s East Conference games, but that postseason win streak spans a lot further back. Since missing the playoffs in 2017 & 2018, Buffalo is 8-0 in East-based games during the playoffs. The season before that double postseason miss, they were 2-0 against the East in 2016 too.
As you’d expect, Buffalo forwards are dominating almost all individual player stats. Somewhat fittingly, Dhane Smith & Josh Byrne co-lead the league with 26-points apiece, Byrne & Chris Cloutier, who had a sock-trick last night (6G), co-lead the NLL with 11 goals each, while Smith’s 20 assists are easily #1 in that column too. Defenseman Bryce Sweeting tops the blocked-shots leaderboard with six, while teammate Matt Spanger’s four aren’t too far off. And of course, Buffalo backstop Matt Vinc, who has been at his brilliant best over three games, leads the league in GAA (7.07) and save percentage (87%). No one else comes all that close to Vinc in either category. As we pointed out in yesterday’s links, his super-slim stats are some of the lowest in NLL history.
Matt Vinc, Buffalo Bandits (Photo: Christian Bender)
Several hours before last night’s game, the Rock announced that forward Tom Schreiber was again moved to the team’s injured-reserve list. Schreiber, who missed Toronto’s NLL Quarterfinal game against Halifax with an upper-body injury, was activated for Game 1 of the East Finals. One of just two Rock players to score in the series opener, Schreiber took a number of significant hits throughout that game. The team has not disclosed the specifics of Schreiber’s injury. The Rock’s leading point producer during the regular season is also a star player in the professional field lacrosse league, the Premier Lacrosse League. The PLL begins their regular season in just a few short weeks. Schreiber plays for the Archers in that league.
Tom Schreiber, Toronto Rock (Photo: Christian Bender)
Even if you didn’t watch Game 3 of the ECFs, it wouldn’t take long to look at the scoresheet to determine when things went so sideways for Toronto. Tied at four with just under four minutes gone in the second quarter, Rock captain Challen Rogers was charged with a five-minute cross checking penalty after a hit on Bandits defensemen Justin Martin. The two players made stiff contact seconds before the cross check in question, Rogers clearly taking exception. An official was just a few feet away when the game-changing incident took place, immediately raising his arm to signify the penalty call. See a replay of the hit below. Rogers’ stick slid up on Martin’s chest as the Bandit fell backwards, the Buffalo defender throwing his head back with significant force after very visible contact was made.
The Bandits would score twice in the first 90ish seconds of the major penalty. Although Toronto returned to even strength, Rogers was required to remain off the floor until his full five minutes were served due to the severity of the infraction. Buffalo would punish Toronto for seven goals total while Rogers sat in the sin bin.
As we’ve pointed out in The Links over the last number of days, penalty calls have had doubled in comparison to a season ago during the playoffs, a trend that typically goes the other way once the postseason starts. A number of playoff games this year have seen critical goals scored in uneven situations.
“Ultimately it was my penalty,” said Rogers when asked about the margin of victory by the Bandits. “That five minute penalty I took they scored seven I think and that put us in a deep hole. That one is going to hurt for a while…That penalty killed us.”
As mentioned in the replay by TSN Commentator Pat Gregoire, Rogers had just 10 PIMs during the Rock’s 18-game regular season this year, dinged in just five games, zero majors assessed until last night. The last five-minute major Rogers registered was on March 22, 2019, an elbowing call against the Georgia Swarm.
Almost immediately after Rogers was released, Toronto teammate Josh Jubenville took his spot in the the penalty box with a five-minute major of his own for high sticking. For the next nearly 35 minutes, the closest the Rock ever came to the Bandits was six goals, eventually losing by nine for the second straight night.
The Bandits gave their post-game belt to Martin, who finished the contest with 1LB & 1CTO.
Then later tweeted…
The Bandits will get close to two weeks of no gameplay as they await the winner of the West Conference Finals, which as previously mentioned, will be decided next Saturday in Calgary. This will be the team’s fourth trip to the title game since 2016, losing the Cup to Saskatchewan (2016), Calgary (2019) and Colorado (2022) during that stretch. Buffalo last won the NLL Cup in 2008 when the final was still determined by just a single game (versus today’s best-of-three series).
Hamilton’s FirstOntario Centre had 8,304 fans in attendance, with plenty of orange jerseys seen throughout the arena. The Rock have been forced to relocate their home games for at least the 2023-24 NLL season, maybe longer, due to extensive renovations planned for the FOC. The team’s move from Toronto to Hamilton has been viewed largely as a successful one, the Rock earlier this year setting an attendance high in Hamilton which was also their biggest box office success in over a decade. The team has yet to confirm where they’ll be playing next year. FOC team tenants like the Ontario Hockey League’s Hamilton Bulldogs have already moved to Brantford for the time being, the Canadian Elite Basketball League’s Honey Badgers leaving Hamilton permanently for Brampton’s CAA Centre.
Unlike the East, the West Conference Finals have been considerably closer, the Roughnecks & Mammoth again seeing a game in their series decided by just a single goal.
Missing Tyler Pace in Game 1, Calgary got him back a few nights later, and Pace’s on-floor presence was again of the difference-making variety. Pace finished with a hat-trick, again credited with the game-winning goal in the Roughneck’s series-saving 13-12 win over their division rivals.
“That compete level is contagious. How do you not work just has hard when you see 77 competing like that,” said Calgary Head Coach Curt Malawsky on the play of reigning NLL Transition Player of the Year, Zach Currier, who had a ridiculous 17LB, 7CTO and late third-quarter goal that caused considerable chaos (more on that in a sec). Currier easily leads the playoffs in both loosies (39) and caused turnovers (16) after three games.
One of last night’s more intense moments came immediately after Currier scored that goal, making clear contact with goaltender Dillon Ward after the ball past the posts. Colorado defensemen Garrett McIntosh clearly didn’t appreciate Currier’s crash through the crease as much as the crowd (see vid below). Currier was assessed a two-minute penalty for goalie interference (the goal stands because it happened before the offence took place), McIntosh two for manhandling & punching his opponent afterwards (or officially a dead ball foul).
Christian Del Bianco & Ward put on incredible performances between the pipes, both goalies leading contenders for the postseason’s most valuable player so far one would think (and yes, we know it’s a Finals MVP that’s eventually named). “You have, in my opinion, two of the best goalies in the league,” Currier said. “Obviously, we would’ve liked this to go two in our favour. But it is what it is, and get another chance to go at them next weekend, and hopefully we come out of it on the right side of it.”
Calgary power forward Tanner Cook, who had a breakout sophomore campaign in the NLL during the regular season (32G, 31A), has continued his elevated play during the playoffs. Like Pace last night, Cook came away with a hat-trick in the victory. “Wardo’s a pretty good goalie, sometimes you have to throw the kitchen sink at him a little bit,” said Cook when asked how difficult it was to drop the bananas BTB in the video below…
Down 10-6 early in the fourth, Colorado’s usual clutch suspects came alive, most notably our 2023 Clutch King Connor Robinson, who netted a pair and assisted on two others during a comeback that fell just short.
Last year, the Mammoth also won Game 1 of the West Conference Finals, only to lose the second game of the series in an extremely close contest against the San Diego Seals. Like last year, they’ll be away from home as they attempt to win Game 3 and return to the NLL Cup Finals for a second straight year.
We visited the Denver Post online again, only to find not a single recent word posted about the city’s most successful team in 2023. A story titled “Distressed owl trapped in lacrosse netting rescued by Wheat Ridge officers” caught our interest, but the Post had that heavily guarded behind a paywall.
Colorado Mammoth at Calgary Roughnecks, 2023 WCF Game 3 (Photo: Jeff Pierce)
The Scotiabank Saddledome had 7,681 fans watching last night’s action on WestJet Field, with many more expected for next Saturday’s highly anticipated Game 3 at the same arena. Calgary’s Saddledome has hosted some of the largest playoff crowds in NLL history.
The West Conference Final’s series-deciding Game 3 takes place on Saturday, May 20 at 9:30pm ET and will be available on television in Canada on TSN, plus will steam live on both TSN+ & ESPN+. Click here to purchase tickets on Ticketmaster for that game.
Bandits.com confirms that Games 1 & 3 of the NLL Cup Finals will happen at Buffalo’s KeyBank Centre (the Bandits were the #1 postseason seed across both divisions), the site stating, “Game 1 will take place at KeyBank Center Memorial Day weekend – exact date still to be announced.” Game time is 7:30pm ET. Again, click here to visit Ticketmaster and secure your seats.