Top 25: Most games played without winning an NLL Cup
Brodie Merrill, San Diego Seals (Photo: Jenn Pierce)
There are just three short weeks of lacrosse to go during this year’s National Lacrosse League regular season.
Only three teams have their postseason spots sewn up, the: Toronto Rock (12-3), San Diego Seals (11-4) and Albany FireWolves (10-5). Only the Las Vegas Desert Dogs (4-11) have been officially eliminated, but a handful of teams will need a minor miracle to get in.
Prior to winning last year’s NLL Cup, Steve Priolo had played a combined (regular season + playoffs) 226 games in the NLL and had yet to take the title until the Buffalo Bandits won it all just over a year ago. It was the third longest active-player streak at the time, a list Priolo is likely very glad to no longer be on.
Does winning a Cup define a player’s career to any degree?
Steve Priolo, Buffalo Bandits (Photo: Michael Hetzel)
While Hall of Fame selections are an individual accolade, winning an NLL Cup seems to help getting retired greats inducted – like a lot! Of the 31 players and coaches currently in the NLL’s extremely exclusive Hall, only two have never won an NLL Cup, and coincidently both are two of the few Americans in there: Sal LoCascio (64 GP) and Casey Powell (150 GP).
Right now, heading into the third-last weekend of the 2024 NLL regular season, there are a total of 40 active players who’ve registered at least 100 combined games during the regular season and playoffs that have never won an NLL Cup during their careers. There are nearly a dozen more with 90 to 99 GPs and no Cup on their resume.
We’ve pulled the Top 25 GP totals of active players still searching for their first NLL Cup victory. Spoiler alert: Brodie Merrill, who this past summer retired and then recently came back is #1 on that list with exactly 300 games played on his resume.
Considered one of the greatest to ever play in the league, the motivation behind Merrill’s surprise return to San Diego is clear: win that fucking Cup already! The 42-year-old Merrill has made two Finals during his now 18-year career – early on with the Portland Lumberjax in 2008 (lost to Buffalo) and then with the Toronto Rock in 2015 (lost to Edmonton). This must surely be his last kick at the can Cup, right?
There a several players that suited up for the 2016 Bandits, who lost in the Finals that year, that left the team prior to last year’s Cup win and find themselves on the Top 25 below: Ryan Benesch, Jay Thorimbert, David Brock, Kevin Brownell, Mitch Jones, Mitch de Snoo, and although he ranks 28th right now, Tony Malcom too. In fact, only Priolo, Dhane Smith and Nick Weiss remained on that team in 2023 and still do today. All three won their first NLL Cup last year.
Mitch Jones, Tony Malcom, Ryan Benesch and Chad Culp, Buffalo Bandits, 2016 NLL Cup Finals
While no Las Vegas players made the Top 25 (Jacob Ruest with 123 games played is their highest at 27th overall), others that might be eliminated as early as this weekend could see their Cup hopes crashing after yet another frustrating season.
Who is most likely to erase their name from this undesirable Cup-lacking countdown?
It’s hard to say, but yesterday the league did tell us when it will happen. The NLL has confirmed dates for their three playoff rounds, the Finals scheduled to take place during the last two weekends of May.
1. Brodie Merrill
Current Team: San Diego Seals
Playing Since: 2006
Regular Season: 277
Playoffs: 23
Total GP: 300
2. Ryan Benesch
Current Team: Halifax Thunderbirds
Playing Since: 2007
Regular Season: 271
Playoffs: 19
Total GP: 290
3. Callum Crawford
Current Team: Panther City Lacrosse Club
Playing Since: 2006
Regular Season: 256
Playoffs: 15
Total GP: 271
4. Nick Rose
Current Team: Toronto Rock
Playing Since: 2010
Regular Season: 224
Playoffs: 22
Total GP: 246
Nick Rose, Toronto Rock (Photo: Ryan McCullough)
5. Jay Thorimbert
Current Team: New York Riptide
Playing Since: 2009
Regular Season: 228
Playoffs: 16
Total GP: 244
6. Corey Small
Current Team: Toronto Rock
Playing Since: 2010
Regular Season: 210
Playoffs: 15
Total GP: 225
7. Frank Scigliano
Current Team: Saskatchewan Rush
Playing Since: 2012
Regular Season: 192
Playoffs: 25
Total GP: 217
8. Kevin Crowley
Current Team: Vancouver Warriors
Playing Since: 2012
Regular Season: 198
Playoffs: 14
Total GP: 212
9. Joe Resetarits
Current Team: Philadelphia Wings
Playing Since: 2013
Regular Season: 178
Playoffs: 17
Total GP: 195
Cam Holding, San Diego Seals (Photo: John Harrison)
10. Cam Holding
Current Team: San Diego Seals
Playing Since: 2012
Regular Season: 175
Playoffs: 14
Total GP: 189
11. Damon Edwards
Current Team: New York Riptide
Playing Since: 2011
Regular Season: 174
Playoffs: 14
Total GP: 188
12. David Brock
Current Team: Halifax Thunderbirds
Playing Since: 2011
Regular Season: 174
Playoffs: 13
Total GP: 187
13. Billy Hostrawser
Current Team: Toronto Rock
Playing Since: 2013
Regular Season: 171
Playoffs: 15
Total GP: 186
14. Kevin Brownell
Current Team: New York Riptide
Playing Since: 2013
Regular Season: 167
Playoffs: 15
Total GP: 182
Dan Coates, Rochester Knighthawks (Photo: Micheline Veluvolu)
15. Dan Coates
Current Team: Rochester Knighthawks
Playing Since: 2012
Regular Season: 163
Playoffs: 11
Total GP: 174
16. Zach Higgins
Current Team: Philadelphia Wings
Playing Since: 2014
Regular Season: 153
Playoffs: 6
Total GP: 159
17. Brad Kri
Current Team: Toronto Rock
Playing Since: 2014
Regular Season: 143
Playoffs: 11
Total GP: 154
18. Graeme Hossack
Current Team: Halifax Thunderbirds
Playing Since: 2016
Regular Season: 136
Playoffs: 7
Total GP: 143
Graeme Hossack, Halifax Thunderbirds (Photo: Trevor MacMillan)
19. Jesse Gamble
Current Team: San Diego Seals
Playing Since: 2012
Regular Season: 125
Playoffs: 13
Total GP: 138
20. Mitch Jones
Current Team: Philadelphia Wings
Playing Since: 2013
Regular Season: 132
Playoffs: 5
Total GP: 137
21. Sheldon Burns
Current Team: Toronto Rock
Playing Since: 2015
Regular Season: 126
Playoffs: 10
Total GP: 136
22. Reilly O’Connor
Current Team: New York Riptide
Playing Since: 2016
Regular Season: 128
Playoffs: 7
Total GP: 135
23. Mitch de Snoo
Current Team: Toronto Rock
Playing Since: 2016
Regular Season: 121
Playoffs: 14
Total GP: 135
24. Logan Schuss
Current Team: Calgary Roughnecks
Playing Since: 2014
Regular Season: 133
Playoffs: 1
Total GP: 134
25. Wes Berg
Current Team: San Diego Seals
Playing Since: 2016
Regular Season: 116
Playoffs: 10
Total GP: 126