By Tom Hoffman
Proving that they are still a young team and a work in progress, the Philadelphia Wings rode a hot third quarter and held on to defeat the NLL's defending champs from Rochester by a 15-14 score. Athan Iannucci once again took game MVP honors, but this time solo, with a five goal, eight point evening. A crowd of 9,248 witnessed the penalty filled game at Philadelphia's Wachovia Center.
For the second straight week the Wings jumped out to a 3-0 lead, only to see their opponent come right back to tie the game. A Rob Blasdell outlet to Kyle Sweeney regained the lead for the Wings and was followed up by the first of three goals from top draft pick Merrick Thomson. The Knighthawks (1-2) scored three of the next four goals, including a penalty shot by John Grant Jr. before a Jake Bergey goal in the final minute gave the Wings a 7-6 halftime advantage.
Thomson started the third by completing his hat trick. After a Shawn Evans goal made it 9-7, the Wings scored the next four goals and had the building rocking heading into the fourth. That's when the defending champs came to life. Grant, held to just the penalty shot goal through three quarters, would score four times in the final stanza to take the comfort level away from the Wings and their faithful following. Many in the crowd were hoping Jamie Rooney's goal with a minute and 32 seconds left would be an insurance goal but it would turn out to be the game winner after Grant's fifth goal of the game and a goal by Matt Lyons with goalie Pat O'Toole yanked for an extra attacker cut the Wing lead to one. But the defense would shut the door on the Knighthawks in the final seconds and the Wings could enjoy moving on to a 2-0 start.
In addition to big nights from Iannucci and Thomson, Jake Bergey had another big game with four goals and three assists. Rob Blasdell made 37 saves in the effort. Now the Wings have to get ready for another explosive team when they host the Buffalo Bandits next Saturday evening before having a near three week break between games.
Discuss this article in the LAXPhilly Forums
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Wings Game #2 (1-18-08 vs. Rochester)
By Tom Hoffman
Following their impressive opening night victory over the Chicago Shamrox, the Philadelphia Wings look to go to 2-0 when they host the defending NLL Champion Rochester Knighthawks (1-1) Friday night at the Wachovia Center. Faceoff is at 8 PM.
Last Game
The Wings exploded in the fourth quarter with nine goals en route to a 19-11 win over Chicago Saturday night. Athan Iannucci (Five goals, one assist) and Jake Bergey (four goals, two assists)were named co-MVP's for their performances against the Shamrox. Rookie Merrick Thomson also added four goals in his Wings and NLL debut while Jason Crosbie dished out six assists. Rob Blasdell made 38 saves in net. Both Crosbie and Blasdell were making their first appearances with the Wings.
History
The Wings are 13-16 all time vs Rochester in regular season play, with a 9-7 record at home. In 2007, the Knighthawks won both matchups, 14-13 at the Wachovia Center March 3rd and 12-10 in Rochester on March 31st.
First timers
In addition to Thomson, Crosbie and Blasdell, several others made their debuts for the Wings. Jim Borell, Brenden Thenhaus, Jamie Rooney, Pat Heim and Taylor Wray all had solid games in their first appearances in front of the Philly faithful.
Quirky Stats of the week
When Rob Blasdell started in goal Saturday night, he became the fourth different opening night starter in the last four seasons (Dallas Eliuk in 2005, Matt Roik in 2006 and Jay Preece in 2007).
A Wings victory would give them wins in their first two home games for the first time since 2002 (NY 11-10 and Buffalo 8-7). It would also be their ninth 2-0 start in team history (1989, 90, 93, 97, 98, 2001, 04, 06).
Quotes from the Chicago game
Coach Dave Huntley: "It was fun. Obviously we have got a lot of young kids the team who looked absolutely terrific tonight. I think some of our old guys showed they can still play, it was a great opening night for Jake (Bergey). Every part of our game was clicking."
"Chicago's a team for us, we knew was going to be a tough team with the way they transition out of their end. We couldn't give them easy goals. I was very proud, particularly our young guys (Pat Heim, Jim Borell, Brenden Thenhaus, John Christmas), they were really fast at taking their transition away."
Merrick Thomson:"Everyone was moving the ball around pretty well and we had a lot of scorers. Our offense for the first game looked pretty good."
Next Game
The Wings will finish their three game homestand to open the 2008 season with a matchup against the Buffalo Bandits on January 26.
Following their impressive opening night victory over the Chicago Shamrox, the Philadelphia Wings look to go to 2-0 when they host the defending NLL Champion Rochester Knighthawks (1-1) Friday night at the Wachovia Center. Faceoff is at 8 PM.
Last Game
The Wings exploded in the fourth quarter with nine goals en route to a 19-11 win over Chicago Saturday night. Athan Iannucci (Five goals, one assist) and Jake Bergey (four goals, two assists)were named co-MVP's for their performances against the Shamrox. Rookie Merrick Thomson also added four goals in his Wings and NLL debut while Jason Crosbie dished out six assists. Rob Blasdell made 38 saves in net. Both Crosbie and Blasdell were making their first appearances with the Wings.
History
The Wings are 13-16 all time vs Rochester in regular season play, with a 9-7 record at home. In 2007, the Knighthawks won both matchups, 14-13 at the Wachovia Center March 3rd and 12-10 in Rochester on March 31st.
First timers
In addition to Thomson, Crosbie and Blasdell, several others made their debuts for the Wings. Jim Borell, Brenden Thenhaus, Jamie Rooney, Pat Heim and Taylor Wray all had solid games in their first appearances in front of the Philly faithful.
Quirky Stats of the week
When Rob Blasdell started in goal Saturday night, he became the fourth different opening night starter in the last four seasons (Dallas Eliuk in 2005, Matt Roik in 2006 and Jay Preece in 2007).
A Wings victory would give them wins in their first two home games for the first time since 2002 (NY 11-10 and Buffalo 8-7). It would also be their ninth 2-0 start in team history (1989, 90, 93, 97, 98, 2001, 04, 06).
Quotes from the Chicago game
Coach Dave Huntley: "It was fun. Obviously we have got a lot of young kids the team who looked absolutely terrific tonight. I think some of our old guys showed they can still play, it was a great opening night for Jake (Bergey). Every part of our game was clicking."
"Chicago's a team for us, we knew was going to be a tough team with the way they transition out of their end. We couldn't give them easy goals. I was very proud, particularly our young guys (Pat Heim, Jim Borell, Brenden Thenhaus, John Christmas), they were really fast at taking their transition away."
Merrick Thomson:"Everyone was moving the ball around pretty well and we had a lot of scorers. Our offense for the first game looked pretty good."
Next Game
The Wings will finish their three game homestand to open the 2008 season with a matchup against the Buffalo Bandits on January 26.
Monday, January 14, 2008
Dave Huntley on Wings Home Opener
Correspondant, Kevin M. Neibauer continues his post game interviews the Coach of the Philadelphia Wings.
New Season, New Coach...Dave Huntley returns to Philadelphia to begin his second reign as the head guy behind the Wings bench.
Huntley was kind enough to take a few minutes to analyze the 19-11 Wings blowout of the Chicago Shamrox.
We also have a short interview with the Commissioner of the National Lacrosse League, Jim Jennings. Jennings spoke on a variety of topics. But first, heeeere's Dave.
KMN-" 72 shots.....19 goals, 13 goal second half...".
DH-"Obviuosly, it was a great start, we played seven new faces tonight in our line-up, that's not common in this league. I thought the new guys were terrific.
The old guys, in particular, Jake Bergey had a great night, we are very happy for him, he played very well. Everybody played great."
KMN-"Did you expect the performance of Merrick Thomson?"
DH-"Yeah, I did. To be honest with you, we drafted Merrick number two, He was the second pick in the draft, so obviously we thought he was real good. What we found since training camp is that he is, and I have told everybody who would listen, is that he is actually better than we thought he was. We thought he was real good anyway, and was better tonight. I don't know when he is going to stop getting better."
KMN-"At the end of the first half, you had a nice little roll going and Merrick took that five minute penalty, that was obvioisly a rookie mistake, but he rebounded very nicely and it didn't seem to bother him."
DH-"Yeah, I think maybe he should only get a two minute call for that, it was amazing how quick that the guy got up, but that happens, it wasn't that hard of a blow, when your setting a pick like that it can happen, but he didn't let it get him down. The credit for that really goes to Jason Crosbie, he is like a coach on the floor. We brought him in from Buffalo and he has been absoultely terrific with Merrick and sure enough, the first guy that talked to Merrick after he came back to bench was Jason to make sure he was wired in, because he felt bad, we were on a good roll, but, he got right back to business."
KMN-"Not an older guy, but a bit of a veteran guy, Johnny Christmas seemed like he was all over the place tonight. Your thoughts?"
DH-"Absolutely. We've given John a transition role this season, we work our transitions into the offense and the defense, and John tonight, as well as all our transition guys, Chicago gets out of their zone quickly and like to speed things up, the guys who had to stop that tonight were our five transition guys, John, Brendan Thenhaus,Jimmy Borell, Geoff Snider and Pat Heim, and they did a great job...John in particular. John was great for us, offensively,he had a huge hit, unfortunately, he got a penalty. It was a great hit to kill a break, but that's the kind of energy and play that I am very excited about."
KMN-"Wings down two men, Rob Van Beek picks up the ball, lowers his shoulder, plows one player, continues on and plows another, then it culminates with him drawing a penalty. How big of a lift was that?"
DH-"When you're down like that and you get that kind of physical play, that's the kind of play that everybody is expecting from Rob, thats leadership, the willingness to put yourself out tlike that, we got a great reward for his hustle....everybody made plays tonight."
KMN-"The last few seasons, the team goes on a two or three goal roll, get momentum and allows a goal to kill momentum. Matt Roik is a great golaie, but at times, he just didn't make that big save when you needed it. Rob Blasdell didn't have to be spectacular, just make the save when it was needed, tonight, he did....Your thoughts?"
DH-"It was tough thing for Matt when we drafted Rob, and Matt is still on the roster. We brought Robbie in for a reason, and he was solid tonight, I was kind of hoping that we would hold them under ten, not that it really matters, but it would have been nice to get an eight or nine goal night."
"Our defense made it a lot easier as well, I think we have the most athletic defense in the league but also the most offensive skill and it showed tonight, we were very, very good at picking up loose balls, getting out the lines of fire and not giving up second chances, I think any goalie likes that."
KMN-"Nedless to say, a big game coming up Friday.."
DH-"Eddie Comeau is probably one of my better friends in the Coaching business, I have all the admiration in the World for him. They will be well prepared. They won't be surprised by anything that we do. Look at the talent on that team, Shawn Williams, John Grant, both the Evans brothers,
Stevie Toll, Regy Thorpe, the list just goes on and on. Steven Hoar, who I would be remissed if I didn't say, played for me in 2006. It's a real good team. But, you know what? I think we have a real good team. It's gonna be a great test for our guys."
KMN-"The officials called a lot in the first quarter, then seemed to level off...thoughts"
DH-"I think the referees have been directed to be really careful with the high hits, To be honest, if a guy is getting hitting the head then I am glad they are calling it. It could ruin a guy's career, they were probably a little tight with some of the other stuff, but the game still had good flow to it, I think the refs did a good job....you always do when you win.
Thanks Dave Huntley.
Now, onto Jim Jennings.
KMN-"Thoughts on the upcoming season?"
JJ-"We're expecting a lot of really good things, the crowds have been good, we had a sell-out in Buffalo last night, so were excited about that.
Toronto had a really good crowd, the fans seem to be coming back, Calgary is expecting a good crowd tonight."
KMN-"The collective bargaining, that's all put to bed?"
JJ-"Yeah, we don't have to deal with that for at least five years anyway. We have a seven year agreement, but they (The Players) have an option
to open it up again after five.'
KMN-"Arizona and Boston, what is their status?"
JJ-"Boston will back for sure, Arizona is up for sale. So we don't know what's going to happen with them. Hopefully we can find a way to keep Arizon there"
KMN-"The players drafted in the dispersal draft will go back if Arizona comes back, if not they are free agents?"
JJ-"Yeah, that's right."
KMN-"Strong teams? Weak teams?"
JJ-"It's hard to say, with two teams not playing this year. With Arizona dispersing their players, there is a lot more parity in the league."
"The Wings looked very strong tonight. They have a great coach there. Dave Huntley is a great coach, so i think they will do very well this year."
KMN-"I guess as commissioner, you love the parity?"
JJ-"Yeah parity is always good, you always like to see that. That's gonna continue in this league, even as we expand. As more colleges get lacrosse were going to see more players."
KMN-"Expansion is in the plans?"
JJ-"Yes, we have applications from Dallas, Orlando, St.Louis and Seattle. Our goal is to get into cities and turn people onto the game."
Thanks to the NLL and Jim Jennings....
From the Did You Notice File......
Tom Hajek will be available to play Friday against Rochester, apparently, he was serving a one game suspension for a pre-season incident.
Dan Finck was in the building. He is sitting out the season (for now) in an effort to get his Green Card.
Nick Schroeder in the building? He has "officially" retired.....but, didn't seem too convincing of it.
Jake Bergey's dad, former Eagle, Bill was in attendance as usual, with new Lacrosse and Wings fan, Philadelphia Eagles Tight End, Brent Celek.
Tom Ryan and Randy Fraser both in the building, probably scouting.
Kyle Wailes has still b\not worked out his VISA problems with Canada.
And finally.........THE BARRAGE LIVE!!!!!!!
Highly placed league offiicals have confirmed that the League will be taking over the franchise and running things. At least four "Home" games are scheduled much like the showcase event the league ran before it officially debuted.
Raleigh-Durham and Portland are listed as possible neutral site "home games"
Discuss this article in the LAXPhilly Forums
New Season, New Coach...Dave Huntley returns to Philadelphia to begin his second reign as the head guy behind the Wings bench.
Huntley was kind enough to take a few minutes to analyze the 19-11 Wings blowout of the Chicago Shamrox.
We also have a short interview with the Commissioner of the National Lacrosse League, Jim Jennings. Jennings spoke on a variety of topics. But first, heeeere's Dave.
KMN-" 72 shots.....19 goals, 13 goal second half...".
DH-"Obviuosly, it was a great start, we played seven new faces tonight in our line-up, that's not common in this league. I thought the new guys were terrific.
The old guys, in particular, Jake Bergey had a great night, we are very happy for him, he played very well. Everybody played great."
KMN-"Did you expect the performance of Merrick Thomson?"
DH-"Yeah, I did. To be honest with you, we drafted Merrick number two, He was the second pick in the draft, so obviously we thought he was real good. What we found since training camp is that he is, and I have told everybody who would listen, is that he is actually better than we thought he was. We thought he was real good anyway, and was better tonight. I don't know when he is going to stop getting better."
KMN-"At the end of the first half, you had a nice little roll going and Merrick took that five minute penalty, that was obvioisly a rookie mistake, but he rebounded very nicely and it didn't seem to bother him."
DH-"Yeah, I think maybe he should only get a two minute call for that, it was amazing how quick that the guy got up, but that happens, it wasn't that hard of a blow, when your setting a pick like that it can happen, but he didn't let it get him down. The credit for that really goes to Jason Crosbie, he is like a coach on the floor. We brought him in from Buffalo and he has been absoultely terrific with Merrick and sure enough, the first guy that talked to Merrick after he came back to bench was Jason to make sure he was wired in, because he felt bad, we were on a good roll, but, he got right back to business."
KMN-"Not an older guy, but a bit of a veteran guy, Johnny Christmas seemed like he was all over the place tonight. Your thoughts?"
DH-"Absolutely. We've given John a transition role this season, we work our transitions into the offense and the defense, and John tonight, as well as all our transition guys, Chicago gets out of their zone quickly and like to speed things up, the guys who had to stop that tonight were our five transition guys, John, Brendan Thenhaus,Jimmy Borell, Geoff Snider and Pat Heim, and they did a great job...John in particular. John was great for us, offensively,he had a huge hit, unfortunately, he got a penalty. It was a great hit to kill a break, but that's the kind of energy and play that I am very excited about."
KMN-"Wings down two men, Rob Van Beek picks up the ball, lowers his shoulder, plows one player, continues on and plows another, then it culminates with him drawing a penalty. How big of a lift was that?"
DH-"When you're down like that and you get that kind of physical play, that's the kind of play that everybody is expecting from Rob, thats leadership, the willingness to put yourself out tlike that, we got a great reward for his hustle....everybody made plays tonight."
KMN-"The last few seasons, the team goes on a two or three goal roll, get momentum and allows a goal to kill momentum. Matt Roik is a great golaie, but at times, he just didn't make that big save when you needed it. Rob Blasdell didn't have to be spectacular, just make the save when it was needed, tonight, he did....Your thoughts?"
DH-"It was tough thing for Matt when we drafted Rob, and Matt is still on the roster. We brought Robbie in for a reason, and he was solid tonight, I was kind of hoping that we would hold them under ten, not that it really matters, but it would have been nice to get an eight or nine goal night."
"Our defense made it a lot easier as well, I think we have the most athletic defense in the league but also the most offensive skill and it showed tonight, we were very, very good at picking up loose balls, getting out the lines of fire and not giving up second chances, I think any goalie likes that."
KMN-"Nedless to say, a big game coming up Friday.."
DH-"Eddie Comeau is probably one of my better friends in the Coaching business, I have all the admiration in the World for him. They will be well prepared. They won't be surprised by anything that we do. Look at the talent on that team, Shawn Williams, John Grant, both the Evans brothers,
Stevie Toll, Regy Thorpe, the list just goes on and on. Steven Hoar, who I would be remissed if I didn't say, played for me in 2006. It's a real good team. But, you know what? I think we have a real good team. It's gonna be a great test for our guys."
KMN-"The officials called a lot in the first quarter, then seemed to level off...thoughts"
DH-"I think the referees have been directed to be really careful with the high hits, To be honest, if a guy is getting hitting the head then I am glad they are calling it. It could ruin a guy's career, they were probably a little tight with some of the other stuff, but the game still had good flow to it, I think the refs did a good job....you always do when you win.
Thanks Dave Huntley.
Now, onto Jim Jennings.
KMN-"Thoughts on the upcoming season?"
JJ-"We're expecting a lot of really good things, the crowds have been good, we had a sell-out in Buffalo last night, so were excited about that.
Toronto had a really good crowd, the fans seem to be coming back, Calgary is expecting a good crowd tonight."
KMN-"The collective bargaining, that's all put to bed?"
JJ-"Yeah, we don't have to deal with that for at least five years anyway. We have a seven year agreement, but they (The Players) have an option
to open it up again after five.'
KMN-"Arizona and Boston, what is their status?"
JJ-"Boston will back for sure, Arizona is up for sale. So we don't know what's going to happen with them. Hopefully we can find a way to keep Arizon there"
KMN-"The players drafted in the dispersal draft will go back if Arizona comes back, if not they are free agents?"
JJ-"Yeah, that's right."
KMN-"Strong teams? Weak teams?"
JJ-"It's hard to say, with two teams not playing this year. With Arizona dispersing their players, there is a lot more parity in the league."
"The Wings looked very strong tonight. They have a great coach there. Dave Huntley is a great coach, so i think they will do very well this year."
KMN-"I guess as commissioner, you love the parity?"
JJ-"Yeah parity is always good, you always like to see that. That's gonna continue in this league, even as we expand. As more colleges get lacrosse were going to see more players."
KMN-"Expansion is in the plans?"
JJ-"Yes, we have applications from Dallas, Orlando, St.Louis and Seattle. Our goal is to get into cities and turn people onto the game."
Thanks to the NLL and Jim Jennings....
From the Did You Notice File......
Tom Hajek will be available to play Friday against Rochester, apparently, he was serving a one game suspension for a pre-season incident.
Dan Finck was in the building. He is sitting out the season (for now) in an effort to get his Green Card.
Nick Schroeder in the building? He has "officially" retired.....but, didn't seem too convincing of it.
Jake Bergey's dad, former Eagle, Bill was in attendance as usual, with new Lacrosse and Wings fan, Philadelphia Eagles Tight End, Brent Celek.
Tom Ryan and Randy Fraser both in the building, probably scouting.
Kyle Wailes has still b\not worked out his VISA problems with Canada.
And finally.........THE BARRAGE LIVE!!!!!!!
Highly placed league offiicals have confirmed that the League will be taking over the franchise and running things. At least four "Home" games are scheduled much like the showcase event the league ran before it officially debuted.
Raleigh-Durham and Portland are listed as possible neutral site "home games"
Discuss this article in the LAXPhilly Forums
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Wings impressive in opening victory
By Tom Hoffman
The last time Dave Huntley was behind the Wings bench it was 1987 and the Wings were on the losing end of an 11-8 score against the New Jersey Saints. Tonight was much better for Huntley as the Wings got five goals from Athan Iannucci and four each from veteran Jake Bergey and rookie Merrick Thomson as they hammered the Chicago Shamrox 19-11. A Wachovia Center crowd of 11,974 saw the Wings win their first home opener since 2003.
Both teams looked sluggish at the start and it took 9:32 for the Wings to score their first goal of the 2008 season when Jason Crosbie found the back of the net. The Wings would end the first period up 3-0 but Chicago scored the first three goals of the seond quarter to tie the game at three. Bergey started a four goal run for the Wings that was stopped by Chicago's Mat Giles to take the game into halftime 7-4 Philly.
The teams each scored three goals in the third before the Wings offense exploded in the fourth, outscoring the Shamrox 9-4 and chasing starter Brandon Miller for the second time in the evening. Rob Blasdell made 38 saves for the Wings in the Wings effort while Geoff Snider and Pete Jacobs dominated the faceoff circle winning 28 of 34 faceoffs, Jacobs going 10 for 11.
The Wings will get a big, early test this Friday when the defending champion Rochester Knighthwaks invade Philly. Tonight's game is one the Wings should be able to build upon as they prepare for the high flying K-Hawks.
The last time Dave Huntley was behind the Wings bench it was 1987 and the Wings were on the losing end of an 11-8 score against the New Jersey Saints. Tonight was much better for Huntley as the Wings got five goals from Athan Iannucci and four each from veteran Jake Bergey and rookie Merrick Thomson as they hammered the Chicago Shamrox 19-11. A Wachovia Center crowd of 11,974 saw the Wings win their first home opener since 2003.
Both teams looked sluggish at the start and it took 9:32 for the Wings to score their first goal of the 2008 season when Jason Crosbie found the back of the net. The Wings would end the first period up 3-0 but Chicago scored the first three goals of the seond quarter to tie the game at three. Bergey started a four goal run for the Wings that was stopped by Chicago's Mat Giles to take the game into halftime 7-4 Philly.
The teams each scored three goals in the third before the Wings offense exploded in the fourth, outscoring the Shamrox 9-4 and chasing starter Brandon Miller for the second time in the evening. Rob Blasdell made 38 saves for the Wings in the Wings effort while Geoff Snider and Pete Jacobs dominated the faceoff circle winning 28 of 34 faceoffs, Jacobs going 10 for 11.
The Wings will get a big, early test this Friday when the defending champion Rochester Knighthwaks invade Philly. Tonight's game is one the Wings should be able to build upon as they prepare for the high flying K-Hawks.
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