Interview with Luke Wiles

This interview was originally done for the PLPA.com

Former Wing, Luke Wiles sits down with Kevin M. Neibauer

Luke Wiles is rapidly becoming one of the feature players in the NLL.

Wiles began his career when he was drafted by Philadelphia, half-way through the season he was traqded to San Jose and his career has continued to blossom.

Kevin M. Neibauer caught recently caught up with Wiles and here is what Luke had to say.


KMN- How is life in California?

LW-"California is great. I'm out of the snow and most days it is upwards of 20 degrees warmer than back East, so how can I complain about that?"


KMN-Parity seems to be the rule this year. What team do you see jumping out and seizing control?

LW-"Well, the league is close in talent. Plus we lost two teams. so, I think that it is really anyone's to take. As long as you can get into the playoffs it is anyones cup."


KMN- Do you commute to the games? Or are you living locally?

LW-"I live in San Jose. Johnny (Mouradian) has done a great job getting us to live in the bay area so it has been very good for practices. Also, I think that will help us immensely down the stretch without having to travel across the country every weekend."


KMN-How is the night life and the community?

LW-"I don't go out very much because of work. I have actually been very responsible this year (which is a switch). I think it is just a matter of growing up. I have goals and things that I want to accomplish and I don't like sitting around and waiting for them to come to me."



KMN-"What is the biggest difference from Philadelphia?

LW-"The fan base is the huge difference. We have great fans but there is just not that many of them. We are working hard at changing that but we have a tough market and some tough competition with the other sports. I think that if we keep working at it something has to give."


KMN- Best friends on the team?

LW-"I don't think I have any best friends. All the boys are my friends. With me working all the time I don't get as much time to hit the links and hang out with the guys. I think that I would have to say that I am the closest with Kyle Sorenson and I live across the hall from Colin Doyle, who has the cutest little girl in the world by the way, and I love kids so it works out pretty good."


KMN- Favorite arena (other than your own) to play in?

LW-"I would have to say Calgary. For some reason I have played pretty darn well in the Saddledome."


KMN-Any pre-game ritual?

LW-"No pre-game rituals, really just to keep to myself mostly. I like to be relaxed and have fun because I think I play my best when I'm not pressured, I'm just doing what I love to do. Compete at the highest level and have fun doing it."


KMN-Hardest team to play against?

LW-" I don't find any team the hardest to play against They are all very talented this year. No easy games and the toughest this league has been since I broke in a few years ago. I like the parity, it makes it more exciting for the fans and for the players."


KMN-"The Show", how did you get the name?

LW-"You know what? I got it when I was in high school. I hated it when they called me it because I am a pretty modest guy for the most part. You know what, as long as I don't make up my own nickname I suppose you can call me whatever you want to. I am pretty easy to get along with."


Thank You to Luke Wiles and the PLPA


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Wings Game #6 (vs. New York 2-29-08) and Game #7 (at Buffalo 3-1-08)

By Tom Hoffman

The Philadelphia Wings (5-0) will attempt to make franchise history this weekend when they play their first set of back to back games starting Friday night with a home tilt against the New York Titans (4-4). A win Friday would equal the Wings best start to a season (1990, 1993) and set themselves up to top that on Saturday when they travel to Buffalo's HSBC Arena to face the Bandits (5-4). Friday's game will face off at 8 PM, Saturday's at 7:30 PM.

History

The Wings are 2-0 against the second year Titans, winning 16-11 on January 26, 2007 at Nassau Coliseum and then handing the New York squad a 20-8 shellacking at the Wachovia Center on April 7. Athan Iannucci had 18 points (11 goals, 7 assists) and Dan Marohl chipped in 4 goals and 10 assists to lead Philadelphia. Pat Maddalena led the Titans with 10 points on 4 goals and 6 assists.

The Wings meeting with Buffalo will be their second of the season, the Wings having defeated the Bandits 15-14 in overtime on January 26 in Philadelphia.

Last Week

The Wings trailed 7-6 heading to the fourth quarter before outscoring Minnesota 11-1 to take home a 17-8 victory last Friday night. Athan Iannucci scored six goals in the Wings romp. New York won their third straight game, defeating the Knighthawks 14-11 Saturday in Rochester while Buffalo took a Sunday matinee from the Chicago Shamrox 13-8.

Wings vs. Alumni

Friday's game with New York will have the feel of a reunion night as eight former Wings are on the Titans roster. The game will be a homecoming for Jeff Ratcliffe, Jamie Hanford, Erik Miller, Brian Tower, Bryan Barrett, Jeff Spano, Keevin Galbraith and Rich Brzeski. Also with Wings ties are New York head coach Adam Mueller and assistant Paul Deniken. Other Titans with local ties are current Barrage forward Ryan Boyle, former Barrage player Greg Peyser and New York's top draft pick Jordan Hall, who played his college ball at the University of Delaware.

NLL Hall of Fame

For the second straight year, the NLL Hall of Fame induction will take place in Philadelphia. The ceremony will take place on Thursday February 28 with Friday's Wings-Titans game being designated as the NLL Hall of Fame game. This year's inductees are Sal LoCascio, Johnny Mouradian and former Wings player and coach Tony Resch. Neil Stevens will also be reognized for his contributions as a member of the media.

Quotes

Dave Huntley on the effort vs the Swarm: "I thought our defense was absolutely fantastic tonight. You saw the kind of defense we envisioned playing. We gave Blazer (Rob Blasdell) a lot of support."

Huntley on the upcoming weekend's games: "I told the guys I think it's potentially a trap weekend for us. We just have to go out and play our game and take care of business on Friday night. Then we'll worry about Buffalo on Saturday."

Rob Van Beek: "I think teams are having trouble keeping up with us when it comes to the end of the game. We're wearing them down as the periods go on. When it comes to the third and fourth no one can stay with us."

Taylor Wray: "In the first half we got slowed down a little bit, lots of penalties. Kind of took us out of our rhythm a little bit. We said at halftime that we wanted to open up the game a little bit, get back to our up and down style, transition, pushing the ball and being real aggressive on defense. Things kind of fell into place. To limit that team (Minnesota) to 40 shots, with the shooters that they have, it was a great team effort on defense."

Next Game

The Wings will be back at home for a Saturday afternoon match with the Toronto Rock on March 8.