Wings downward spiral continues in loss to Knighthawks

By Tom Hoffman

There was possibly just one positive from tonight's Wings game versus the Rochester Knighthawks, that 10,019 made their way to the Wachovia Center. Judging by the boos and "Let's go Phillies", "Let's go Flyers" and "Fire Huntley" chants heard during the fourth quarter, many did not go home happy. After staying in the game for most of three quarters, the Wings allowed the Knighthawks to score the game's final six goals enroute to a 12-6 victory that further cemented the Wings spot in the Eastern Conference cellar.

As they did last week against Buffalo, the Wings started fast by taking a 3-0 lead just 3:51 into the first quarter. Rochester would score the next two goals and would keep Philly off the board until Dan Teat's second score of the night 8:02 into the second gave the Wings a 4-2 lead. Kyle Wailes would make it a three goal lead 53 seconds later before Rochester's Steve Toll and Gary Gait cut the Philly lead to one at halftime.

The Knighthawks would take a 6-5 lead on powerplay goals from Chris Schiller and Shawn Williams before John Christmas tied the game at 6. That would be all for the Wings who mustered very little in the way of offense in the second half taking only 15 shots at Pat O'Toole, who didn't have to do very much in the Rochester net. Aiding the Knighthawks was the Wings poor play on special teams. In addition to allowing Rochester eight goals on ten powerplay opportunities, the Knighthawks also added a shorthanded goal while holding the Wings punchless offense to just one extra man goal in seven chances. Also hurting the Wings were two scores (Josh Sims in the third on a breakaway and Kevin Huntley in the fourth on one of the few times the Wings went to the net) disallowed for crease violations and continuing problems with passing, catching and picking up loose balls.

Brandon Miller could've sued his teammates tonight for lack of offensive support. Miller made 39 saves and was probably the Wings best player on this forgettable night of lacrosse. Teat, Wailes and Christmas were the sole offensive threats for the Wings accounting for 10 points combined. The defense didn't play badly either holding John Grant Jr. to just a last minute goal and five assists. It was former Wing Gary Gait who did the most damage with a four goal night that gave him game MVP honors. O'Toole yawned his way to 34 saves while seeing a number of shots that may not have hit an outdoor soccer goal.

For the Wings, their next three games are on the road, none of which (Buffalo, Calgary and Orlando) seem to be good candidates for a second win. This was a game that should have many in the Wings organization looking in the mirror and not liking what they see. How they play here on out will give an idea of what they think they can do with the remainder of a 2010 season that is spiralling quickly out of control, even with the built in excuse of missing their top two scorers (Athan Iannucci and Merrick Thomson) and top defender (Shawn Nadelen).

Wings Happenings

In an Exclusive for LaxPhilly.com Kevin M. Neibauer caught up with recently acquired Max Seibald. Max registered a goal and an assist in his first game in the Wachovia Center. For those of you who don't know, Seibald was acquired from the Boston Blazers early in February.

KMN-"So, how is it here in Philadelphia?"

MS- "It's great, a lot of fun and a great bunch of guys."

KMN-"You recently set a World Record with a shot that registered 110 MPH. What did you receive for that?'

MS- "I didn’t get anything for it. I didn't even win the contest so I don't even have bragging rights! The winner was Paul Rabil. He had a shot at 111 MPH. So, I held the record for three minutes"

KMN-"First game under your belt in Philadelphia, what are your thoughts?"

MS-"I got a little experience last week in Toronto; it's only been a short time since I have been here so I am still learning. I have one or two practices under my belt and the guys have been great with all the help."

KMN-"You were drafted by Boston but never played?"

MS- "Drafted but never went to training camp or never played."

Thanks Max
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WINGS RECAP: Six weeks into the season and a lot is being exposed about this squad. Injuries have decimated the offense with the loss of Athan Iannucci(out for season), Merrick Thomson (no timetable set) and now the defense is hurting. Shawn Nadelen is on the injured reserve and lost for the season. Experienced players such as Dan Teat, Mat Giles, Bill McGlone and Jason Crosbie, to name a few, will be counted on to carry the squad.

Dave Huntley, despite watching his team blow a five goal lead was very upbeat after the Buffalo loss. "I am proud of their effort; Buffalo just brought it to us tonight."

Assistant Coach John Tucker pointed out that the team is averaging 11 goals a game. That should put any team in a position to win most games. Bottom line, it’s real easy to prepare for the Wings, they have very little offensive fire power right now. Simply contain Drew Westervelt and Giles and make the rest of the offense beat you. However, Geoff Snider maybe enjoying the best year of his career, splitting face-off duties with his brother, Bob, gives the Wings a new wrinkle. With Rochester on the horizon. John Grant Jr. is back. Philadelphia MUST compete with the Knighthawks in this contest. With the parity in the league, 7 losses may force you out of the playoffs so the clock is ticking. Right now, the team is struggling, it needs some kind of a break to right the ship. It's not from lack of effort; they simply are undermanned right now. Projects like Kevin Huntley and Max Seibald may be forced to learn the game at a quicker pace than management would desire.

CATCHING UP- I recently chatted with Former GM/Coach, Lindsay Sanderson. Lindsay said he is doing well, working a full time day job and keeping upon the comings and goings in the league. He has a few irons in some fires but not working in the business right now. Lindsay made a point to ask me to forward nothing but the sincerest good thoughts for the fans of Philadelphia and made it known that he has no hard feelings toward anyone and his removal was a business decision that he totally understood. As far as the future of the team, Sanderson exclaimed that he wishes all the best to Dave Huntley, Chris Sanderson and John Tucker as well as the team.

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HERE AND THERE: Coming in late March or early April a new Box League will be forming in the Philadelphia area. Bill Malizia and the Philadelphia Lacrosse Foundation are embarking on the formation of a 30 and over Men's League.Details are being worked out daily. This much I know it will be a no check league with Canadian Box rules. Canadian Box rules are similar to American. The biggest difference is the crease and the goaltenders. The crease cannot be violated at all, that includes reaching in to defend. Players are prohibited from leaving their feet to attempt to score. The Foundation is currently working on several events for the spring/summer. Fundraisers are planned as well as clinics featuring professional lacrosse players.

Thank You to the Philadelphia Wings, Max Seibald, and the Philadelphia Lacrosse Foundation.

2010 Wings Lacrosse Game 7 (vs. Rochester 2-20-10)

By Tom Hoffman

Looking to end a four game losing streak, the Philadelphia Wings (1-5) play host to the Rochester Knighthawks (4-3) on Saturday evening. Faceoff at the Wachovia Center is at 7 PM and the game can also be seen on the NLL Network.

History

The Wings in regular season play are 15-18 all time against the Knighthawks. At home the Wings are 10-7 against Rochester winning the last meeting there in 2008 15-14 on January 18. In 2009 the teams split a pair of games at Rochester's Blue Cross Arena. The Wings earned their first win of 2009 on January 10 by a 16-13 score but would lose the final game of the season on April 18 11-8 to miss out on the 2009 postseason. Mat Giles (4G, 5A) and Kyle Wailes (2G, 7A) led the Wings with nine points. Gary Gait led Rochester with eight goals in the two games.

Last Week

The Wings jumped out to an early 5-0 lead but could not hold on as Buffalo came back to win 13-11 Saturday night. Kyle Wailes had a seven point night (4G, 3A) while Geoff Snider added a hat trick for the Wings. Rochester defeated Boston 11-9 in a Saturday matinee at the Blue Cross Arena.

East Standings

Toronto 6-2

Rochester 4-3

Orlando 3-1

Boston 3-4

Buffalo 2-5

Wings 1-5

Notes

The only time the Wings started a season 1-5 was in 1999. They would go on to win four of their last six games to qualify for the NLL playoffs.

Next Game

The Wings will hit the road for three games starting with a visit to Buffalo's HSBC Arena on February 27 for their second meeting of the 2010 season against the Bandits.

Bandits show Wings to East cellar

By Tom Hoffman

Based on the opening seven minutes and one second, it appeared that the Philadelphia Wings had found the antidote to save what was starting to look like a dreadful season. A quick 5-0 lead to chase the opposing goaltender was making the evening look very good. The Buffalo Bandits had other ideas though and used the momentum of Angus Goodleaf's solid play in relief of Mike Thompson and shut down the Wings en route to a 13-11 victory Saturday night at the Wachovia Center. A franchise low crowd of 7,723 was on hand to witness the Wings fall into sole possession of last place in the NLL's Eastern Conference.

Thompson was chased in the first quarter due to three goals from Kyle Wailes and two more from Geoff Snider. After Goodleaf entered the game, the Wings offense suddenly went cold while the Bandits still couldn't dent Brandon Miller until the 11 minute mark when Mark Steenhuis finally put one past the Wings goalie. Three more Bandits scores followed and the first quarter ended 5-4 Wings. The teams would trade off goals in the first five minutes of the second stanza before the Bandits Frank Resetarits scored with eight minutes until intermission to tie the game at seven.

Buffalo would gain the lead for the first time on a Kevin Dostie goal 3:39 into the third quarter. Wailes would get his fourth goal of the night to tie the game at eight but that would be that final tie of the night as Buffalo got a pair of tallies from Brett Bucktooth (one shorthanded and one on the powerplay) to take a 10-8 lead into the final 15 minutes. The fourth started good for the Wings as John Christmas (in his first game action of the 2010 season) and Geoff Snider sandwiched goals around one from Buffalo's John Tavares to make the game 11-10 Buffalo with 8:21 remaining in regulation. Goals from Tavares and ex-Wing Jon Harasym would ice the game for the Bandits, making Max Seibald's first NLL goal with 13 seconds remaining to play irrelevant.

While Bandits coach Darris Kilgour was happy to have Tavares back in the lineup for the first time this season after sitting due to injury, he credited the play of Goodleaf as the game's turning point.

"We didn't come out with focus, we didn't play well in fron of Mike (Thompson)," Kilgour said. "When Angus went in there guys buckled down a little more and Angus played a really good game so I thought that was a big turning point for us."

Wings coach Dave Huntley, while happy that his team's effort was better than their previous game in Toronto, also gave props to the Bandits backup keeper.

"Give credit to Angus, he came in and stopped the bleeding in a big way and they rallied behind him," Huntley said. "They started to find the net a little bit and we probably lost a little bit of composure."

Wailes paced the Wings with four goals and three assists while Geoff Snider scored a hat trick. Dan Teat and Mat Giles also chipped in with three assists for Philly while Brandon Miller made 36 saves. Buffalo had five players (Steenhuis, Tavares, Bucktooth, Dostie and Resetarits) score two goals to lead a balanced offense while Goodleaf made 37 saves in his relief effort.

The Wings season does not get any easier as Rochester, with John Grant Jr. and Gary Gait, comes to visit next Saturday.