By Tom Hoffman
Following a franchise low 5-11 season in 2010 the Philadelphia Wings underwent, with apologies to the TV show, an extreme makeover to go into their 25th season of pro lacrosse. Jugding by the results though it appears that the spirits of 2010 were still in the building. After playing a solid first quarter against a high powered Boston Blazers squad the Wings saw the offense go cold and the Blazers walked out of the Wells Fargo Center with a 10-6 victory.
Wings coach John Tucker was happy with the defensive effort and the play of goalie Brandon Miller. "Offensively, we have work to do," Tucker said. "We got away from our game plan."
The Wings opened the scoring for 2011 with a goal from Drew Westervelt and would hold three other one goal leads in the first but were matched each time by Boston with the first 15 minutes ending in a 3-3 tie. The Blazers would hold the Wings to just three more goals the rest of the evening while their new acquisitions made their presences known. 2010 league MVP Casey Powell scored three of the four Blazers goals over the second and third quarters while Kevin Buchanan tallied the other goal. Josh Sanderson would score twice in the fourth while Powell added one more for his fifth of the night. The Wings, held to 31 shots on goal for the night, couldn't catch up.
Dan Dawson led the way for Boston with eight assists while Powell put up seven points and Sanderson added six. The lone bright spots for the Wings offensively were newcomer Alex Turner with two goals and an assist and a two goal night from Bill McGlone. In his first game since 2009 Athan Iannucci was held to a goal and two assists. The Wings defense, most notably Paul Dawson, showed a more physical side while Miller had a solid evening with 39 saves.
With Buffalo next on the schedule, the Wings will need to find a way to perk up the offense while continuing the physical play on the defensive side. Tucker "guaranteed" the offense would be better against the Bandits. If not, 2011 could be as bad, or worse, than 2010. Not the preferred way to celebrate the team's 25th Anniversary season.
Notes
The attendance of 7,940 was the smallest in the Wings history for a home opener and just missed being the smallest overall in team history (7,723 last season vs Buffalo).
Scratches for the Wings were Matt Alrich, David Mitchell and Brodie MacDonald.
This was John Tucker's first game as a National Lacrosse League head coach since 2000 when he guided the Pittsburgh Crossefire to a 6-6 record.
Saturday, January 8, 2011
Monday, January 3, 2011
2011 Wings Lacrosse (1-8-11 vs. Boston)
By Tom Hoffman
The 25th season of Philadelphia Wings lacrosse gets started on Saturday, January 8 as the Wings host the Boston Blazers at 7 PM at the Wells Fargo Center. The game can be seen live on the NLL Network at NLL.com and will also be shown live on the Comcast Network with a replay on Sunday, January 9 on Comcast SportsNet.
History
The Wings are 2-4 against the current Blazers franchise, 2-2 at the WFC. In 2010 the Wings went 2-1 against Boston to win the season series. On January 16, 2010, the Wings defeated the Blazers 12-8 in Philadelphia outscoring Boston 4-1 in the second half to secure the victory. On January 30, 2010 in Boston, the Blazers never trailed in defeating the Wings 11-9. The final matchup, on March 27, 2010, was a fight filled affair that was won by the Wings 13-7. As in the first meeting, the Wings owned the second half by outscoring the Blazers 9-2.
New look Wings
Following the worst season in Wings history (5-11), the coaching staff and roster were overhauled. Coach and General Manager Dave Huntley was let go following the 2010 season and was replaced behind the bench by last season’s offensive coordinator John Tucker. The GM spot was filled by longtime NLL executive Johnny Mouradian. This season’s 23 man roster includes 12 newcomers. Picked up in the Orlando Titans dispersal draft were forwards Brendan Mundorf (28G, 31A in 2009 with New York) and Ryan Boyle (21G-39A in 2010) while another former Titan, Matt Alrich (10G, 9A in 2010) was picked up after being released by the Edmonton Rush on November 16, 2010. A key newcomer on defense is former Blazer Paul Dawson who was picked up from the Calgary Roughnecks in October. Dawson, along with Brett Manney (acquired from the Washington Stealth) and ex-Buffalo Bandit Joe Smith should help solidify the defense around goalie Brandon Miller.
Among the Wings returnees, the biggest ones will be Athan Iannucci and Shawn Nadelen. Iannucci, the National Lacrosse League’s 2008 Most Valuable Player, sat out the entire 2010 season recovering from knee surgery while Nadelen missed all but 2 games in 2010 also due to a knee injury. The team’s leading scorer in 2010, Drew Westervelt (32G, 40A) also is back in the Wings lineup. The most notable Wings gone from 2010 are Geoff Snider (traded to Calgary) and Kyle Wailes (on the Physically Unable to Perform list). Also, Merrick Thomson continues to be sidelined by post-concussion symptoms from an injury suffered in the 2009 Major League Lacrosse season.
Shakeup in Beantown
The Blazers also see an overhauled lineup for 2011 after finishing 8-8 in 2010 and losing to Orlando in the Divisional Semifinal. In addition to Paul Dawson, gone is Boston’s second leading scorer from last season Daryl Veltman (dealt to Calgary). The Veltman deal did bring the Blazers Josh Sanderson (34G, 70A with Calgary) in return. Boston also benefitted from the Titans dispersal draft picking up the NLL’s 2010 MVP in Casey Powell (44G, 36A with Orlando). The biggest change may have occurred on December 23 when Coach Tom Ryan was let go and replaced 5 days later by Toronto Rock assistant (and 2009 Wings head scout) Matt Sawyer.
Opening numbers and notes
The Wings are at .500 (12-12) in season openers having lost 3 of their last 4. The Wings are 14-10 in home openers and have won 2 of their last 3. This will be the third straight season opening at home with Boston (Boston won 13-11 in 2009) and is just the second season in the last eleven that the Wings have opened the season at home (last time in 2008 against the Chicago Shamrox).
Saturday’s game will feature the last 3 players to win the NLL’s MVP award. In addition to Iannucci in 2008 and Powell in 2010, Boston’s Dan Dawson won the award in 2009. Dawson, Powell and Sanderson were all on the 2010 NLL First team All-Pro squad. Sanderson led the NLL in 2010 with 104 points and 70 assists.
Next game
The Wings return home to face the Buffalo Bandits in January 15.
The 25th season of Philadelphia Wings lacrosse gets started on Saturday, January 8 as the Wings host the Boston Blazers at 7 PM at the Wells Fargo Center. The game can be seen live on the NLL Network at NLL.com and will also be shown live on the Comcast Network with a replay on Sunday, January 9 on Comcast SportsNet.
History
The Wings are 2-4 against the current Blazers franchise, 2-2 at the WFC. In 2010 the Wings went 2-1 against Boston to win the season series. On January 16, 2010, the Wings defeated the Blazers 12-8 in Philadelphia outscoring Boston 4-1 in the second half to secure the victory. On January 30, 2010 in Boston, the Blazers never trailed in defeating the Wings 11-9. The final matchup, on March 27, 2010, was a fight filled affair that was won by the Wings 13-7. As in the first meeting, the Wings owned the second half by outscoring the Blazers 9-2.
New look Wings
Following the worst season in Wings history (5-11), the coaching staff and roster were overhauled. Coach and General Manager Dave Huntley was let go following the 2010 season and was replaced behind the bench by last season’s offensive coordinator John Tucker. The GM spot was filled by longtime NLL executive Johnny Mouradian. This season’s 23 man roster includes 12 newcomers. Picked up in the Orlando Titans dispersal draft were forwards Brendan Mundorf (28G, 31A in 2009 with New York) and Ryan Boyle (21G-39A in 2010) while another former Titan, Matt Alrich (10G, 9A in 2010) was picked up after being released by the Edmonton Rush on November 16, 2010. A key newcomer on defense is former Blazer Paul Dawson who was picked up from the Calgary Roughnecks in October. Dawson, along with Brett Manney (acquired from the Washington Stealth) and ex-Buffalo Bandit Joe Smith should help solidify the defense around goalie Brandon Miller.
Among the Wings returnees, the biggest ones will be Athan Iannucci and Shawn Nadelen. Iannucci, the National Lacrosse League’s 2008 Most Valuable Player, sat out the entire 2010 season recovering from knee surgery while Nadelen missed all but 2 games in 2010 also due to a knee injury. The team’s leading scorer in 2010, Drew Westervelt (32G, 40A) also is back in the Wings lineup. The most notable Wings gone from 2010 are Geoff Snider (traded to Calgary) and Kyle Wailes (on the Physically Unable to Perform list). Also, Merrick Thomson continues to be sidelined by post-concussion symptoms from an injury suffered in the 2009 Major League Lacrosse season.
Shakeup in Beantown
The Blazers also see an overhauled lineup for 2011 after finishing 8-8 in 2010 and losing to Orlando in the Divisional Semifinal. In addition to Paul Dawson, gone is Boston’s second leading scorer from last season Daryl Veltman (dealt to Calgary). The Veltman deal did bring the Blazers Josh Sanderson (34G, 70A with Calgary) in return. Boston also benefitted from the Titans dispersal draft picking up the NLL’s 2010 MVP in Casey Powell (44G, 36A with Orlando). The biggest change may have occurred on December 23 when Coach Tom Ryan was let go and replaced 5 days later by Toronto Rock assistant (and 2009 Wings head scout) Matt Sawyer.
Opening numbers and notes
The Wings are at .500 (12-12) in season openers having lost 3 of their last 4. The Wings are 14-10 in home openers and have won 2 of their last 3. This will be the third straight season opening at home with Boston (Boston won 13-11 in 2009) and is just the second season in the last eleven that the Wings have opened the season at home (last time in 2008 against the Chicago Shamrox).
Saturday’s game will feature the last 3 players to win the NLL’s MVP award. In addition to Iannucci in 2008 and Powell in 2010, Boston’s Dan Dawson won the award in 2009. Dawson, Powell and Sanderson were all on the 2010 NLL First team All-Pro squad. Sanderson led the NLL in 2010 with 104 points and 70 assists.
Next game
The Wings return home to face the Buffalo Bandits in January 15.
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