Wings Lacrosse 2013 (1-11-13 vs. Buffalo)

By Tom Hoffman

The 27th season of Philadelphia Wings lacrosse will get underway on January 11 when they host the Buffalo Bandits at the Wells Fargo Center. Game time is at 7 PM, the game can be seen live at www.youtube.com/thelacrossenetwork.

History

The Wings are 22-23 all time against the Bandits, 12-10 at home. The Wings took the 2012 season series from Buffalo 2-1.  The Wings defeated the Bandits at First Niagara Center 13-10 on January 27 and again on February 12 at the Wells Fargo Center by a 14-13 score.  The Bandits avoided the sweep with a 17-7 win in Buffalo on April 7.   

Openers

The Wings are 12-14 overall in season openers but have lost their last four and five of the last six.  At home, the Wings are 14-12 in openers but just 7-9 in openers at the Wells Fargo Center. This will be the fifth time in their history that the Wings have opened the regular season against the Bandits, having done so in 1995, 1996, 1998, 1999 and 2009.  The Wings have a 1-4 record opening against Buffalo with the lone win coming in 1998 in Buffalo.  The Wings have opened three times at home against the Bandits and are 0-3 in those games.
 
Changes in 2013

Notable additions for 2013 Wings are Kevin Buchanan (acquired from Buffalo, 10G, 19A in 2012), Kevin Ross (acquired from the Minnesota Swarm, 28G, 31A in 2012) and Paul Rabil (acquired from the Rochester Knighthawks, 3G, 5A with Washington in 2012).   Other key newcomers include Kyle Hartzell and Kevin Croswell (both picked up from the Washington Stealth), Joel White (acquired from Rochester), and 2012 draft picks Michael Manley (4th round) and C.J. Costabile (5th round).  Notable players not back this season are Dan and Paul Dawson (Rochester), David Brock (Buffalo) and Mike Hominuck (Buffalo).

Preseason

The Wings played two preseason scrimmages in December, both games played at the Toronto Rock Athletic Centre in Oakville, ON.  On December 21 they lost to Buffalo 20-12 (scrimmage was five quarters) and lost the next day to the Rock 12-9. 

2012 Leaders (returning players only)

Goals: Kevin Crowley and Drew Westervelt – 36
Assists: Brendan Mundorf – 40
Points: Kevin Crowley – 71
Goals Against: Brandon Miller – 12.64

On this date

The Wings are 2-1 on January 11 with all games played against the original New England/Boston Blazers. In 1991 the Wings defeated the New England Blazers 11-10 at the Spectrum while, in 1992 the Blazers defeated the Wings 12-11 at the Spectrum.  In 1997 the Wings won 12-11 at Boston’s Fleet Center (now TD Garden).

Next Game

The Wings will return to action on January 19 when they travel to Toronto to face the Rock at the Air Canada Centre.

A look back at past Wings results

By Tom Hoffman

With one week to go until the Philadelphia Wings 2013 season opener we will take a look back at results from the first 26 seasons that occurred from January 1-10.


January 3

1998 – Defeated the Buffalo Bandits in Buffalo 14-12.

2003 ¬– Lost to the Vancouver Ravens in Vancouver 14-10.

2009 – Lost to the Buffalo Bandits in Buffalo 15-11.

January 4

1997 – Defeated the New York Saints at Nassau Coliseum 17-14.

January 5

1991 – Lost to the Detroit Turbos in Detroit 18-8.

January 6

2006 – Defeated the Minnesota Swarm at Xcel Energy Center 15-11.

2007 – Lost to the Edmonton Rush in Edmonton 13-12.

January 7

1995 – Lost to the Buffalo Bandits in Buffalo 17-13.

2000 – Defeated the Albany Attack 12-11 at the First Union Center.

2005 – Defeated the Arizona Sting at Glendale Arena 10-9.

January 8

1999 – Lost to the Buffalo Bandits 18-17 at the First Union Center.

2005 – Lost to the Anaheim Storm in Anaheim 13-10.

2010 – Lost to the Orlando Titans in Orlando 13-8.

2011 – Lost to the Boston Blazers 10-6 at the Wells Fargo Center.

January 9

1988 – Lost to the Washington Wave at the Capital Centre 14-13.

1998 – Defeated the New York Saints at Nassau Coliseum 15-8.

1999 – Lost to the Syracuse Smash in Syracuse 19-12.

January 10

1987 – Lost to the New Jersey Saints at Meadowlands Arena 11-8.

2004 – Defeated the Buffalo Bandits in Buffalo 16-13.

2013 is shaping up to be a big year for lacrosse in the Philadelphia area

By Tom Hoffman

With a new year now underway, lacrosse fans in the Philadelphia area have quite a bit to look forward to in the coming months. Not only does the Wings 27th National Lacrosse League season begin on January 11 but there are three big events coming to the area in the coming months that lax fans of all ages can enjoy.


From January 11-13, US Lacrosse will bring its annual convention back to Philadelphia as it takes over the Pennsylvania Convention Center. Several thousand players, coaches, officials, vendors and fans will take over the hall to see the latest in lacrosse equipment along with clinics designed to help those involved in the game improve their skills. While membership to US Lacrosse is required to attend the actual convention, the casual fan will get a chance to see the vendor area as well as demonstrations from the Wings and members of the US National teams on January 12 during the US Lacrosse Fan Fest which will run from 11AM to 5 PM. Admission is $10 but those who are current players in youth or high school leagues and are wearing their team jersey admission is only $5. The $5 rate also applies to any fans wearing a Wings jersey that day. For more info on the convention go to: http://www.uslacrosse.org/TopNav2Right/Events/2013USLacrosseNationalConvention.aspx

For college lacrosse enthusiasts, two major events will be taking place in the Philadelphia area. On March 9 PPL Park will host Inside Lacrosse's Whitman's Sampler Independence Classic. The day will consist of three games starting at Noon with St. John's facing Syracuse. At 2:30 local fans will enjoy the matchup between Penn and Villanova before the day concludes with a 5 PM match between Penn State and Lehigh. For ticket information go to http://independenceclassic.com/.  Indoor fans can make it a complete day of lacrosse as the Wings will host Athan Iannucci and the Washington Stealth at the Wells Fargo Center at 8 PM.

Lastly, the biggest weekend in college lacrosse returns to Philadelphia May 25-27 when the NCAA Men's Lacrosse Championship Weekend invades Lincoln Financial Field. Fans will see the champions crowned for Division's I, II and III. Ticket info can be found at http://www.ticketmaster.com/event/020048AAB21AAD41.

Also don't forget to take in a game in the area as there will be plenty of high school, college and pro action to be found in the coming months.

Interview with Nick Desrosiers, owner of the New Jersey Rascals

By Kevin M. Neibauer

I recently had the opportunity to catch up with the owner of the PLL (Professional Lacrosse League) New Jersey Rascals; Nick Desrosiers. Nick was kind enough to take time out of his busy schedule to give us an insight into the business of lacrosse ownership.

KMN-Have you played the sport?

ND -Kevin, unfortunately where I grew up in CT Lacrosse wasn't yet a hot commodity we were a big baseball and football community and that is where my focus was. Now I have a cousin who is a diehard lax fan and is an avid player who really turned me onto the sport. So although never player I am now a huge fan and would love to see the sport continue to grow. .

KMN- What got you into the sport?

ND-After conducting our due diligence we decided that lacrosse being the fastest growing sport in the U.S. would be a wise early stage investment for us with a strong possibility of significant financial upside. We compared LAX with Soccer in hopes that the NLL, PLL, NALL, MLL would find similar success and growth as MLS, just a 20 year old league team values are beginning to break the $100m mark for organizations that cost $50,000 back in 1993. We eventually hooked up with PLL President and friend of DC Sports & Entertainment, Brett Vickers who introduced us to his league and the ground floor opportunities that existed.

KMN-What is your financial background?

ND-DC Sports & Entertainment, LLC is a family owned and operated sports and entertainment management and consulting firm, specializing in everything from advisory services to the said industries to operating our own assets. Typically our investments range from $500k to $10m. At this time and for the foreseeable future will continue without any outside investments of any kind.

KMN-New Jersey Rascals...how did they come about?

ND-In relation to our membership in the Professional Lacrosse League one of our main objectives was to create a team name with brand power. By introducing our "Rascals" brand with a character logo as you can see in our secondary marks we feel we gave the Rascals name face recognition. Our logos were done by long time DC Sports & Entertainment designer Brian Bednarski of Kettle Corn Studios whom we have collaborated with on several different projects with and have a great relationship with.

KMN-Where does the team go from here?

ND-After an inaugural year that included several tough business decisions that included many now public dealings within the league itself, we now feel we are in a good position to build towards what we hope will be a very prosperous future in the states capital of Trenton. Look to the New Year for many updates on the Rascals and our plans for 2013!

KMN-Frank Menschner, how did you meet him?

ND-Frank contacted our General Manager, Randy Fraser to offer help in the local community in New Jersey and the Philadelphia Metro Area. If you know anything about Frank you know he knows just about everyone in the game and has a passion for LAX that is professionally appealing. Frank later joined us as an advisor before we made our decisions for the 2012 season. Through it all I have found Frank to be a good guy, a welcomed addition to our organization and a personal friend of which I wish nothing but the best to and look forward to him retaking his position with the Rascals soon after the New Year.

KMN- Do you have any aspirations about NLL or MLL ownership?

ND-We have explored many opportunities and while we love our Rascals, we do realize that we are a minor league team and we would definitely like to add an MLL or NLL franchise to our company when the right opportunity presents itself.

We would to thank Nick for his time and we look forward to seeing the New Jersey Rascals in action very soon.

Today in Wings History

By Tom Hoffman

As we get nearer to the start of the 27th season of Philadelphia Wings lacrosse, we will take a look back at some dates and accomplishments in Wings history.  The Wings haven't played many games in the month of December but have managed two on this date (12-30).

The Wings first game on this date occurred in 2000 as the Wings traveled to Rochester for the 2001 season opener.  Behind a 10 point night (6G, 4A) from Jake Bergey and eight more (4G, 4A) from Tom Marechek, the Wings opened what would end up as their sixth championship season with a 17-16 victory.  This was also the first Wings game in the month of December.

On this date in 2005 the Wings opened the 20th season of professional indoor lacrosse in Denver facing the Colorado Mammoth.  In the Wings first opener of the post-Dallas Eliuk era they came from behind to defeat the Mammoth 13-11 to spoil the jersey retirement night of former Wing and Mammoth star Gary Gait.  After a sluggish first half in his NLL debut, Wings top draft pick Sean Greenhalgh caught fire and scored four goals to lead the Wings.  Fellow draftee Luke Wiles added a pair of goals in his league debut while Matt Roik made 44 saves as the Wings new starting goalkeeper.

All time the Wings have a 4-2 record in December games, all played on the road.