By- Kevin M. Neibauer
Philadelphia, PA.- The Philadelphia Wings have made major changes to their roster in the past week and some of the moves have fans wondering what happens next.
The Wings have severed ties with veteran defensemen Kyle Sweeney and Taylor Wray. Shawn Nadelen was a healthy scratch for the game against the Calgary Roughnecks. After a listless and uninspired defeat to the Roughnecks, the Philadelphia club found itself with an extremely uphill battle. Forced to win all of its remaining games to have a shot at a playoff spot. The Wings now have seven defeats and are the outside looking in.
Rumors swirled after the Calgary game. Front Office Personnel and the Coaching staff were in a closed door meeting and no comments were being made. Rumor had it that several of the players confronted Head Coach John Tucker and aired several grievances. If that is true, then apparently Tucker won the battle. Team Captain Taylor Wray was released as well as Assistant Captain Kyle Sweeney. Sweeney has signed with Edmonton. A press release was issued stating that Sweeney was released with "no intention" of bringing him back.
Sources indicated that the Wray move was a paper only move, due to his unavailabilty for the teams game due to coaching commitments. Also the addition of Matt Zash mandated an open roster spot. It is thought that Wray will be brought back to the club, although, no announcements have been made. (Note: Wray was re-signed by the Wings on March 17).
The oddity is that Wray was "released" to make room for Zash even though the club is currently carrying three goaltenders on the active roster. (Brandon Miller, Ray Hodgkinson and Brodie McDonald). Common logic is that one of the goaltenders could have been put on the Practice Squad.
How will the shake-up affect the team? Philadelphia is in the second week of their two week bye and time will tell.
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
2011 Wings Lacrosse (3-26-11 at Rochester)
By Tom Hoffman
The Philadelphia Wings (4-7) will take to the floor for the first time in three weeks this Saturday evening when they travel to Rochester, NY to face the Knighthawks (5-5) in a game important to the playoff hopes of both teams. Faceoff at the Blue Cross Arena is at 7:35 PM and the game can be seen live on the NLL Network at NLL.com.
History
The Wings are 15-21 all time against Rochester and are 5-13 at the Blue Cross Arena. The only previous meeting this season went to the Knighthawks on February 5th by a score of 11-6. The Wings trailed 9-2 after three quarters and never really got too close. The Wings last victory in Rochester was on January 10, 2009 by a score of 16-13. The teams will meet once more in 2011 on April 10th in Philadelphia.
Trivia
This season is not only the 25th season of Wings Lacrosse; it is also the 10th anniversary of the Wings last championship victory in 2001. To celebrate both, this column will feature a trivia question each week and will attempt to tie in both the 2001 champions, as well as that week’s opponent. This week’s question is:
Name the current Knighthawk who was a member of the Wings 2001 practice squad? The answer will be at the end of the preview.
When Last They Played
The Wings were defeated by the Calgary Roughnecks 13-7 on March 5th at the Wells Fargo Center. Rochester’s last game was also on March 5th when they travelled to Buffalo losing to the Bandits by a score of 11-8.
Notes
Several roster moves have occurred since the Wings last took to the floor. D Kyle Sweeney (released prior to the Toronto game on March 4th) was signed by the Edmonton Rush while D Taylor Wray was re-signed on March 17th after being released prior to the Calgary game due to coaching commitments at Lehigh University. G Kurtis Wagar and D Pat Heim were added to the roster after Brodie MacDonald and Dan Hardy were placed on the hold out list. Defensemen Jeff Bigas joins F Matt Danowski on the practice squad.
The Wings are 1-1 in games played on March 26th. They defeated the Boston Blazers in 1994 16-10 behind a 10 goal night from Paul Gait. In 1999 they lost 14-13 at Nassau Coliseum to the New York Saints.
Athan Iannucci remains among the NLL’s top 10 scorers. Iannucci is currently seventh with 56 points and is one of several players tied for second with 27 goals. Washington’s Rhys Duch leads all goal scorers with 29. Boston’s Dan Dawson is the league’s point leader with 68.
Next game
The Wings will return to the Wells Fargo Center on April 2 to face the Toronto Rock.
Trivia Answer
Current Knighthawk transition player Chris Schiller was a member of the Wings practice squad in 2001 along with Rich Brzeski and Joe Ceglia.
The Philadelphia Wings (4-7) will take to the floor for the first time in three weeks this Saturday evening when they travel to Rochester, NY to face the Knighthawks (5-5) in a game important to the playoff hopes of both teams. Faceoff at the Blue Cross Arena is at 7:35 PM and the game can be seen live on the NLL Network at NLL.com.
History
The Wings are 15-21 all time against Rochester and are 5-13 at the Blue Cross Arena. The only previous meeting this season went to the Knighthawks on February 5th by a score of 11-6. The Wings trailed 9-2 after three quarters and never really got too close. The Wings last victory in Rochester was on January 10, 2009 by a score of 16-13. The teams will meet once more in 2011 on April 10th in Philadelphia.
Trivia
This season is not only the 25th season of Wings Lacrosse; it is also the 10th anniversary of the Wings last championship victory in 2001. To celebrate both, this column will feature a trivia question each week and will attempt to tie in both the 2001 champions, as well as that week’s opponent. This week’s question is:
Name the current Knighthawk who was a member of the Wings 2001 practice squad? The answer will be at the end of the preview.
When Last They Played
The Wings were defeated by the Calgary Roughnecks 13-7 on March 5th at the Wells Fargo Center. Rochester’s last game was also on March 5th when they travelled to Buffalo losing to the Bandits by a score of 11-8.
Notes
Several roster moves have occurred since the Wings last took to the floor. D Kyle Sweeney (released prior to the Toronto game on March 4th) was signed by the Edmonton Rush while D Taylor Wray was re-signed on March 17th after being released prior to the Calgary game due to coaching commitments at Lehigh University. G Kurtis Wagar and D Pat Heim were added to the roster after Brodie MacDonald and Dan Hardy were placed on the hold out list. Defensemen Jeff Bigas joins F Matt Danowski on the practice squad.
The Wings are 1-1 in games played on March 26th. They defeated the Boston Blazers in 1994 16-10 behind a 10 goal night from Paul Gait. In 1999 they lost 14-13 at Nassau Coliseum to the New York Saints.
Athan Iannucci remains among the NLL’s top 10 scorers. Iannucci is currently seventh with 56 points and is one of several players tied for second with 27 goals. Washington’s Rhys Duch leads all goal scorers with 29. Boston’s Dan Dawson is the league’s point leader with 68.
Next game
The Wings will return to the Wells Fargo Center on April 2 to face the Toronto Rock.
Trivia Answer
Current Knighthawk transition player Chris Schiller was a member of the Wings practice squad in 2001 along with Rich Brzeski and Joe Ceglia.
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