Special ticket offers for Wings visits to New York

By Tom Hoffman

For Wings fans who might be looking to attend the game against the New York Titans on February 8th at the Prudential Center, the Titans are offering a special ticket deal for that evening's game. A buy one, get one free offer is being made available for the Wings Sunday night visit. To take advantage of the offer, fans can either call the Titans at 1-888-8-Titans or go to ticketmaster.com and enter the promotional code 2for1. The offer is good until Saturday, February 7.

In addition, the New Jersey Ironmen of the Xtreme Soccer League are offering a deal for both Wings appearances (February 8th and April 4th). For $20, you can purchase a lower level ticket to the Ironmen's games those afternoons (vs. Chicago and Milwaukee) and use your ticket stub that night for a $10 ticket to the Titans-Wings game. For ticket information, call 1-800-IRONMEN.

Wings sluggish in home opener loss

By Tom Hoffman

9,462 Philadelphia Wings fanatics were pumped up as they awaited the Wings home opener last night at the Wachovia Center. Afterwards it was hard to tell who was flatter, the fans or the Wings offense. The Wings struggled all evening as they fell to the expansion Boston Blazers 13-11 while also seeing Athan Iannucci go down to a possible re-injured knee early in the first quarter.

"Give credit to Boston, they played with a lot of energy," Wings coach Dave Huntley said. "They just played better than we did."

Even with Iannucci out on the floor the offense still seemed to struggle. The Wings didn't get on the board until the 11:07 mark of the first on a David Mitchell score. At that point it was Daryl Veltman 3, Wings 0 as the Blazers rookie was living up to his selection as the NLL's top pick in the entry draft. Philly trailed 4-1 after the first but quickly tied the game at 4 with Mitchell's second tally of the night sandwiched by scores from Merrick Thomson and Drew Westervelt. Boston would score three of the next four to take a 7-5 lead into halftime.

After Brett Queener scored 31 seconds into the third to give the Blazers an 8-5 lead, the Wings scored the next four to take their only lead of the night. Jordan Levine won't forget his first NLL goal as he picked up Anthony Cosmo's rebound of a Shawn Nadelen shot to put Philadelphia up 9-8. Boston got the the last two goals of the third to lead 10-9 and Mitch Belisle only needed 10 seconds to make the score 11-9 in the fourth. In the third Belisle had drawn the ire of the Wings Geoff Snider with a submarine hit in front of the Blazers bench that touched off a small fracas. The Wings would tie the game one last time when Mat Giles scored his third goal of the night followed by Westervelt's third of the game just 29 seconds later. Boston's Gary Bining would score the game winner at 7:15 of the fourth (his third goal of the night) before Veltman finished the scoring and sent the Wings fans running to the exits.

For the Wings, there is very little time to dwell on the loss as they face the Blazers again this evening in Boston. Huntley feels the team will respond.

"I think we'll bounce back," Huntley said. "I don't think anybody was pleased with their performance tonight."

One Wing who did play well was G Brandon Miller, who made 45 saves in the cage. Westervelt and Giles each had three goals and two assists to lead the Wings while Veltman (4G, 3A) and Dan Dawson (7 assists) led the Blazers. For former Wing and current Blazers coach Tom Ryan, it was his first win as an NLL coach in one of his favorite places to play.

"It's definitely fun to be back here," Ryan said. "It feels like home. It's just good to get a win anyway you can."

Wings 2009 Game 3 (vs Boston 1-23-09) and Game 4 (at Boston 1-24-09)

By Tom Hoffman

After a week off, the Philadelphia Wings (1-1) will get ready for a home and home weekend with the expansion Boston Blazers (0-2). Friday night the teams meet in Philadelphia, with faceoff at the Wachovia Center at 8 PM. On Saturday the scene shifts to Boston and the TD Banknorth Garden for a 7:30 PM faceoff. Both games can be seen on NLL.com.

History

While Friday's game will be the first meeting with the new Blazers, the Wings had a good history against the original Blazers franchise. Including the postseason, the Wings had an 11-3 record against the franchise that started as the New England Blazers (1989-1991) playing in Worcester, MA before moving to Boston. The Wings defeated the Blazers in 1990 for the franchise's second Major Indoor Lacrosse League title. The team played from 1992 to 1995 at Boston Garden before moving to TD Banknorth Garden, then called the Fleet Center, for the 1996 and 1997 seasons before the team was shutdown prior to the 1998 season. The Wings made one appearance at TD Banknorth, defeating the Blazers 12-11 on January 11, 1997.

Last Game

Behind solid goaltending from Brandon Miller and a balanced offense, the Wings earned their first win of the 2009 season by defeating the Rochester Knighthawks 16-13 at Blue Cross Arena on January 10th. The offense was spurred by the Thomson's, Merrick with four goals and an assist while rookie Sean added three goals in being named as the NLL Rookie of the Week. Kyle Wailes led the Wings with seven points (one goal, six assists) whiel Kyle Sweeney (2G, 2A) and David Mitchell (1G, 3A) each added four points. Miller made 36 saves and shut out the Hawks fo the games final 10:03. The highlight though was Geoff Snider's KO of Rochester's Troy Bonterre in the game's final minute. Boston opened their season with a pair of losses to the New York Titans, 19-14 at the Prudential Center in Newark on January 10th and 13-9 last Saturday in Boston.

Home Openers

The Wings are 13-9 all time in their home openers winning last year 19-11 over Chicago to stop a four game home opener losing streak. At the Wachovia Center the Wings are just 6-6. The original Blazers were the Wings home opening opponent three times (1989, 1991 and 1992), with the Wings winning two of the three matchups.

Dude's return (and others)

Tom Ryan, who played for the Wings from 2000 to 2003, returns to Philadelphia as the coach of the Blazers. Ryan played for the original Blazers from 1995 to 1997. Other former Wings on the Boston roster include Brenden Thenhaus (2007) and Bryan Bendig (2005) while Jake Bergey is currently on the Blazers protected player list after being selected in the expansion draft.

Next Game

Following this weekend and another week off, the Wings will return to action on February 6th when they host the Buffalo Bandits.

Wings 2009 Game 2 (at Rochester 1-10-09)

By Tom Hoffman

The Philadelphia Wings (0-1) will look to rebound from their opening night loss in Buffalo when they travel to Rochester to face the Knighthawks on Saturday night. Faceoff at the Blue Cross Arena is at 8 PM. The game can be seen for free at NLL.com.

Last Week

The Wings opened the season with a 15-11 loss to the Buffalo Bandits. Drew Westervelt scored the first of his three goals just 10 seconds into the game. Westervelt also added a pair of assists. Geoff Snider added a goal and five assists while Mat Giles and Kyle Wailes each scored two goals and an assist. Rob Blasdell gave up 10 goals through three quarters before yielding to Brandon Miller in the fourth.

History

The Wings are 14-17 all time versus Rochester, inluding a 4-10 record at Blue Cross Arena. The Wings have lost five straight in Rochester with their last win at the BCA coming on December 27, 2003 (13-7). In 2008 the teams split their two meetings, each winning at home. Philadelphia led 13-7 after three quarters and held on to defeat Rochester 15-14 at the Wachovia Center on January 18. Athan Iannucci used an eight point (5 G, 3A) night to overcome a five goal night from the K-Hawks John Grant Jr. On March 29 the Wings were hammered 20-12 by the Knighthawks at the BCA behind an eight point (4G, 4A) game from Grant and seven points (3G, 4A) from Ken Millin. Iannucci and Geoff Snider each scored three goals for the Wings.

The Gaits are back!

Saturday night's game will mark the return of Gary Gait to the NLL playing field. Gait, who had retired following the 2005 season, had his playing rights acquired from the Colorado Mammoth by Rochester after losing John Grant Jr to a season ending injury. Brother Paul also makes his return to the NLL and to Rochester, this time as the Knighthawks coach. Paul was hired to coach on December 26, two days after Paul Suggate resigned after less than four months on the job. As a player, Paul Gait was an original member of the Knighthawks and helped them to their first title in 1997.

Next Game

The Wings will return to action on January 23 when they host the Boston Blazers in the start of a home and home weekend with the NLL's newest team.

Wings 2009 Game 1 (at Buffalo 1-3-09)

By Tom Hoffman

The 23rd season of Philadelphia Wings lacrosse will begin where the 2008 season ended for them. The Wings will head back to the site of last season's 14-12 postseason defeat, Buffalo's HSBC Arena, to do battle with the defending champion Bandits Saturday night. Faceoff is at 7:30 PM.

History

The Wings are 17-18 all time in regular season play against the Bandits. At Buffalo the Wings have a 7-11 record, but are 6-7 at HSBC though they have lost in their last four visits including last season's playoff. The Wings last victory in Buffalo was on February 25, 2005 (14-8).

For Openers

The Wings are 12-10 in season openers and have won four of their last five opening games. In season openers on the road the Wings are 7-7. Philadelphia has opened the season four times against Buffalo and are 1-3 in those games, the lone win coming in the 1998 opener in Buffalo (14-12).

Last Season

The Wings and Bandits split their two regular season matchups in 2008. The Wings needed overtime to defeat Buffalo 15-14 on January 26th at the Wachovia Center. Jake Bergey's goal just twenty seconds into the extra period gave Philadelphia the win after Jamie Rooney's score with less than two minutes in regulation forced the overtime period. On March 1st the Bandits handed the Wings their first loss of the 2008 season at HSBC by a score of 21-12. Philadelphia jumped out to a 5-0 lead 6:34 into the first quarter before being outscored 21-7 the rest of the night. Including the postseason, Athan Iannucci scored 12 goals against Buffalo last year while Rob Blasdell started all three games in net for the Wings. For Buffalo, Mark Steenhuis (8G, 10A), Cory Bomberry (5G, 13A) and John Tavares (5G, 13A) each had 18 points in the three meetings with the Wings.

New Faces

The Wings have nine new faces on this season's 23 man roster (as of 12-28). One face isn't quite new as Kyle Wailes returns to the Wings lineup after missing the 2008 season due to work visa issues. Wailes scored 16 goals and added 21 assists in 2007 and will be looked upon to add to the teams offense especially with the losses of Jake Bergey (expansion draft), Jason Crosbie (free agency) and Jamie Rooney (Arizona dispersal draft). Also missing from the lineup (pending a physical) is last season's MVP and leading goal scorer Athan Iannucci as he recovers from a knee injury suffered last summer playing for the St. Regis Indians in Major Series Lacrosse in Ontario. Three of the new faces for 2009 came via September's entry draft, first round pick Sean Thomson, second round choice Matt Bocklet and fourth rounder Jordan Levine. Also added, and expected to help pick up the offense, was Mat Giles via the Chicago dispersal draft. Giles led the Shamrox last season with 27 goals.

2008 Numbers

Goals: Athan Iannucci - 71

Assists: Jason Crosbie - 40

Points: Iannucci - 100

Penalty Minutes: Geoff Snider -103

Loose Balls: Snider - 244

Goals Against Average: Brandon Miller - 12.18 (in seven games with Wings), Rob Blasdell - 13.92

Next Game

The Wings travel to Rochester to face the Knighthawks on January 10th.