Calgary Roughnecks Game Preview - Saturday, January 9 at Buffalo
January 9, 2016 - National Lacrosse League (NLL)
Calgary Roughnecks News Release
CALGARY ROUGHNECKS (0-1) at BUFFALO BANDITS (0-0)
Saturday, Jan. 9, 2016 - 5:30 p.m. MT - First Niagara Center
TONIGHT'S GAME
Tonight the Calgary Roughnecks play their first road game of the 2016 NLL campaign when they invade the First Niagara Center for a matchup against the Buffalo Bandits who are celebrating their 25th anniversary season. Calgary faced the Bandits once during the 2015 regular season with Buffalo winning 15-14 in overtime on Feb. 7 at the Scotiabank Saddledome. The Roughnecks enter Buffalo after losing their home opener to the Saskatchewan Rush, 10-8. After Calgary built a first half lead of 5-2, the momentum shifted in the final 30 minutes to see the defending NLL champions secure their first road win of the season. The Roughnecks were led by Dane Dobbie (three goals, one assist) and Curtis Dickson (two goals, two assists) who each recorded four points. Frankie Scigliano made 37 saves in the setback.
ROUGHNECKS BROADCAST INFORMATION
Webcast: FOX Sports Go at foxsports.com/foxsportsgo
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PROMO CALENDAR
Roughnecks single game tickets are now on sale for as low as $38 for adults and $21 for children (plus applicable fees).
Upcoming home game highlights include:
- Stampeders Night presented by TELUS on Saturday, Jan. 30 against Vancouver.
NOTEWORTHY
STATS COMPARISON: 2015 REGULAR SEASON Category
Calgary
Buffalo
Home Record
4-5
7-2
Away Record
3-6
4-5
Goals For
212
236
Goals Against
217
208
Power Play Pct.
55.29
27.69
Penalty Kill Pct.
64.36
53.26
Faceoffs
302-495 (61.0%)
340-516 (65.9%)
Loose Balls
1,066
1,278
Points Leader - Series
C. Dickson (8), S. Evans (8)
R. Benesch (8)
Points Leader - Season
S. Evans (130)
R. Benesch (113)
REGULAR SEASON RECORDS: VS BUFFALO - All-Time: 4-5 - All-Time in CGY: 3-4 - All-Time in BUF: 1-1 - Last CGY Win: Apr. 5/14, 16-13 at First Niagara Center - Last BUF Win: Apr. 7/15, 15-14 (OT) at the 'Dome
SPOILER ALERT: This season, the Roughnecks will be the opponent in home openers for Buffalo and New England on Jan. 15. In Calgary's last 10 opponent home openers they have played spoiler, posting a record of 6-4 including a 3-1 mark in their last four contests.
WELCOME TO THE NLL: On Thursday, Nick Sakiewicz (Suh"ÂKEV"Âitch) was appointed NLL Commissioner. Sakiewicz brings over two decades of experience working in Major League Soccer, most recently serving as co-founding partner and CEO of Keystone Sports and Entertainment, the ownership entity of the Philadelphia Union of MLS. Sakiewicz takes over for former NLL Commissioner George Daniel, who had served in the role since 2009 before announcing in November that was he stepping down to start a new law firm while remaining as Counsel to the league.
EAST BEAST "N' FEAST: Last season, Calgary posted a 2-5 record against the East Division. In 2014, the Roughnecks had a record of 6-1 when playing their East Division rivals.
FAMILIAR FACES: Transition player Brandon Goodwin will face his former team for the first time this evening following a December trade that saw Roughnecks rookie defender Mitch de Snoo head east. Goodwin recorded seven points (three goals, four assists) and 17 loose balls in 10 games during his 2015 NLL rookie campaign. The 6-foot-2, 212-pound transition player from New Westminster, British Columbia, was selected by Buffalo in the first round, ninth overall, in the 2014 NLL Draft ... In the offseason, the Bandits signed former Roughneck Daryl Veltman. The 30-year-old forward registered 21 goals and 57 points in 17 games with Calgary in 2015, helping the Roughnecks advance to the West Division final.
ON THE VERGE: Veteran forward Dane Dobbie is two goals away from becoming the franchise's all-time goals leader. The current record of 274 was set by former Roughnecks star Kaleb Toth who spent 11 seasons with Calgary. Dobbie, now in his ninth NLL season with the Roughnecks, finished the 2015 campaign in the top-3 in team scoring with 36 goals and 31 assists for 67 points. Dobbie was selected by Calgary in the first round, fourth overall, in the 2007 NLL Draft.
YOUTHFUL TRENDS: The Roughnecks average age in 2015 was 27.75 years old while this season it has dropped to 25.5 years old. With all the young blood, the Roughnecks still have a large contingent of veterans entering their sixth-plus season in the NLL in Curtis Dickson (6), Dan MacRae (6), Curtis Manning (7), Scott Carnegie (8), Jon Harnett (8), Mike Carnegie (9), Dane Dobbie (9), Mike Poulin (11) and Jeff Shattler (11).
RAMPANT ROOKIES: The Roughnecks selected nine players in the 2015 NLL Draft. Of the nine, five are on the 20-player active roster in Wesley Berg (first round, fourth overall), Reilly O'Connor (first round, seventh overall), Christian Del Bianco (second round, 15th overall), Tyson Bell (third round, 24th overall) and Kellen LeClair (third round, 25th overall). Georgia has the second most rookies on its roster with four while the other seven remaining teams have at least one rookie coming into the season. Looking at tonight's opponent, the Bandits open the 2016 campaign with one rookie in forward Anthony Malcolm, selected by Buffalo in the second round, 11th overall, in 2015.
LETTER GAME: In December, the Roughnecks named Mike Carnegie the fourth captain in franchise history. Joining Carnegie on the 2016 leadership team is Dane Dobbie, returning as alternate captain for the third consecutive season, and newly appointed alternate captains Greg Harnett, Karsen Leung and Dan MacRae. The alternate captain duties will see Dobbie and Leung wear an "A' at home with Harnett and MacRae both wearing an "A' when on the road. Carnegie, a nine-year NLL veteran from London, Ontario, has spent his entire playing career with the Roughnecks after joining the club as free agent for the 2008 season. The 31-year-old defender, who wore an "A' from 2011-15, has recorded 55 points (18 goals, 37 assists) and 495 loose balls in 126 regular season games and was a member of the 2009 championship team. Carnegie succeeds Bruce Alexander (2002), Tracey Kelusky (2003-10) and Andrew McBride (2011-15) as team captain.
BRIDER RETIRES: In October, the longest-serving Roughneck Andrew Bride announced his retirement from the National Lacrosse League. A native of Ladner, British Columbia, McBride finished his 13-year NLL career as the franchise leader in regular season games played (198), playoff games played (29), regular season penalty minutes (387) and playoff penalty minutes (40). He was selected by Calgary in the second round, 14th overall, in the 2002 NLL Draft and led the team as captain for five seasons (2011-15). He recorded 87 career points (19 goals, 68 assists) and 711 career loose balls over his more than a decade-long tenure with the Roughnecks. The two-time NLL Champion (2004 & 2009) and two-time NLL All-Star (2008 & 2011) played at least one game in 13 consecutive playoff seasons, collecting 16 points (three goals, 13 assists) and 96 loose balls over that span. Most recently, McBride competed at the 2015 FIL World Indoor Lacrosse Championship with Team Ireland.
HALL OF FAME HONOURS: Roughnecks head coach and assistant general manager Curt Malawsky was one of 10 new members along with the 1981-83 Peterborough James Gang Lacrosse team inducted into the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame for 2015. Malawsky, now in his seventh season behind the Roughnecks bench, joined the Calgary club as an associate coach and assistant general manager during the summer of 2009. Prior to taking on a coaching role, Malawsky played two of his 12 NLL seasons in Calgary (2008-09), recording 46 goals and 88 points over that span. In 2009, Malawsky won his first Champion's Cup as a member of the Roughnecks.
HOW THE ROUGHNECKS WERE BUILT (20): NLL Draft (13): Bell*, Berg*, Del Bianco*, Dickson, Dobbie, Greg Harnett, LeClair*, Leung, MacRae, Manning, McIntosh, O'Connor*, Scigliano Trade (5): Digby, Goodwin, Jon Harnett, Poulin, Shattler Free Agent (2): Mike Carnegie, Scott Carnegie
*Denotes rookie
UPCOMING GAMES All times in MT. Schedule subject to change. DATE
OPPONENT
TIME
BROADCAST
Jan. 15
at New England
5:00 p.m.
FOX Sports Go
Jan. 30
vs Vancouver
7:00 p.m.
TSN5, TSN GO
Feb. 5
at Saskatchewan
6:30 p.m.
FOX Sports Go
Feb. 6
vs Georgia
7:00 p.m.
FOX Sports Go
Feb. 13
vs Colorado
7:00 p.m.
TSN GO
MILESTONES
- Dane Dobbie is two goals away from setting a new franchise all-time goals record at 275. He is also two assists away from 250.
- Jeff Shattler is one game back of 150 games played.
- Mike Poulin is one win away from 50.
- Scott Carnegie is five games back of 100 games played.
- Mike Carnegie is five loose balls away from 500. He recorded his 100th caused turnover in Calgary's home opener on Jan. 2 against Saskatchewan.
- Curtis Dickson hit 200 career goals in Calgary's home opener on Jan. 2 against Saskatchewan.
TRANSACTIONS
DECEMBER 2015
- 5th: Released goaltender Jordan Kancsal from the Active Roster and signed forward Curtis Dickson to a three-year agreement.
- 10th: Released forward Carson Barton from the Active Roster.
- 16th: Released transition player Tyson Roe and forward Jacob Ruest from the Active Roster ... Placed transition player Peter McFetridge on the Injured Reserve List - Second Level ... Signed forward Jeff Shattler to a two-year contract.
- 17th: Released forward Jason Jones, defenceman Patrick O'Meara and transition player Tor Reinholdt from the Active Roster and signed O'Meara to the Practice Player List.
- 18th: Released defenceman Mitch Banister from the Active Roster and signed defenceman Bradley Kri to the Practice Player List.
- 21st: Signed defenceman Mitch Banister to the Practice Player List.
- 23rd: Released defenceman Bradley Kri from the Practice Player List.
- 28th: Traded defenceman Mitch de Snoo to the Buffalo Bandits in exchange for transition player Brandon Goodwin.
- 31st: Signed forward Tyler Melnyk to the Practice Player List.
JANUARY 2016
- 1st: Signed transition player Bob Snider to the Practice Player List.
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