Stealth Host Rush April 13 Game Notes
April 9, 2008 - National Lacrosse League (NLL)
San Jose Stealth News Release
This Week's Schedule Change The San Jose Stealth (7-6) host a revenge match against the Edmonton Rush in a game that's been changed from Friday to Sunday night to accommodate the Rascal Flatts concert at San Jose's HP Pavilion. The game is now slated for 7:30 p.m. on Sunday. Edmonton staged one of the bigger upsets in the National Lacrosse League this season by toppling San Jose 12-5 on March 29 in Edmonton. But then again, Edmonton has been upsetting plenty of teams lately in their late charge to grab a playoff spot. This is a huge late-season contest for both teams, with the surging Rush (4-7) charging for a playoff spot and the Stealth on the verge of clinching a playoff berth. With a win over Edmonton Sunday night, the Stealth are assured of a trip to the post-season.
A Look at the Edmonton Rush Poised for great things this year, the Rush fired their coach and general manager Paul Day after a disappointing 0-5 start. Bob Hamley took over both coach and general manager duties and in his first game, he lost to the Stealth in Edmonton, 11-8. Since then, Edmonton has won five of their last six, including a 12-5 thumping of the Stealth in Edmonton on March 29. Stealth coach Walth Christianson called his team's performance the worst of the season. "We were bad from back to front," Christianson said. The Rush completely revamped their team under Hamley. Over the course of the season 15 players have left via trade or release or have been placed on the injured list. The Rush are led by veteran Dan Teat (39 points) who joined the team two weeks ago, and forward Jimmy Quinlan, who's been with the team all season. A huge part of the Rush revival is due to the play of goaltender Curtis Palidwor, who won the NLL defensive player of the month award for March. Watch it Live on B2 Network and Comcast Sportsnet West The National Lacrosse League (NLL) and B2 Networks have once again teamed to provide live broadband broadcasts of all games for the 2008 season. For the third consecutive season, fans will be able to access their favorite team's games on the Internet via the global broadband broadcasting leader. Through the B2-NLL partnership, NLL games will be available for viewing by a global audience. Live lacrosse games will be aired through the league website, www.nll.com, as well as every individual team website. Fans wanting to watch NLL via B2 Networks will need a high-speed Internet connection and a current version of Microsoft Windows Media Player. Games will be sold on an individual basis for $7 (US). The game will also be televised live by Comcast Sportsnet West.
Home Sweet Home This will be the team's second game of a four game homestand to finish the regular season. The Stealth, however, don't mind traveling. They finished 5-3 on the road this year and were the only Western Division team to defeat an Eastern Division team (beating New York and Chicago) on the road during the first half of the season. By winning the last three games, San Jose would finish with a winning home record.
There and Back Again The Stealth and the Portland LumberJax face each other three times in the month of April. In fact, the game against Edmonton will provide the Stealth with a reprieve from Portland. The Stealth split a home-and- home series with the LumberJax last weekend, with the road team winning each game. After playing Edmonton, Portland comes back to town April 18th to face San Jose for the third time in four games. King Z Jeff Zywicki, Rochester's John Grant and Philadelphia's Athan Iannucci have dueled all year for the league's scoring title. Zywicki is the current leader with 80 points, one better than Grant and four better than Iannucci, who leads the league with 54 goals. Although Zwyicki is far behind in second place with 43 goals, his shooting percentage of .269 far outpaces Iannucci (.198) and Grant (.164). Zywicki's scoring percentage is the best of any of the league's top ten scorers. Earlier this season, Zywicki recorded his 100th career goal in a win over Calgary (3/22). The Ontario native has been the Stealth's most consistent scorer, recording eight hat tricks this year, including a season-high of five goals three times: in the opener against the Roughnecks (1/12), the Swarm (2/2) and the Shamrox (2/9).
Doyle About to Jump Over Gait Team Captain Colin Doyle needs just two assists to surpass the great Gary Gait for second on the all-time NLL assist list. Obviously, Doyle knows the importance of sharing. He leads the Stealth with 47 assists, second in the NLL behind Buffalo's John Tavares. His 22 goals are second on the team behind Jeff Zywicki. Doyle's 69 points ties him for seventh in the NLL. Doyle scored the game-winning goal with less than five seconds remaining against the Roughnecks (3/22). Rookie Mix Sean Morris scored big in his NLL debut on 3/22, picking up four points (two goals, two assists). The UMass alum was named Rookie of the Week for his performance. Teammate Frank Resetarits netted three goals against Colorado (3/8) and garnered the newbie of the week honors. Fellow rookie Tom Johnson added a pair of goals as well in the win against the Mammoth. Steve Panarelli has been strong on defense for the Stealth, scooping up 44 loose balls this season. Career Milestones Colin Doyle came to San Jose in 2007 with an impressive resume and looks to add to his achievements this season. The 10-year veteran is nearing the 350-goal plateau (341 to date) and is approaching 500 assists (494 to date). Earlier this season, Doyle surpassed 800 points for his career (834 to date). Doyle is sixth on the all-time goals list and passed Tom "Hollywood" Marechek earlier this year for third all time in points. Gary Rosyski is nearing 250 goals (244). Jeff Zywicki needs 12 assists for 100 in his career, and is just 2 points shy of 200.
Coaching Staff Walt Christianson enters his third season at the helm of the San Jose Stealth. Christianson brought his defensive-minded approach and transformed the Stealth into a young, aggressive team and nearly led them to the NLL Championship game. In 2007, San Jose posted a 9-7 regular season mark, qualified for the post season for the first time since 2005 and advanced to the Western Conference Finals where the Stealth dropped a 9-7 heart-breaker to the Arizona Sting. Joining Christianson as assistant coach is Art Webster, also in his third season. Don't Forget the Time Change The Stealth play the Edmonton Rush Sunday night at 7:30 p.m. instead of Friday night. Up Next The Stealth finish out the 2008 regular season with a two more home games, hosting Portland on Friday, April 18th and Colorado on Friday, April 25th, both games will face off at 7:30 PM. Tickets are still available by calling the Stealth ticket office at (925) 460- 8290, visiting www.ticketmaster.com or at the HP Pavilion box office.
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National Lacrosse League Stories from April 9, 2008
- Stealth Host Rush April 13 Game Notes - San Jose Stealth
- Buffalo's Mark Steenhuis Named Transition Player Of The Week - Buffalo Bandits
- Minnesota Swarm Forward Ryan Ward Named Offensive Player of the Week - Minnesota Swarm
- San Jose's Zywicki wins Player of the Week - NLL
- Jax Host Wings in Regular Season Home Finale - Portland Lumberjax
- "Garden Greats" Night at the Titans Game Saturday - Orlando Titans
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