Sting set for Saturday night showdown with San Jose
January 12, 2007 - National Lacrosse League (NLL)
Arizona Sting News Release
The Arizona Sting will be looking to defeat the San Jose Stealth for a fifth consecutive time this weekend when they travel to northern California for a Saturday night showdown with their divisional rivals. San Jose has not beaten the Sting since January 21, 2005. Both teams dropped their opening matches of 2007 last weekend, with the Stealth falling to Rochester by a score of 14-11 and the Sting coming up short against Colorado 10-6.
Several Sting players and coaches have been a part of the San Jose/Albany franchise, including Head Coach Bob Hamley, Assistant Coach Bob McMahon, goaltender Rob Blasdell, defenseman Brian Beisel, and the brothers Malawsky - forwards Curt and Derek. Derek, the younger sibling, led the Stealth in scoring last season with 50 points (20G-30A). The Sting acquired him on September 16, 2006 in exchange for defenseman Andrew Guindon and the seventh overall selection at the 2006 NLL Entry Draft.
In his first game with the Sting, Derek was held pointless against Colorado last weekend for only the fourth time in his NLL career (113 games). All four matches in which he has failed to register a point have been losses for his team, last Friday included.
"Last week was disappointing to say the least, but you've got to put games like that behind you and move on," said Malawsky.
In the three games in which he has faced his previous team for the first time, Derek has tallied a combined 4G-15A-19P against Toronto, Buffalo, and Rochester. Sting Head Coach Bob Hamley would definitely like to see this trend continue into his squad's match with the Stealth this weekend, as the Arizona offense struggled mightily against NLL Defensive Player of the Week Gee Nash and the Colorado Mammoth defense last weekend at Jobing.com Arena.
"To say we had problems finding the back of the net last week is an understatement," said Hamley. "Our goaltender (Rob Blasdell) and our defense played well, but we didn't get the job done offensively against the Mammoth and that cost us the game. We're definitely excited about the challenge of getting back on the floor this weekend and hopefully coming out with a win. San Jose is an athletic, well-coached team, and we know we'll be in for a battle in their home arena."
The Stealth's prized off-season acquisition, All-Star forward Colin Doyle, was held to a single goal last weekend against Rochester. In his two previous games against Arizona, Doyle has tallied 6G-7A-13P as a member of the Toronto Rock. The Sting's defensive unit will definitely be looking to keep the former NLL MVP in check on Saturday night.
"Colin is arguably the best left-handed forward in our league," said Hamley. "He really makes their offense a lot more dynamic than we've seen in previous years."
San Jose Head Coach Walt Christenson will be looking for his young Stealth team to play with more consistency this week than in their opening match loss to Rochester.
"Arizona is a very experienced team and we know they'll be well prepared for Saturday's game," said Christenson. "We have a lot of respect for that team, and we know we'll have to cut down on our mistakes in order to be successful against them."
Game time on Saturday is 8:30pm (Arizona time). Fans can catch the action live by logging onto B2 Networks through the link on the Sting's homepage (www.arizonasting.com).
ARIZONA ALL-TIME VERSUS SAN JOSE:
Record: 5-3
Goals For: 107
Goals Against: 102
Record at HP Pavillion: 2-2
Goals for at HP Pavilion: 49
Goals against at HP Pavilion: 49
Last Season: In the final two games for both San Jose and Arizona in the 2006 regular season, the Sting swept a home-and-home series with the Stealth on April 14 and 15 by a combined score of 28-20. Both teams were in contention for the final playoff spot in the NLL West Division going into the weekend, but by virtue of their 16-13 win on Friday, the Sting clinched their second consecutive post-season berth and the Stealth were eliminated from playoff contention.
STING FORWARDS VERSUS STEALTH/ATTACK (CAREER):
NAME GP G A P GPG APG PPG
Dan Dawson 10 21 36 57 2.1 3.6 5.7
Derek Malawsky 8 16 29 45 2 3.63 5.63
Curt Malawsky 9 27 21 48 3 2.33 5.3
Lindsay Plunkett 5 5 14 19 1 2.8 3.8
Craig Conn 3 5 6 11 1.67 2 3.67
Matt Brown 2 3 4 7 1.5 2 3.5
Andrew Lazore 1 1 1 2 1.0 1.0 2.0
Andy Secore 1 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 0.0
Notes:
- Dan Dawson registered 9 points (3G-6A) against the Stealth on January 30, 2004. This remains his career high for points in a game, although he has equaled this total twice more (once in 2005 and once in 2006).
- Matt Brown's most productive game in the NLL came against the Stealth on April 14, 2006. The then-rookie tallied 3G-4A-7P against San Jose in a 16-13 win.
- Rob Blasdell logged 3,966 minutes in net for Albany/San Jose between 2000 and 2004. He allowed 813 goals on 3,306 shots for a save percentage of 75.4% during his time with the Stealth/Attack. His 2,493 saves with the Stealth/Attack remains a franchise record, as does his record for saves in a season (644 in 2002).
- Sting Assistant Coach Bob McMahon was named NLL Head Coach of the Year in 2002 after leading Albany to a 14-2 record.
- Brian Beisel played 67 games for Albany/San Jose between 2000 and 2004. He tallied 22G-55A-77P-268LB-25PIM during his tenure with the franchise.
- In 20 games played together for the Stealth from 2005-2006, the Malawsky brothers (Curt and Derek) combined for 47G-78A-125P.
- Curt Malawsky scored the game-winning goal in his first match against the Stealth after they released him on March 10, 2006 (ARZ 16 - SJS 13 on April 15, 2006). He finished the game with 2G-1A-3P as the Sting clinched a playoff spot and the Stealth were eliminated from post-season contention.
National Lacrosse League Stories from January 12, 2007
- Roughnecks lose heartbreaker in OT - Calgary Roughnecks
- Knighthawks announce promotional schedule - Rochester Knighthawks
- Mammoth signs Davidson - Colorado Mammoth
- Sting set for Saturday night showdown with San Jose - Arizona Sting
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