Roughnecks need to ‘seize the moment,’ GM says
Team feeling frustrated heading into match against defending champions
Before the start of the National Lacrosse League season, the Calgary Roughnecks were hoping to contend with the top dogs, not scramble to hold on to a tenuous third-place position in their division.
It’s four games in and there’s still 14 to play, but a 1-3 record wasn’t what Riggers’ general manager Mike Board had envisioned.
“It’s certainly not how we drew it up,” Board sighed. “We’ve had good stretches during games and some really bad ones and when we’ve had bad ones, we seem to get scored on. Our offence has been stuck in a bit of a rut.
“It’s carpe diem time for us,’’ he says. “Seize the moment and start getting some wins. You can’t sit there and say, well, we’re ahead of Vancouver (0-4), so everything’s OK. You can’t control the future, but you can control what’s in the present. The game this Saturday, let’s go win it. You have to control your own destiny.”
The Roughnecks welcome the defending NLL champ Georgia Swarm on Saturday (7 p.m. faceoff) for the Pigskin Party at the Scotiabank Saddledome. The Swarm have also stumbled to a 1-3 start and average just over 11 goals a game. The Roughnecks, alas, have netted just nine per tilt.
You won’t find Calgary players among the leaders in any offensive categories except shots on goal, where Curtis Dickson tops all with 65, while Dane Dobbie is third with 63. The fact some players weren’t around much in training camp to foster that offensive cohesiveness is, according to Board, no excuse.
“That’s seems like a long time ago,” he countered. “We’ve had time for these guys to practise and work with coaches, with video. I think the guys have to be a little hungrier offensively and work together as a group. I see times when we try to force it a little bit, become a little too individual. I think we’re at our best when we’re sharing the ball and our feet are moving.”
The GM doesn’t believe that frantic personnel changes are necessary, at least not yet.
“I think we’ve made some tweaks each week to find ways to get the offence going,” said Board. “The offence was very good against Vancouver (15 goals) and that’s the kind of production you would expect. But, yeah, if it continues you’re going to look at making some changes. We still have personnel within the roster that can help our offence.”
On the defensive side, goalie Frank Scigliano has a 13.27 goalsagainst, but the fourth-best save percentage at .773. The absence of injured veterans — people like Mike Carnegie, Greg Harnett and Bob Snider — in front of him has been felt. Carnegie and Snider are expected back fairly soon, while young Kellen LeClair is rehabbing from knee surgery and won’t be back until perhaps late February.
“It’s a factor and it’s one of those things we just have to pull together as a group and pick up the slack,” said Board. “On the other side, some of the young guys like Tyler Pace and Anthony Kalinich and Ryan Martel are getting NLL experience and in each game, they improve. Those are always good signs.”
The Roughnecks have a bye week after Saturday — they don’t play again until Jan. 27 when they host Saskatchewan — so getting back to form is even more imperative.
“There are two desperate teams coming in there on Saturday night so I expect a really intense, fast-paced game. Both teams need a win.”