Roughnecks could use a little home turf magic

As far as Calgary Roughnecks coach Dave Pym is concerned, he’s the reason his team has managed just one home-turf victory in four attempts this National Lacrosse League season.

Hogwash, says one of his assistant captains, Mike Carnegie.

“I don’t think we’d put that on Dave at all,” said Carnegie on Wednesday, as the Roughnecks unveiled a pair of promotions in advance of this weekend’s home-and-home set with the Edmonton Rush, kicking off Friday night at Rexall Place and ending Saturday (7 p.m., Sportsnet West) at the Scotiabank Saddledome.

“Every individual has a job to do, and we take that seriously. I think if everyone takes an introspective look at themselves, we just need to be better as a team at home. If you can’t eliminate the distractions, then you shouldn’t be playing professionally lacrosse right now.”

It’s a good message to send as the 5-3 Roughnecks, who are tied for second in the West Division with the Minnesota Swarm (the Colorado Mammoth leads the way at 7-1), head into a crucial stretch of the season that sees them playing four of their next six games at the ’Dome.

And yet, there’s also a level of comfort with the prospect of heading into hostile territory for Friday’s game (7 p.m., Sportsnet One) as the Roughnecks have yet to lose on the road in four tries.

Which is why the home record is so confounding to Pym.

“Well, it certainly sucked to be the home team in the league last weekend. I think all four of us lost,” Pym said (correctly) during the NLL’S weekly coaches conference call. “This year we seem to be performing well on the road, so perhaps it’s good to start this weekend on the road.

“Perhaps it’s some of the distractions that are associated when you have some guys living in the city. This year we have around 12 of them, and they have some exterior distractions that the travelling players really don’t have. When we’re on the road, the guys are a tight-knit group and they’re all together, in hotels together, in planes together, they’re going for meals together. It’s without distraction, and their only focus is the game. Really, that’s on my head for not insuring that they’re prepared the same way that we’re preparing them on the road. I have to find ways to replicate that. I’ll take full responsibility for our lacklustre home performances.”

There’s some added juice to the home-and-home with the 2-4 Rush as the Cardel Ruckus in the House promotion will see each franchise pony up $2,500. The team that attracts the most paying fans to their home game gets the combined $5,000 and will donate it to its local minor lacrosse program.

Based on the numbers — according to Riggers director of business operations Mike Moore, attendance is up 30 per cent over last season, and the Roughnecks are 17-4 alltime against the Rush — the odds are in Calgary’s favour this weekend.

“It’s time to get over that hump and not make excuses about anything,” insisted Rush coach Derek Keenan. “Forget about what’s happened in the past. Look at the last game we played them (a 12-8 Calgary win on Feb. 18 at the Saddledome); it was even until the last five or six minutes, and then we had lapses in the defensive end and turned the ball over on offence. So it comes down to execution. It has nothing to do with being the great Battle of Alberta. It’s just them being better than us the last number of times we played them. Simple as that. We need to play 60 minutes of lacrosse and get over that mental hump and get a win at home.”

They’re not the only ones with that philosophy, of course. Pym said steps have been taken to get the focus right for Friday on the road and Saturday at home.

“It’s awesome. It doesn’t get any better than this,” he said.

“We just want to get at it. We’re hungry, we have an angry group, and hopefully we can channel that anger into a positive outcome.”

OVERTIME: The Roughnecks and Cardel have a second promotion in the works, the Ladycrosse Training Camp on March 23 at the Subway Soccer Centre (7000 48th St. SE). For $25, females 16 or over can gets hands-on training from Roughnecks players and coaches to learn the sport in a two-hour session. Participation is limited to 100, with registration info available at calgaryroughnecks.com.