Roughnecks look to rebound on road
San Diego, Colorado games offer players chance to get to know each other better
It sounds as if the best remedy to a rough outing at home is to get back out on the road.
That’s the theory from longtime Calgary Roughnecks captain Dan MacRae, who expresses confidence the team will rebound from losing a tough game at home against the New England Black Wolves last weekend with a solid effort in a pair of road games Friday against the San Diego Seals (2-2) and Sunday against the Colorado Mammoth (0-3) in National Lacrosse League action. The Friday game is slated for 8 p.m. with the Sunday tilt slated for 1 p.m.
The Riggers have already matched up with both of them in the young NLL season and come away with victories in each instance.
“We always tend to play pretty well on the road,’’ said MacRae. “It’s always a little different every city you’re playing in, but being a western team, we’ve got guys spread out living in B.C., some in Ontario, some in Calgary. But when you’re on the road, you’re together as a team.’’
The thinking with every road swing is the level of bonding and camaraderie that is associated with it and how it figures to help some of the newer players and superstar Curtis Dickson find their footing within the current Roughnecks plan of attack.
Dickson, who recently re-signed after a contract dispute holdout, played his first game of the season in the home loss to the Black Wolves.
“He’s the kind of guy that, I think, when plays break down that might come from the bench, or you get to the last couple dire seconds of a shot clock, he just makes things happen in those kind of opportune times,” MacRae says in reference to Dickson, who had three assists in his return to the roster.
Along with getting everybody focused on the same page, the Roughnecks also have deal with playing a pair of games within a three-day span. But MacRae feels they match up well against both San Diego and Colorado. “We’ve have good battles against both of those teams. We were fortunate to get wins against them.’’
The Roughnecks were 9-5 winners over the Seals when they met in Calgary. MacRae used the term defensive showdown to describe that game. Dane Dobbie had a sixpoint night including a pair of goals while Rhys Duch had three goals and two assists to lead the Riggers to that victory.
Duch had four goals and two assists in an 11-8 win over the Mammoth at the Saddledome on Jan. 6. A big story of that game was the 41-save performance of goaltender Christian Bianco.
The Mammoth go into their rematch against the Roughnecks smarting from a tough 11-10 loss to the Toronto Rock last weekend to see their record dip to 0-3. MacRae says it’s always been hard to win at the Pepsi Center because the fans make it one of the rowdiest places to play in.
He also has praise for the Mammoth’s high-octane offence and All-World goaltender in Dillon Ward.
MacRae is feeling good about the Roughnecks’ chances this weekend.
“Expectations are high. We’ve got a good core of players that gives us a chance to win a championship.
“We’re building to getting better each week, which is the goal that our leadership group and our coaching staff set for us at the start of the season. We got off to a good start with three straight wins and now we’re looking to get back on track after taking a step backward (against New England) last week.’