RIGGERS FINISH SEASON ON A WINNING NOTE
For only the third time ever, Calgary's team misses National Lacrosse League playoffs
There won't be any playoff parties for the Calgary Roughnecks.
So the season-ending send-off became their celebration of sorts.
And what a raucous evening it was Saturday night at The Rough House, fuelled by a season-high 14,424 fans, all of them in strong voice during a feisty contest between rivals and a comeback victory for the host National Lacrosse League club.
“It was super exciting,” said Roughnecks captain Jesse King, moments after an 11-9 dramatic result over the rival Panther City Lacrosse Club on Westjet Field at Scotiabank Saddledome. “The fans were juiced up . ... I'm so grateful for the Roughneck fans who come out. I'm already looking forward to next year.
“It's a little bittersweet,” added King after the team's last game of the 2023-24 NLL season. “We just talked as a team, as players, and how much each guy means to each other in that locker-room. The culture that we've built over the last three or four years is really important . ... It's more than a game for a lot of us in that locker-room. The relationships you create are so important.
“So it's sad (that was the last game).”
Indeed, the Roughnecks' 8-10 record wasn't enough to grab one of the eight playoff berths.
Their two previous tilts, both of them losses, knocked the Riggers from that running before this wrap-up night. So this western-themed evening was all about one last hurrah and playing for pride and to be on the coach's radar for next year.
“I think the players already know there's going to be a bit of change moving forward,” said Josh Sanderson, who counts himself as one of the people who needs to improve after his debut year head coaching in the NLL. “It's just about how hard we play. It's not about reinventing the wheel. We just have to get better in some areas. Tons of those guys are going to be back.”
After Saturday's spirited effort, it's easy to go away with warm fuzzies.
After all, there were plenty of positives to pull from the night.
Like captain King hitting the 100-point milestone on the season and then netting his careerbest point total in a campaign (101) with his third-quarter goal.
And like Logan Schuss, with his first and second goals for the team after arriving here injured in the off-season. His second gave the home side a very brief 8-7 lead in the fourth quarter.
The Roughnecks would give that up immediately and then go down by one with 11 minutes left, but two goals by Tyler Pace changed that. Included was his hat-trick marker with just 93 seconds left in the tilt, as he quick-sticked home a pretty cross-crease feed from King.
Pace also had the game's first goal, and Josh Currier notched the other first-quarter marker for the Roughnecks.
Tanner Cook had the only home-side goal of the second quarter, after which Panther City led 7-3 at halftime.
Then it was King, Schuss and King again for the Riggers to cut it to a one-goal deficit through three frames.
After the trade-off of goals early in the fourth — including Haiden Dickson, with his 26th of the year, and Schuss for the Roughnecks — and the Pace show to change the score line, Cook iced it with an insurance counter late for his second of the night.
Riggers goaltender Christian Del Bianco was also strong down the stretch, making 39 saves in total.
“Just really happy for the guys,” Sanderson said. “Especially in the second half, we really locked in. I think what makes us successful is being a hard-nose defensive team while our offence has kind of everyone producing.
“We're a team by committee, so to speak, so I just thought everybody brought it to the table in the second half. Good on them.”
King finished the night with a game-high eight points for a personal-best 105 points on the campaign, which lifted him into the top 10 of the NLL scoring parade.
“Anybody that knows me knows that I really just care about our record,” King said. “I could've had 50 points and been playing next week and been a lot happier.”
Unfortunately, that won't be the case this year, with the Roughnecks missing out on the post-season for only the third time in their history dating back to 2002.
“We've got the group of guys in the room to make stuff happen,” added Pace. “We've got the fans' support to bring the energy to every game that we play here. There might be a couple things that we do in the off-season. Hopefully, it's not too drastic, but obviously things have to change a little bit. We didn't make the playoffs this year, and when that happens in professional sports, changes are made, so it's tough.”