Tuesday 5 June 2018

Knighthawks show storied tradition staying alive versus Rush in NLL title series

Cody Jamieson (#88) had a big game last Saturday for the Knighthawks.
    The Rochester Knighthawks weren’t going to go quietly into the night as far as the National Lacrosse League Championship series was concerned.
    Last Saturday, the Knighthawks needed a win in Game 2 of the best-of-three series at the Blue Cross Arena in Rochester, N.Y., to stay alive against the Saskatchewan Rush, who romped to a 16-9 victory in Game 1 on May 26 at the SaskTel Centre.
    Early on in Game 2, it looked like the Rush were going to keep their roll going. Just 50 seconds into the game, forward Robert Church scored to give the Rush a 1-0 lead.
    Saskatchewan’s edge expanded to 2-0, when Jeff Shattler scored at the 3:32 mark.
    From there, the Knighthawks took over. They scored three straight to go up 3-2 before Rush sophomore forward Ryan Keenan scored his first of two on the night to force a 3-3 tie at the end of the first quarter.
    Rochester stormed in front opening the second quarter with four straight goals to pull ahead 7-3 and cruised to a 13-8 victory before an appreciative home crowd of 9,174 spectators.
    Just like that, the Knighthawks tied the series up at 1-1 to force a winner take all Game 3 this coming Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre for the brand new National Lacrosse League Cup.
    With their Game 2 win, the Knighthawks, who played their first season in 1995, showed off the championship pedigree of their franchise.
Josh Currier (#27) had four goals last Saturday for the Knighthawks.
    Rochester had won the NLL title five times and is looking to equal the Toronto Rock and the Philadelphia Wings for most titles in league history at six. The Wings were last active in 2014 and will return to the league next season.
    The Knighthawks last championship win was back in 2014, when they completed a run of winning the NLL title for three straight years.
    One of the key players in that run of title wins was veteran goalie Matt Vinc, who has won the NLL’s goaltender of the year award five times. After a slow start in Game 2, Vinc was in prime form the rest of the way making 47 saves to pick up the win in goal for the Knighthawks.
    Once Rochester got ahead, Vinc ensured the Rush were never able to rally to retake the lead.
    Veteran forward Cody Jamieson netted two goals and two assists to help the Rochester cause. Jamieson was the NLL final MVP when the Knighthawks won the title in 2012 and 2013, and he was the NLL MVP in the Knighthawks championship season in 2014.
    Sophomore forward Josh Currier made the biggest impact for the Knighthawks with four goals and two assists.
    Graeme Hossack scored twice for the Knighthawks, while Eric Fannell, Austin Shanks, Cory Vitarelli and Brad Gillies all had singles. Gillies scored into an empty net.
    Shattler had a huge game for the Rush piling up a hat trick and four assists. Star forward Mark Matthews recorded for assists for Saskatchewan. Ben McIntosh and Dan Dawson had singles for the Rush.
Goalie Matt Vinc is playing to his star form with the Knighthawks.
    Goalie Evan Kirk stopped 40-of-52 shots to take the setback in goal for the Rush.
    The Rush are trying to capture their third title in team history. They won the NLL title in 2015, when the franchise was still in Edmonton, and in 2016, which was the club’s inaugural season in Saskatchewan.
    Since the NLL final changed to a best-of-three format in 2014, the only time a series deciding Game 3 was needed was in 2014, which marked the last time the Knighthawks won the title. The Knighthawks took Game 2 of that series 16-10 in Rochester against the Calgary Roughnecks and Game 3 that same night 3-2 in a 10-minute mini-contest.
    Between action in the regular season and playoffs, the Knighthawks have won 11 of their last 14 contests. While this year’s Game 3 will be a full 60-minute contest that could include the possibility of overtime, Rochester is hoping history from 2014 will repeat itself.
    The Rush will rely on the energy of their home crowd to prevent that from happening.

Back in the Express with Nyhus

Mason Nyhus is taking part in Roughriders training camp.
    I was back in the pages of the Saskatoon Express this week with a story on Mason Nyhus.
    Nyhus is the backup quarterback with the University of Saskatchewan Huskies Football team, and he is attending training camp with the CFL’s Saskatchewan Roughriders as part of the league’s quarterback internship program. The 20-year-old Regina product will enter his second season of U Sports eligibility with the Huskies in the fall.
    Nyhus came to the Huskies as a highly touted prospect from the Riffel High School Royals football team in Regina. At Roughriders camp, he is learning a lot when it comes to schematics, pocket movement and reading defences.
    The young signal caller has left a good first impression with Roughriders head coach and general manager Chris Jones. Veteran Roughriders Canadian quarterback Brandon Bridge has also been impressed with Nyhus.
    The Express story on Nyhus can be found right here.

Express encore with Blades coach Love

Mitch Love is the new head coach of the Blades.
    I was in the pages of the Saskatoon Express on a second front this week with a story on new Saskatoon Blades head coach Mitch Love.
    Love came to the Blades after spending seven seasons as an assistant coach with the Everett Silvertips. He was an assistant coach and an assistant to the general manager this past season helping the Silvertips make their second appearance in the WHL Championship series.
    Love’s father, Harley Love, will be entering his second season as a scout for the Blades. Harley was a scout with the Silvertips during four of the seasons that Mitch worked there as a head coach.
    Harley’s link to the Blades helped Mitch make his first connection with the club’s management about a year before he was hired as head coach.
    The Express story on the Love family with the Blades can be found right here.

Manson leaves Raiders for Bakersfield

Dave Manson addresses the Raiders players during a timeout.
    The man who will always be linked with the Prince Albert Raiders is leaving the WHL franchise for his first crack at coaching in the professional ranks.
    On Monday, the Raiders announced associate coach Dave Manson had resigned from the team to become an assistant coach with the Bakersfield Condors. The Condors are the AHL affiliate of the NHL’s Edmonton Oilers.
    Manson has a long and storied history with his hometown WHL team. He played 218 regular season games for the Raiders between 1982 and 1986, recording 24 goals, 72 assists and 666 penalty minutes.
    After the franchise’s third season in the major junior ranks, Manson helped the Raiders win junior hockey’s ultimate prize in the Memorial Cup in 1985. Also that year, he was selected in the first round and 11th overall by the Chicago Blackhawks in the NHL Entry Draft.
    Following his playing days with the Raiders, Manson went on to play in 1,103 career regular season games in the NHL from 1986 to 2002 collecting 102 goals, 288 assists and 2,792 penalty minutes with the Blackhawks, Oilers, Winnipeg Jets, Phoenix Coyotes, Montreal Canadiens, Dallas Stars and Toronto Maple Leafs.
    Manson, who stands 6-foot-2 and weighed 202 pounds in his playing days, returned to the Prince Albert area to settle down after his playing days were finished due to the fact he has numerous family members there. Part way through the 2002-03 campaign, he became an assistant coach with the Raiders, and he has remained a key part of that team since that time.
    He left the Raiders to spend a couple of seasons as an assistant coach with the Prince Albert Mintos of the Saskatchewan Midget AAA Hockey League before rejoining the Raiders in 2011. Manson was promoted to associate coach before the start of the 2012-13 campaign.
    During his time as a Raiders coach, Manson, 51, was a huge positive influence on the lives of numerous young players. He will likely have that same impact on the players he coaches with the Condors.
    While the people in Prince Albert will be happy that Manson has the opportunity to coach professionally in Bakersfield, he will still be missed in Hockey Town North.

    If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.
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