The Calgary Roughnecks are back at the Scotiabank Saddledome tonight for a Star Wars Party, presented by Cardel Homes, against the Saskatchewan Rush. Game time is 7:00 p.m. with $5 Rough House food and beverage specials beginning at 5:30 p.m. Calgary was last in action on Jan. 13 when the defending NLL champion Georgia Swarm visited the ’Dome. The Roughnecks were up 8-6 heading into the halftime break, an advantage they last held in their home-opening victory on Dec. 15. The visiting Swarm then strung together six straight third-quarter goals while holding the home side to just three en route to a 15-12 road victory. For Calgary, Wesley Berg (4g, 2a) and Dane Dobbie (2g, 4a) led the offensive charge while Frank Scigliano and Christian Del Bianco made a combined 37 saves. The Rush, who were edged 16-15 in overtime by the Buffalo Bandits at home last Friday, bring their undefeated road record of 3-0 to the ’Dome while Calgary is looking to snap a three-game slide.
VS. SASKATCHEWAN: Tonight marks the first of three regular season meetings between the Roughnecks and Rush. The two clubs last met in Calgary on April 29, 2017, in a contest that saw the Riggers dominate Saskatchewan by a score of 14-7. For the ’Necks, the victory halted an eight-game regular season slide against the two-time defending NLL champions. The West Division rivals will next meet on Saturday, Feb. 24, at the SaskTel Centre.
2017 Regular Season Series Recap
Feb. 4/17 at CGY: SAS 15 CGY 11 … The Riggers headed into halftime with an 8-7 lead but suffered through a stretch of 22:33 without finding the back of the net, which included a scoreless third quarter.
Feb. 25/17 at SAS: SAS 12 CGY 11 (OT) … Wesley Berg and Tyler Digby both scored hat-tricks for Calgary and finished with 10 points in total. Adam Jones scored the game winner, his second of the contest, just over a minute into the extra session.
Mar. 24/17 at SAS: SAS 13 CGY 10 … The Roughnecks turned a low-scoring opening 30 minutes into a strong offensive push in the third quarter, narrowing Saskatchewan’s lead to 11-8. Despite holding the Rush to just two goals in the final 15 minutes, Calgary’s comeback fell short.
Apr. 29/17 at CGY: CGY 14 SAS 7 … In front of a record-high 18,845 fans, the Roughnecks closed out their regular season with a 14-7 triumph. The club’s previous regular season attendance record was set on Mar. 8, 2008, when a crowd of 18,737 watched the ’Necks defeat Portland.
Shots on Goal: CGY 201 SAS 223
Power Plays: CGY 13-20 (65.0 %) SAS 8-15 (53.3%)
All-Time Regular Season Records
All-Time vs. SAS: 27-17
All-Time at CGY: 11-9
All-Time at SAS: 16-8
Last CGY Win: Apr. 29/17, 14-7 at the Scotiabank Saddledome
Last SAS Win: Mar. 24/17, 13-10 at the SaskTel Centre
2017-18 Regular Season Head-to-Head
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Category
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Calgary (1-4)
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Saskatchewan (4-1)
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Home Record
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1-2
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1-1
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Away Record
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0-2
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3-0
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Goals For
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48
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86
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Goals Against
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68
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57
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Power Play Pct.
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40.9
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66.7
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Penalty Kill Pct.
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57.1
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52.3
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Faceoffs Pct.
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60.1
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54.3
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Loose Balls
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404
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385
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Points Leader – Season
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Curtis Dickson (17)
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Mark Matthews (36)
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FAMILIAR FACE: Jeff Shattler returns to the Rough House this evening for the first time as a member of the opposition. He spent 11 seasons with the Roughnecks from 2007-17, recording 684 points (268g, 416a) in 183 games. The 33-year-old forward signed as a free agent with the Saskatchewan Rush during the off-season.
DÉJÀ VU: Alternate captain Dane Dobbie is closing in on the franchise’s all-time scoring record of 684 points, held by Jeff Shattler. Dobbie has 682 points (341g, 341a) in 148 games. Last season Shattler became the franchise’s new all-time leading scorer with a first-quarter assist in the team’s Star Wars Party against the Colorado Mammoth on Jan. 28, 2017.
ROSTER MOVES: The Roughnecks have added goaltender Tyler Richards to the practice roster and removed the practice player tag on defenceman Anthony Kalinich while retaining him on the 20-player active roster. Richards, who joined the Roughnecks at their 2017 training camp, had previously spent his entire NLL career with the Stealth organization where he recorded a 12.26 goals-against average and 0.768 save percentage over 131 games.
FACE-OFF FINESSE: Calgary leads the league with a 60.1 face-off percentage. Dominating the dot is defenceman/transition player Tyler Burton who has won 58 of the 87 face-offs he has taken this season.
GOING ONCE: Tonight marks the third time the Roughnecks have donned limited-edition Star Wars jerseys. The unique jerseys featuring BB-8 are up for bid at ElevateAuctions.com in support of STARS Air Ambulance. The online auction will close at 8:00 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 2. Since the first Star Wars jersey auction in 2016, the Roughnecks with generous support from their partners and fans have directed nearly $50,000 to STARS.
IN THE COMMUNITY: The Calgary Roughnecks and Cardel Homes are pleased to once again team up for Cardel Run with the Roughnecks, a complimentary clinic that provides local youth with an opportunity to learn more about the sport of lacrosse. On Sunday, Jan. 28, one hundred participants will enjoy a variety of training activities along with the opportunity to win prizes and meet members of the Roughnecks at the Scotiabank Saddledome.
DID YOU KNOW?: Defenceman Mike Carnegie enters tonight’s contest with 160 games played, tying Kaleb Toth for third all-time in franchise history. Andrew McBride sits atop this list with 198 games played followed by Jeff Shattler at 183.
COACH’S CORNER: Curt Malawsky, named assistant general manager and head coach ahead of the 2013 season, has guided the Roughnecks to 45 wins. He is one win back of duplicating the late Chris Hall’s record (46) and two victories away from becoming the most winningest coach in franchise history. Hall led the Riggers from 2002-07.
MILESTONE MARKERS: Tyler Burton passed 400 loose balls on Jan. 13 versus Georgia. Three players achieved loose ball milestones on Jan. 6 against Buffalo: Mitch Wilde reached 200, Tyson Bell surpassed 200 and Creighton Reid eclipsed 500.
LEADERSHIP GROUP: Defenceman/transition player Dan MacRae is wearing the ‘C’ this season. He succeeds Bruce Alexander (2002), Tracey Kelusky (2003-10), Andrew McBride (2011-15) and Mike Carnegie (2016-17) as captain. MacRae, who served as alternate captain from 2016-17, has spent his entire eight-year playing career with the Roughnecks. Defenceman Greg Harnett and forward Dane Dobbie return as alternate captains for the 2017-18 season while forward Curtis Dickson received an ‘A’ for the first time this year. Dobbie, the franchise’s all-time goals leader (341), is playing in his 11th season with Calgary. This is seven season for Harnett and for Dickson, the 2011 NLL Rookie of the Year, 2017-18 marks campaign eight with the Roughnecks.
RECORD WHEN:
Leading at halftime ……1-1 Outshooting opponent .……0-2
Trailing at halftime …….0-2 Outshot by opponent …..…..1-2
Tied at halftime …….….0-1 Shots are tied ……..…………0-0
ROUGHNECKS VS.: (BUF 0-1), (COL 0-1), (GA 0-1), (NE 0-0), (ROC 0-1), (SAS 0-0), (TOR 0-0), (VAN 1-0).
ROUGHNECKS MONTH-BY-MONTH: December (1-2), January (0-2).
