Week 3 of the 2017 National Lacrosse League season is upon us. And even though the first 2 weeks of the season saw just 5 games played in total, the action begat plenty of questions.
Here are a few that are on my mind heading into Week 3:
Can the Vancouver Stealth beat Calgary for their first 3-0 start to a season since they started the 2010 season 6-0 as the Washington Stealth?
Speaking of good starts, can the Swarm win their first 2 games of the season for the first time since 2009? Hard to believe it’s been 7 years since the Swarm, then in Minnesota, of course, opened a season with 2 wins.
Can Saskatchewan, Buffalo and Calgary all post wins this weekend? If they do, all 9 NLL teams will have at least 1 loss just 3 weeks into the season.
Are you going to watch Saturday’s New England Black Wolves at Colorado Mamoth game on TV? The 9 p.m. game is being broadcast in Connecticut on WCCT-TV.
With Aaron Bold and Ben McIntosh back in the lineup, are we going to see the real Rush? Both were out last week, serving 1-game suspensions for fights in a pre-season game.
We’ll ask the same of Calgary, which will have No. 1 goalie Frankie Scigliano and defender Jon Harnett back in the lineup following suspensions last week.
Can the Toronto defense do against the Rush what it did to Rochester in its season-opening win nearly 2 weeks ago? The Rochester offense is young and new. The Rush offense is not.
Can the Toronto transition game do against the Rush what it did against Rochester? The Rush were surprising strugglers in the transition game last week against Georgia, giving up several goals.
The young Georgia Swarm offense was super impressive in beating Saskatchewan last week, but the Rush were without goalie Aaron Bold. Can that offensive magic work again this weekend against veteran Anthony Cosmo?
Buffalo’s Dhane Smith was held to 1 goal in a Dec. 30 loss. How will the reigning MVP respond this week against Georgia?
Can New England regain its defensive form after giving up 15 goals to a Rochester offense that didn’t even have Dan Dawson in the lineup last weekend?
Can the Calgary Roughnecks find better luck in games decided by 1 goal? They’re 3-7 in games decided by a goal over the last 2 regular seasons.
Can the Knighthawks keep their red-hot power play going? Rochester has 10 power play goals through 2 games. The rest of the East Division has 7 power play goals between 4 teams.
Can the Stealth find an effective replacement on faceoffs with Brendan Fowler, who took all 57 draws (43%) in both games last weekend, on the short-term holdout list? Jarrett Toll was activated in his stead.
Which Colorado Mammoth team will we see this weekend? The one that scored 15 goals and played a defensive gem in beating Buffalo in Week 1? Or the team that struggled on defense (and the penalty kill) in a 15-9 loss to Vancouver last weekend?
