INTO THE WOLVES DEN: Tonight the Calgary Roughnecks (0-2) visit the New England Black Wolves (1-0) at the Mohegan Sun Arena, marking the only regular season meeting between the two clubs. The Black Wolves are coming off of a strong performance in Week 2 where they defeated the Vancouver Stealth 17-7. Meanwhile, the Roughnecks are looking to put up their first win of the 2016 campaign after dropping their second close contest, a 10-9 decision against the Buffalo Bandits last weekend at First Niagara Center. Dobbie recorded a game-leading seven points (two goals, seven assists) against the Bandits while Tyler Digby (3), Curtis Dickson (2), rookie Wesley Berg and Jeff Shattler, who hit 150 career NLL games played, also contributed with goals in the road setback. Anthony Cosmo made 41 saves to pick up the win in Buffalo’s 25th anniversary season home opener while Frankie Scigliano had 33 stops for Calgary.
STATS COMPARISON: 2015 REGULAR SEASON
CATEGORY CALGARY NEW ENGLAND
Home Record 4-5 2-7
Away Record 3-6 2-7
Goals For 212 186
Goals Against 217 249
Power Play Pct. 55.29 41.86
Penalty Kill Pct. 64.36 53.95
Faceoffs Won-Taken 302-495 (61.0%) 232-509 (45.6%)
Loose Balls 1,066 1,238
Points Leader – Series Curtis Dickson & Shawn Evans (11) Kevin Buchanan (5)
Points Leder – Season Shawn Evans (130) Pat Saunders (68)
ALL-TIME REGULAR SEASON SERIES: VS. NEW ENGLAND
Date At Result
Mar. 22/03 NE (PHI) 19-13 L
Feb. 10/07 CGY 10-7 L
Mar. 6/10 CGY 15-7 W
Mar. 5/11 NE (PHI) 13-7 W
Jan. 27/13 NE (PHI) 16-8 W
Apr. 4/14 NE (PHI) 13-9 W
Mar. 20/15 CGY 20-9 W
REGULAR SEASON RECORDS:
All-Time: 5-2
All-Time in CGY: 2-1
All-Time in NE (PHI): 3-1
Last CGY WIN:
Mar. 20/12, 20-9 at the ‘Dome
Lat NE (PHI) Win:
Feb. 10/07 at the ‘Dome
FAMILIAR FACE: Tonight, the Roughnecks will face former teammate and reigning NLL MVP Shawn Evans for the first time following an October transaction that saw Evans along with a 2018 third-round pick head to New England in exchange for Tyler Digby, a 2018 first-round pick and a 2019 first-round selection. Evans spent four seasons with the Roughnecks (2012-15), recording three 100-plus point seasons over the span. During the off- season, Evans expressed a strong desire to play closer to home and his young family of three daughters.
SPECIAL TEAMS: Calgary’s power play unit, which has scored a league-best seven goals, is fourth in the NLL at 53.85%. The Roughnecks penalty kill, which has surrendered three goals this season, is in a three-way tie for first at 66.67%. Through two games played, Calgary has scored two shorthanded goals while allowing a league-worst five. Colorado and Saskatchewan have notched the most shorthanded goals (3) while three teams, including New England, have yet to concede a shorthanded marker.
RECORD BOOK: Last weekend in Buffalo, Dane Dobbie became the franchise’s all-time goal-scoring leader (275) after netting two goals, 1:07 apart, to pass the mark of 274 previously held by Kaleb Toth. Toth, who spent 11 of his 13 NLL seasons with Calgary, retired in December 2012. Dobbie, now in his ninth NLL season with the Roughnecks, leads the team with 11 points (five goals, six assists) through two games played. He finished the 2015 campaign in the top-3 in team scoring with 36 goals and 31 assists for 67 points. Dobbie was selected by Calgary in the first round, fourth overall, in the 2007 NLL Draft.
FAREWELL, SNIDER: On Tuesday, Roughnecks transition player Geoff Snider announced his retirement from the NLL. Snider spent four seasons with the Philadelphia Wings (2007-10) before joining his hometown Roughnecks for five seasons (2011-15). The right-handed draw man finishes his career as the most prolific faceoff ace in NLL history with 2,468 regular season faceoff wins. The two-time NLL All-Star MVP (2008 & 2012) leaves Calgary as the franchise leader in regular season faceoff wins (1,394), playoff faceoff wins (180), regular season loose balls (968) and playoff loose balls (124). Named to five NLL All-Star games (2007, 2008, 2009, 2011 & 2012), the NLL All-Rookie team (2007) and NLL All-Pro second team (2008), Snider holds three single-game league records: quickest goal to start a game (0:05) set on Jan. 26, 2008, most loose balls (32) achieved on Apr. 12, 2008, and most caused turnovers (9) recorded on Jan. 19, 2013.
