RIGGER RAMBLINGS: Tonight the Calgary Roughnecks host Fan Appreciation Night, presented by Cardel Homes, when the Toronto Rock visit the Scotiabank Saddledome. The Roughnecks last saw action in Week 16, falling 13-12 to the Vancouver Stealth at the Langley Events Centre. The back and forth affair saw Calgary and Vancouver enter the final quarter knotted at 10 apiece with the Stealth stringing together a trio of markers, including two on the man-advantage, to secure their first win since February 20. Jeff Shattler paced the Roughnecks with eight points (4g, 4a) in the road setback. The Rock faced the Colorado Mammoth last weekend and dropped a 10-5 road decision, marking their sixth loss in seven away games this season.
VS TORONTO: Week 18 sees the Roughnecks and Rock meet for the second and final time of regular season. Calgary enters the contest with a 1-0 advantage in the season series following a 15-10 road win in March. Curtis Dickson leads Calgary with six goals and one assist against Toronto while Rob Hellyer tops the Rock with seven points (3g, 4a) against Calgary. Last year, the Rock picked up wins in both regular season games against Calgary, outscoring the Roughnecks by a combined 24-21.
SERIES RECAP
Mar. 11/16 at TOR: CGY 15 TOR 10 … Calgary, who built quarter leads of 3-2, 7-4 and 10-7, received a seven-point effort from Curtis Dickson (6g, 1a) while Mike Poulin (38) and Frankie Scigliano (2) combined for 40 saves in the win.
INSIDE THE SERIES
Shots on Goal: CGY 52 TOR 50 Power Plays: CGY 2-5 (40.0%) TOR 2-5 (40.0%)
HEAD-TO-HEAD: 2016 REGULAR SEASON
Category
Roughnecks (7-10)
Rock (5-12)
Home Record
4-4
4-5
Away Record
3-6
1-7
Goals For
198
173
Goals Against
199
206
Power Play Pct.
51.76
50.00
Penalty Kill Pct.
50.57
48.96
Faceoffs Won-Taken
215-466 (46.1%)
233-447 (52.1%)
Loose Balls
1,174
1,224
Points Leader – Series
Dickson (7)
Hellyer (7)
Points Leader – Season
Dickson (101)
Hellyer (101)
HEAD-TO-HEAD: 2015 REGULAR SEASON
Category
Roughnecks (7-11)
Rock (14-4)
Home Record
4-5
7-2
Away Record
3-6
7-2
Goals For
212
230
Goals Against
217
185
Power Play Pct.
55.29
52.38
Penalty Kill Pct.
64.36
63.92
Faceoffs Won-Taken
302-495 (61.0%)
184-487 (37.8%)
Loose Balls
1,066
1,291
Points Leader – Series
Evans (16)
Hickey (12), Sanderson (12)
Points Leader – Season
Evans (130)
Sanderson (102)
ALL-TIME REGULAR SEASON: VS. ROCK
All-Time: 11-19
All-Time in CGY: 6-8
All-Time in TOR: 5-11
Last CGY Win: Mar. 11/16, 15-10 at Air Canada Centre
Last TOR Win: Mar. 28/15, 12-10 at the Scotiabank Saddledome
PLAYOFF BOUND: With Vancouver’s 11-10 road loss yesterday evening at Colorado, the Roughnecks clinched the third and final playoff spot in the West Division. Calgary has now advanced to the post-season for 14 consecutive years and will face the Mammoth in semi-final action on Saturday, May 7 at 7:00 p.m., at Pepsi Center in Denver.
COMMUNITY SUPPORT: On Thursday, the Calgary Roughnecks proudly announced the Star Wars-themed jersey auction, held from April 6-25 at ElevateAuctions.com, raised a site-best $24,900. The auction dollars combined with private donations saw a total of $25,200 directed to STARS Air Ambulance. The limited edition jersey, featuring Darth Vader, the Death Star, TIE fighters and the Imperial Star Destroyer, made its one and only appearance of the 2016 NLL season on Apr. 9 when the Roughnecks hosted the Vancouver Stealth in the first-ever Star Wars Night at the Scotiabank Saddledome.
COLLEGIATE HONOURS: Last week, Roughnecks rookie Wesley Berg was honoured by the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame as the Male Collegiate Athlete of the Year. Berg spent his collegiate career with Denver University’s men’s lacrosse team, helping the Pioneers capture the NCAA championship in 2015. With DU from 2012-15, Berg became the Pioneers’ all-time leader in points (255) and goals (188). The NLL named Berg the Rookie of the Month for March. Last month, he led all rookies in scoring with 20 points (7g, 13a). Calgary selected Berg fourth overall in the 2015 NLL Draft.
RECORD CHASER: Dane Dobbie is four goals away from scoring his 300th career marker and becoming the first player to reach this plateau as a Roughneck.
MILESTONE MARKER: With a four-goal effort on Apr. 9, Curtis Dickson became the franchise’s new single-season goals leader at 55. Previous records were held by Dane Dobbie (51, 2014), Lewis Ratcliff (50, 2007) and Tracey Kelusky (45, 2005). Dickson enters tonight’s game with a career-high 57 goals in 17 games.
IN THE BOOKS: Jeff Shattler recorded four assists on Apr. 2 against Saskatchewan to become the franchise’s new all-time assists leader at 355. He eclipsed the previous mark of 354 set by Kaleb Toth who suited up for the Roughnecks from 2002-12. In Week 16, Shattler surpassed 600 career NLL points with an eight-point game against Vancouver. He also eclipsed 1,000 career loose balls, becoming the 23rd player in league history to achieve this feat. Shattler, now in his 10th season with Calgary, has 363 career assists, 607 career points and 1,008 career loose balls.
NAIL-BITERS: Eight of Calgary’s 17 games played have been decided by one goal with the Roughnecks winning two and losing six one-goal decisions. Calgary is 1-2 in two-goal games and 3-0 in four-goal contests. In games decided by five or more goals, the Roughnecks are 1-2.
ROUGHNECKS VS: (BUF 0-1), (COL 1-2), (GA 2-0), (NE 1-0), (ROC 0-1), (SAS 0-4), (TOR 1-0), (VAN 2-2)
RECORD WHEN:
Leading entering second half.….. 3-3 Outshooting opponent.….. 4-3
Trailing entering second half.…… 3-4 Outshot………………………3-7
Tied entering second half……..… 1-3 Shots are tied……………… 0-0
TOP 10: Curtis Dickson’s 57 goals on the season sit second in league scoring while his 101 points are tied with Toronto’s Rob Hellyer for sixth. Of his 57 goals, 13 have come on the power play (third among all players) while his six shorthanded markers top all players. Tyler Digby has scored 11 goals while on the man-advantage, tied for ninth in the league. Greg Harnett and Dickson are in an 11-way tie for eighth in the league with two game-winning goals each. Jeff Shattler’s career-high 54 assists are tied for 10th in the NLL. Dan MacRae is tied for third among the league’s defenders with a career-high 17 points (4g, 13a) while Jon Harnett is tied for ninth with 12 points (3g, 9a). Mike Poulin is fourth among league goaltenders with an 11.21 goals-against average. Fellow netminder Frankie Scigliano sits eighth in the NLL with an 11.95 goals-against average.
TRADE WINDS: Oct.26 – Acquired forward Tyler Digby, a first-round pick in the 2018 NLL Draft and a first-round selection in 2019 from the New England Black Wolves in exchange for forward Shawn Evans and a 2018 third-round pick; Dec. 28 – Acquired transition player Brandon Goodwin from the Buffalo Bandits in exchange for defenceman Mitch de Snoo.
