VS SASKATCHEWAN: This meeting marks the third time the Roughnecks and Rush have faced off in the West Division Final and fifth time the two clubs have met in either the first or second round of the playoffs. In 2015, the Rush defeated the Roughnecks 10-8 in Game 1 of the West Division Final at Rexall Place. Calgary then evened the series with a 12-9 win at home on May 23, forcing the 10-minute tiebreaker. Dane Dobbie opened the scoring in the early minutes of the mini-game before Mark Matthews, with a pair of goals including an empty net marker, Jeff Cornwall and Ben McIntosh replied for the Rush to secure the win.
HEAD-TO-HEAD: 2016 PLAYOFFS
Category Roughnecks (1-1) Rush (1-0)
Home Record 0-1 0-0
Away Record 1-0 1-0
Goals For 21 16
Goals Against 26 10
Power Play Pct. 33.33 28.57
Penalty Kill Pct. 64.29 60.00
Faceoffs Won-Taken 26-56 (46.4%) 19-30 (63.3%)
Loose Balls 158 80
Points Leader – Series Dickson (5), Dobbie (5) Corbeil (5), Matthews (5)
Points Leader – Playoffs Dickson (14) Corbeil (5), Matthews (5)
HEAD-TO-HEAD: 2016 REGULAR SEASON
Category Roughnecks (8-10) Rush (13-5)
Home Record 5-4 7-2
Away Record 3-6 6-3
Goals For 216 233
Goals Against 216 190
Power Play Pct. 52.75 47.06
Penalty Kill Pct. 47.31 51.90
Faceoffs Won-Taken 235-506 (46.4%) 281-494 (56.9%)
Loose Balls 1,264 1,393
Points Leader – Series Dickson (24) Church (23)
Points Leader – Season Dickson (107) Matthews (109)
• May 14/16 at CGY: SAS 16 CGY 10 … Saskatchewan outscored Calgary 8-2 in the fourth quarter.
• Shots on Goal: CGY 45 SAS 52
• Power Plays: CGY 2-5 (40.0%) SAS 2-7 (28.5%)
Playoff Records
• All-Time: 3-6
• All-Time in CGY: 2-4
• All-Time in SAS: 1-2
• Last CGY Win: May 23/15, 12-9 at the Scotiabank Saddledome
• Last SAS Win: May 14/16, 16-10 at the Scotiabank Saddledome
Regular Season Series Recap
Calgary and Saskatchewan met four times during the regular season. The Rush picked up the win in all four matches and outscored the Roughnecks by a combined 52-40. Curtis Dickson (10g, 14a) led Calgary with 24 points against the Rush while Robert Church (10g, 13a) topped Saskatchewan with 23 points in the regular season series. Last year, the Roughnecks and Rush split the series 2-2.
• Jan. 2/16 at CGY: SAS 10 CGY 8 … Calgary and Saskatchewan entered the fourth quarter tied 6-6.
• Feb. 5/16 at SAS: SAS 19 CGY 12 … Six second-quarter goals by Zack Greer powered the Rush to victory.
• Feb. 28/16 at CGY: SAS 12 CGY 11 (OT) … Zack Greer scored 5:04 seconds into OT, his second goal of the game.
• Apr. 2/16 at SAS: SAS 11 CGY 9 … Mark Matthews led the Rush with three goals and three assists.
• Shots on Goal: CGY 181 SAS 214
• Power Plays: CGY 11-23 (47.8%) SAS 15-28 (53.6%)
Regular Season Records
• All-Time: 26-14
• All-Time in CGY: 10-8
• All-Time in SAS: 16-6
• Last CGY Win: Apr. 10/15, 9-8 at the Scotiabank Saddledome
• Last SAS Win: Apr. 2/16, 11-9 at SaskTel Centre
MINI-GAME MEMORIES: The Roughnecks have played a total of three 10-minute tiebreakers: twice against Saskatchewan in the West Division Final and once at Rochester in the Champion’s Cup Final. Calgary is 1-1 when playing the Rush and holds an all-time mini-game record of 1-2.
ALBERTA STRONG: Last Saturday, the Roughnecks raised $60,000 for the Canadian Red Cross in the opening game of the West Division Final at the ’Dome. The funds, derived from ticket sales, RE/MAX 50-50 proceeds and personal donations collected on the concourse, will be directed to the relief efforts in Fort McMurray, Alberta. In addition, Roughnecks fans generously contributed over 300 pounds in food donations to the Calgary Food Bank to support Fort McMurray-area evacuees. To date, the Roughnecks and Calgary Sports and Entertainment Corporation have donated $160,000 to the recovery efforts.
POST-SEASON EXPERIENCE: The Roughnecks have a combined 262 games of playoff experience. Jeff Shattler leads all Roughnecks players with 25 post-season games played. Dane Dobbie tops the team in playoff points with 89 (43g, 46a).
PLAYOFF RECORD: Calgary has an all-time post-season record of 16-15. The Roughnecks have competed in nine playoff games against Saskatchewan, posting a 2-4 record when playing at home and 1-2 mark on the road. Calgary is 3-1 all-time in playoff overtime games.
THE EXTRA MILE: Calgary’s 11-10 overtime victory against the Colorado Mammoth marked the longest playoff game in NLL history at 70:17. The previous mark of 66:18 was set on April 1, 1989, when New York defeated Detroit 9-8 in two five-minute frames of overtime.
ELITE COMPANY: Curtis Dickson finished the regular season with a career-high 61 goals, setting a new franchise single-season goals record. Previous records were held by Dane Dobbie (51, 2014), Lewis Ratcliff (50, 2007) and Tracey Kelusky (45, 2005). Dickson is now the fourth player in NLL history to reach the 60-goal plateau, joining the company of Dhane Smith, who set a new league record with 72 markers this season, Athan Iannucci (71, 2008) and Gary Gait (61, 2003).
COMMUNITY SUPPORT: On Apr. 28, 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 month, 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). Calgary selected Berg, who was named the NLL Rookie of the Month for March, fourth overall in the 2015 NLL Draft.
CAREER YEAR: 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 366 career assists, 614 career points and 1,014 career loose balls.
NAIL-BITERS: Nine of Calgary’s 18 regular season games were decided by one goal with the Roughnecks winning three and losing six one-goal decisions. Calgary was 1-2 in two-goal games and 3-0 in four-goal contests. In games decided by five or more goals, the Roughnecks were 1-2.
POST-SEASON VS: (COL 1-0), SAS (0-1)
REGULAR SEASON VS: (BUF 0-1), (COL 1-2), (GA 2-0), (NE 1-0), (ROC 0-1), (SAS 0-4), (TOR 2-0), (VAN 2-2)
POST-SEASON RECORD WHEN:
Leading entering second half.…..0-0 Outshooting opponent.….. 0-0
Trailing entering second half.……0-1 Outshot…………………….. 1-1
Tied entering second half……..…1-0 Shots are tied………………0-0
REGULAR SEASON RECORD WHEN:
Leading entering second half.…..3-3 Outshooting opponent.….. 4-3
Trailing entering second half.……4-4 Outshot………………………3-7
Tied entering second half……..…1-3 Shots are tied………………1-0
REGULAR SEASON TOP 10: Curtis Dickson finished the regular season with the second-most goals in the NLL at 61 while his career-high 107 points ranked seventh. Of his 61 goals, 13 came on the power play (tied for third among all players) while his six shorthanded markers topped all players. Tyler Digby netted 11 goals while on the man-advantage, tied for 10th in the league. Greg Harnett and Dickson wrapped up the regular season in a 12-way tie for eighth in the NLL with two game-winning goals each. Jeff Shattler’s career-high 57 assists placed him in a three-way tie for ninth in the league. Dan MacRae closed the regular season with a career-high 21 points (4g, 17a), tied for top spot among all defenders, while Jon Harnett finished eighth with 12 points (3g, 9a). Wesley Berg recorded 67 points (27g, 40a) in his regular season debut, third best among all rookies, while Reilly O’Connor finished seventh among first-year players with 36 points (6g, 30a). Tyson Bell led all rookies with 49 penalty minutes and finished seventh in loose balls with 71. Mike Poulin closed the 18-game regular season fourth among league goaltenders with an 11.46 goals-against average and fellow netminder Frankie Scigliano finished ninth with a 12.20 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.