RIGGER RAMBLINGS: The Calgary Roughnecks are coming off a bye-week tonight as they are set to battle the Georgia Swarm at the Infinite Energy Center. They will look to build upon their 13-9 victory over the New York Riptide on Feb. 8, which snapped a three-game slide and improved their record to 3-4. Rhys Duch led the way for the Riggers with a six-point effort (2g, 4a) as Calgary took the lead in the first half and never looked back. Seven other Roughnecks found the back of the net in the team’s first home triumph of 2020 including Tyler Pace (3g, 1a) who recorded a third quarter hat trick within 1:39. Shane Simpson (2g, 2a) and Dan Taylor (2g, 2a) notched two goals each while Dereck Downs (1g, 2a), Zach Herreweyers (1g, 2a), Mitch Wilde (1g, 1a) and Eli Salama, on an empty net, all tallied single markers. The Riptide were carried by a four-goal effort from Connor Kelly (4g, 1a) while goaltender Alex Buque stopped 36 shots for the visitors. Meanwhile, Christian Del Bianco made 43 saves and tallied three assists for the hosts in 60 minutes of floor time.
GEORGIA: Tonight marks the first and only regular season meeting between the Roughnecks and East Division Swarm. Last season, the Roughnecks won the lone matchup in a thrilling 14-13 victory at the Scotiabank Saddledome. Former Roughneck, Holden Cattoni (4g, 1a) led the Swarm with four goals while Lyle Thompson (2g, 5a) was the top point producer for the visitors with two goals and a handful of helpers. Dane Dobbie (4g, 4a) led the way for Calgary with eight points. Georgia is coming off a 14-9 victory over the New York Riptide last Saturday to extend their winning streak to three games.
2018-19 Regular Season Series Recap
Apr. 12/19 at CGY: CGY 14 GA 13… Calgary ultimately came out on top after a back-and-fourth game where the two teams took turns alternating leads.
All-Time Regular Season Records
All-Time vs. GA: 15-7
All-Time at CGY: 9-4
All-Time at GA: 6-3
Last CGY Win: Apr. 12/19, 14-13 at the Scotiabank Saddledome
Last GA Win: Jan. 13/18, 15-12 at the Scotiabank Saddledome
HEAD-TO-HEAD: 2019-20 REGULAR SEASON
| Category | Calgary (3-4) | Georgia (5-3) |
| Home Record | 1-3 | 2-2 |
| Away Record | 2-1 | 3-1 |
| Goals For | 79 | 96 |
| Goals Against | 71 | 82 |
| Power Play Pct. | 28.6 | 45.9 |
| Penalty Kill Pct. | 52.6 | 60.0 |
| Faceoffs Pct. | 46.6 | 33.5 |
| Loose Balls | 494 | 626 |
| Points Leader – Season | Curtis Dickson (27) | Shayne Jackson (50) |
DOBBIE RETURNS: Roughnecks captain and reigning 2019 NLL MVP, Dane Dobbie, returns to the lineup tonight after serving a six game suspension. The veteran forward has been sitting idle since game one in Vancouver on November 29 where he tallied three goals and an assist. After tonight’s matchup, Dobbie is just four games shy of Jeff Shattler’s second place record of 183 franchise games. The only other Rigger to have played in more games is Andrew McBride, who competed in 198 contests with Calgary.
RECORD WHEN:
Leading at halftime …… 3-3 Outshooting opponent .…… 1-2
Trailing at halftime ……. 0-1 Outshot by opponent …..….. 2-1
Tied at halftime …….…. 0-0 Shots are tied ……..………… 0-1
ROUGHNECKS MONTH-BY-MONTH: November (1-0), December (1-2), January (0-2), February (1-0).
ROUGHNECKS VS.: (BUF 0-0), (COL 0-1), (GA 0-0), (HFX 0-1), (NE 0-0), (NY 1-0), (PHI 0-1), (ROC 0-1), (SD 1-0), (SAS 0-0), (TOR 0-0), (VAN 1-0).
STREAKING: Several players take point streaks into today’s game: Curtis Dickson (13g, 14a) and Dan Taylor (11g, 13a) have both tallied points in all seven contests this season. Shane Simpson (6g, 6a) and Mitch Wilde (3g, 5a) are riding five-game streaks while Zach Herreweyers (4g, 7a), Rhys Duch (2g, 9a) and Dereck Downs (3g, 3a) have points in three consecutive outings. Tyler Pace (7g, 2a) has points in back-to-back showings. Reece Callies saw his two-game streak end on Feb. 8.
MILESTONE MARKERS: On Feb. 8, three players surpassed loose ball milestones including Tyler Pace (100 LB), Eli Salama (100 LB) and Tyler Burton (600 LB). On Jan. 18, Dan Taylor eclipsed 100 career points with a three-goal effort while Shane Simpson and Reece Callies both surpassed the 50 loose balls mark.
BY THE NUMBERS:
1 – Curtis Dickson is one point shy of 750
1 – Rhys Duch needs one goal for 400
1 – Dane Dobbie is one assist away from 450
1 – Curtis Manning is one assist back from 50
2 – Tyler Burton is two caused turnovers away from 100
2 – Mitch Wilde is two games away from 100
3 – Mitch Wilde is three points shy of 100
3 – Tyson Bell needs three loose balls for 400
3 – Anthony Kalinich is three loose balls back from 50
4 – Tyson Bell needs four points for 50
4 – Dan Taylor needs four loose balls for 100
6 – Dan Taylor is six goals away from 50
7 – Chad Cummings is six caused turnovers away from 50
8 – Tyler Pace needs eight assists for 50
8 – Dane Dobbie is eight loose balls back from 600
9 – Curtis Dickson is nine assists away from 350
CLIMING THE CHARTS: Curtis Manning caused two turnovers on Feb. 8 to eclipse Scott Carnegie’s previous record of 113. He now holds the second place spot for most caused turnovers in franchise history with 115 sitting behind Mike Carnegie and former captain Dan MacRae who are tied with 163.
ACTION FOR AARCS: On Jan. 29, the Roughnecks announced ‘Action for AARCS’, a program that raises funds and awareness for the Alberta Animal Rescue Crew Society. AARCS is a grassroots animal welfare organization based in Calgary with a foundation of compassion and kindness. For every home goal scored by the Roughnecks this season, the Calgary Roughnecks Foundation will direct $25 to AARCS to help with the rehabilitation and re-homing of homeless and helpless animals in our province. Saturday, February 29 is Superhero Night as the Roughnecks host the San Diego Seals in a 7:30 p.m. start at the ‘Dome. For every ticket purchased through the AARCS website, $5 will go back to the organization to help fund their rescue missions and find FURever homes for the animals they shelter. Get your tickets now at RoughnecksGroups.com/aarcs. AARCS will have puppies available for meet and greets until ball drop on the concourse behind section 211.
TRAIN WITH THE PROS: The Roughnecks are proud to present ‘Train with the Pros’ lacrosse camps. The camps, which will take place on March 29 and April 4 at the Calgary Soccer Centre, will be run by Roughnecks forwards Dane Dobbie and Curtis Dickson along with goaltender Christian Del Bianco. Lacrosse players from Novice to Midget are invited to register for the 1.5 hour clinics where Dobbie, Dickson and Del Bianco will be instructing small groups with a focus on stick skills, game fundamentals and goalie angles. Registration is now full, to join the waitlist please visit CalgaryRoughnecks.com/roughnecks-train-with-the-pros-camp-2020/
THE ROAD AHEAD: Week 14 of the 2019-20 NLL campaign will see the Roughnecks host the San Diego Seals on Saturday, February 29 at the Scotiabank Saddledome. It’s the annual Superhero Party presented by Pete the Plumber where the best-dressed man, woman and child will have the chance to win a team signed jersey while Roughnecks branded capes will be given away to the first 1,500 fans in the building. Cosplayers, including Spiderman, from the Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo will also be on site and available for photos behind section 214. Other game highlights include a halftime performance from the Drill Bits while ‘Roughnecks Got Talent’ winners, The Frontiers, will provide post-game entertainment in The Club.
