A Different Kind of Helmet for the Roughnecks

During the 2017 season, some Calgary Roughnecks players will be donning a different kind of helmet.

Thanks to a partnership with the Calgary Fire Department, one player will be selected each time the teams win to be presented with a fire helmet that the CFD has given to the Roughnecks.

“Definitely the hardest worker is one of” the criteria upon which the helmet recipient is judged, Roughnecks defender Scott Carnegie told NLL.com. “It doesn’t have to be someone who had five or six goals, who stood out on the game sheet. It could be someone who blocked a bunch of shots or picked someone up when they didn’t have a good shift. It’s mostly about being a good team guy and working hard.”

The helmet is awarded after each win by the player who last received it. When the Roughnecks beat Rochester last week, Mike Carnegie gave it to Riley Loewen. “Mike won it the week before so he got to pick this week and that was his message to Riley, a guy who is quiet but does the right things and does things for his teammates and worked hard that game and got us on a roll. He definitely came to play that game,” Scott Carnegie says.

The helmet means a little something extra to Scott because it represents two major elements of his life. “For myself it’s really cool, being a firefighter and bringing that kind of culture into our dressing room. There’s a lot of the same aspects that go along with firefighting and in team sports. There’s a lot of crossover.”

“The biggest one is teamwork, everyone working towards the same goal,” Scott explains. “You can’t accomplish something unless everyone’s on the same page. Then hard work and dedication. Doing it for someone else is the thing we have going on in our room. We want to win for the guy beside us. That’s sort of our motivation and that’s certainly part of firefighting as well.”

Calgary Fire Chief Steve Dongworth presented the helmet to the Roughnecks at a practice before the season. Dongworth says the CFD has partnered with the NHL’s Calgary Flames – who own the Roughnecks – in the past and are glad to be connected to the lacrosse team this year.

“I’m proud to say that we’re working with the Calgary Roughnecks in 2017,” Dongworth said before the season. “As part of the Flames sports group, this organization is known for its hard-hitting style and dedication to community sport.”

Connecting with the Roughnecks is “great alignment around our positive community profiles, as well as our values of pride, professionalism, teamwork and respect,” Dongworth told NLL.com.

The players appreciate receiving the helmet. “It means something when you’re recognized by your peers and teammates for the kind of game you’ve had,” Scott says. Now he just hopes that Loewen will be passing the helmet on soon and that it will continue to find new recipients, because that would mean the team is being successful.

“We’ve only given it out six times because we just do it after wins, so not as much as we would have liked so far,” Scott says. “But the last two weeks have been good so hopefully we’re starting something that can get on a roll.”

Past Winners:

Jan 6 Wesley Berg

Jan 14 Frank Scigliano

Jan 20 Tyler Digby

Jan 28 Jeff Sattler

Mar 4 Dane Dobbie

Mar 25 Mike Carnegie

Apr 1 Riley Loewen

Link to video of Chief Dongworth presenting the helmet to captain Mike Carnegie
http://www.calgaryroughnecks.com/site/necks/page.asp?page=view_video&videoID=1584