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Breaking: League Adopts Unified Standings Format & Updated Playoff Structure for 2023-24 Season

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WK
1
Fri, Dec 1
19:00:00
Saskatchewan
Halifax
Fri, Dec 1
22:00:00
Albany
Las Vegas
Fri, Dec 1
22:00:00
Panther City
Vancouver
Sat, Dec 2
19:00:00
Calgary
Rochester
Sat, Dec 2
19:30:00
Philadelphia
New York
WK
2
Sat, Dec 9
19:00:00
Philadelphia
Toronto
Sat, Dec 9
19:00:00
Buffalo
Albany
Sat, Dec 9
19:30:00
Colorado
Georgia
Sat, Dec 9
20:00:00
Rochester
Saskatchewan
Sat, Dec 9
22:00:00
Calgary
San Diego
Sun, Dec 10
16:00:00
Las Vegas
Panther City
WK
3
Fri, Dec 15
22:00:00
Saskatchewan
Las Vegas
Sat, Dec 16
13:00:00
Albany
Philadelphia
Sat, Dec 16
19:30:00
Halifax
New York
Sat, Dec 16
19:30:00
San Diego
Buffalo
Sat, Dec 16
22:00:00
Georgia
Vancouver
WK
4
Fri, Dec 22
20:00:00
Toronto
Panther City
Fri, Dec 22
21:00:00
Georgia
Colorado
Sat, Dec 23
19:00:00
Vancouver
Rochester
WK
5
Fri, Dec 29
18:30:00
Philadelphia
Halifax
Fri, Dec 29
19:30:00
Georgia
Buffalo
Fri, Dec 29
22:00:00
Rochester
San Diego
Sat, Dec 30
16:00:00
New York
Toronto
Sat, Dec 30
21:00:00
Las Vegas
Calgary
Sat, Dec 30
21:00:00
Vancouver
Colorado
Sun, Dec 31
20:00:00
Albany
Saskatchewan
WK
6
Sat, Jan 6
19:00:00
Halifax
Albany
Sat, Jan 6
19:30:00
Panther City
Georgia
Sat, Jan 6
19:30:00
Colorado
Buffalo
Sun, Jan 7
15:00:00
New York
Philadelphia
WK
7
Fri, Jan 12
18:30:00
Toronto
Halifax
Fri, Jan 12
22:00:00
San Diego
Las Vegas
Sat, Jan 13
19:00:00
Buffalo
Rochester
Sat, Jan 13
19:00:00
Saskatchewan
Philadelphia
Sat, Jan 13
19:30:00
Panther City
New York
Sat, Jan 13
19:30:00
Albany
Georgia
Sat, Jan 13
21:00:00
San Diego
Colorado
Sat, Jan 13
22:00:00
Calgary
Vancouver
WK
8
Fri, Jan 19
19:30:00
New York
Buffalo
Sat, Jan 20
19:00:00
Georgia
Toronto
Sat, Jan 20
19:00:00
San Diego
Albany
Sat, Jan 20
20:00:00
Vancouver
Saskatchewan
Sat, Jan 20
21:00:00
Calgary
Colorado
WK
9
Fri, Jan 26
22:00:00
Colorado
Vancouver
Sat, Jan 27
18:00:00
Rochester
Halifax
Sat, Jan 27
19:00:00
Buffalo
Toronto
Sat, Jan 27
19:30:00
Georgia
New York
Sat, Jan 27
19:30:00
San Diego
Philadelphia
Sat, Jan 27
22:00:00
Panther City
Las Vegas
WK
10
Fri, Feb 2
19:00:00
Halifax
Philadelphia
Fri, Feb 2
19:30:00
Vancouver
Georgia
Fri, Feb 2
21:00:00
New York
Calgary
Sat, Feb 3
19:00:00
Las Vegas
Albany
Sat, Feb 3
19:30:00
Rochester
Buffalo
Sat, Feb 3
20:00:00
Panther City
Saskatchewan
Sat, Feb 3
21:00:00
Toronto
Calgary
Sun, Feb 4
18:00:00
Colorado
San Diego
WK
11
Fri, Feb 9
18:30:00
Las Vegas
Halifax
Fri, Feb 9
20:00:00
Colorado
Panther City
Sat, Feb 10
19:00:00
Georgia
Rochester
Sat, Feb 10
19:00:00
Calgary
Toronto
Sat, Feb 10
19:30:00
San Diego
New York
Sat, Feb 10
22:00:00
Saskatchewan
Vancouver
WK
12
Fri, Feb 16
18:30:00
Buffalo
Halifax
Fri, Feb 16
22:00:00
Philadelphia
Las Vegas
Sat, Feb 17
19:00:00
Colorado
Albany
Sun, Feb 18
19:00:00
Halifax
Calgary
WK
13
Fri, Feb 23
21:00:00
New York
Colorado
Fri, Feb 23
22:00:00
Georgia
San Diego
Sat, Feb 24
19:00:00
Las Vegas
Rochester
Sat, Feb 24
19:00:00
Vancouver
Toronto
Sat, Feb 24
19:30:00
Albany
Buffalo
Sat, Feb 24
20:00:00
Halifax
Saskatchewan
Sat, Feb 24
21:00:00
Philadelphia
Calgary
Sun, Feb 25
16:00:00
Georgia
Panther City
WK
14
Fri, Mar 1
19:00:00
Georgia
Halifax
Fri, Mar 1
20:00:00
San Diego
Panther City
Fri, Mar 1
22:00:00
Toronto
Las Vegas
Fri, Mar 1
22:00:00
Buffalo
Vancouver
Sat, Mar 2
13:00:00
Calgary
Philadelphia
Sat, Mar 2
19:00:00
New York
Albany
Sat, Mar 2
21:00:00
Saskatchewan
Colorado
Sat, Mar 2
22:00:00
Toronto
San Diego
Sun, Mar 3
16:00:00
Rochester
Panther City
WK
15
Fri, Mar 8
19:00:00
Vancouver
Albany
Fri, Mar 8
19:30:00
Calgary
Georgia
Fri, Mar 8
19:30:00
Saskatchewan
Buffalo
Sat, Mar 9
17:00:00
Colorado
Toronto
Sat, Mar 9
19:00:00
Albany
Rochester
Sat, Mar 9
19:30:00
Las Vegas
New York
Sat, Mar 9
22:00:00
Halifax
San Diego
Sun, Mar 10
15:00:00
Panther City
Philadelphia
WK
16
Fri, Mar 15
18:30:00
Panther City
Halifax
Fri, Mar 15
21:00:00
San Diego
Calgary
Fri, Mar 15
22:00:00
Las Vegas
Vancouver
Sat, Mar 16
19:00:00
Rochester
Albany
Sat, Mar 16
19:00:00
Toronto
Buffalo
Sat, Mar 16
19:30:00
Philadelphia
Georgia
Sat, Mar 16
20:30:00
New York
Saskatchewan
WK
17
Fri, Mar 22
20:00:00
Buffalo
Panther City
Fri, Mar 22
21:00:00
Albany
Calgary
Sat, Mar 23
19:00:00
Halifax
Toronto
Sat, Mar 23
19:00:00
Vancouver
Philadelphia
Sat, Mar 23
19:30:00
Saskatchewan
New York
Sat, Mar 23
21:00:00
Rochester
Colorado
Sat, Mar 23
22:00:00
Las Vegas
San Diego
Sun, Mar 24
17:30:00
Saskatchewan
Georgia
WK
18
Sat, Mar 30
13:00:00
Buffalo
Philadelphia
Sat, Mar 30
19:00:00
Halifax
Rochester
Sat, Mar 30
19:30:00
Toronto
New York
Sat, Mar 30
22:00:00
Vancouver
Las Vegas
WK
19
Fri, Apr 5
21:00:00
Saskatchewan
Calgary
Fri, Apr 5
21:00:00
Buffalo
Colorado
Fri, Apr 5
22:00:00
Panther City
San Diego
Fri, Apr 5
22:00:00
Halifax
Vancouver
Sat, Apr 6
19:00:00
New York
Rochester
Sat, Apr 6
19:00:00
Toronto
Albany
Sat, Apr 6
19:30:00
Las Vegas
Georgia
Sat, Apr 6
20:00:00
Calgary
Saskatchewan
Sun, Apr 7
16:00:00
Philadelphia
Panther City
WK
20
Fri, Apr 12
21:00:00
Philadelphia
Colorado
Sat, Apr 13
19:00:00
Rochester
Toronto
Sat, Apr 13
19:30:00
Calgary
Buffalo
Sat, Apr 13
20:00:00
San Diego
Saskatchewan
Sat, Apr 13
22:00:00
Colorado
Las Vegas
Sat, Apr 13
22:00:00
New York
Vancouver
Sun, Apr 14
16:00:00
Albany
Panther City
WK
21
Fri, Apr 19
19:30:00
Rochester
Georgia
Fri, Apr 19
22:00:00
Vancouver
San Diego
Sat, Apr 20
18:00:00
Colorado
Halifax
Sat, Apr 20
19:30:00
Albany
New York
Sat, Apr 20
20:00:00
Toronto
Saskatchewan
Sat, Apr 20
21:00:00
Panther City
Calgary
Sat, Apr 20
22:00:00
Buffalo
Las Vegas
Sun, Apr 21
15:00:00
Philadelphia
Rochester
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Stories/Op-Ed

Balanced Mammoth Are Poised to Intimidate the Opposition

Have nine minutes ever felt like 636 days to you? If you ask any Colorado Mammoth or Georgia Swarm players, they might jokingly say, ‘yes.’

If the over a year and a half span between games wasn’t enough to build up rust on the player’s proverbial wheels, a nearly nine-minute, unexpected game stoppage just 57 seconds into this past weekend’s cross-divisional matchup featuring the Mammoth and the Swarm didn’t help them scrub it off.

The opening moments of last Saturday night’s game didn’t shine the Mammoth in the best light. Following a disjointed offensive set in which the Mammoth couldn’t produce a shot on goal, the defense allowed the Swarm to find an opening and put the first point of the night on the board.

However, after about 6 minutes of actual game time, it was as if a switched flicked, and the Mammoth were off and rolling. Despite being down a man, one of the Mammoth’s newest and most promising new players and former member of the Swarm, Zed Williams, found the back of the net with 8:25 left in the first quarter. 27 seconds later, Ryan Lee flew across the crease to put the Mammoth ahead. From that point on, the Mammoth would never again relinquish the lead.

When the final buzzer sounded, the scoreboard read: Colorado 16, Georgia 11. The Mammoth had comfortably (and successfully) completed their first of at least 18 missions this season. And, in the process, put the rest of the league on notice.

Following the team’s impressive victory, the always-focused and grounded Head Coach of the Mammoth, Pat Coyle, expressed joy over the result but maintained that this season is only just beginning.

“We kept our winning streak; I believe that’s four games in a row after finishing last year with three straight wins,” Coyle said. “Really though, if you’re going to start the season, it’s nice to start with a win. But, I think any takeaways need to be taken with a grain of salt. It was really nice to see some good things happening out there, but we need to temper our expectations.”

As cautious as Coyle and the Mammoth were to pat themselves on the back too much, there was plenty to be impressed with.

Offensively, scoring 16 goals is quite a feat, especially for this franchise. Since the Mammoth’s inaugural season in 2003, the club has only tallied 16 (or more) goals in 32 games. Furthermore, 8 different players (7 forwards and 1 transition player) scored a goal, while 12 different players tallied points (2 transition players, 2 defensemen, and goaltender, Dillon Ward).

As Ryan Lee, the team’s leading scorer after Week 1, put it, there are still many kinks to work out for the team to be satisfied with offense.

“We didn’t really know what to expect coming into this first game because we have a lot of new guys on offense,” Lee said. “We all worked together, but we have a lot to work on going forward…It was definitely a good start, but there’s still tons to work on.”

Lee attributed many of the improvements to the new offensive system that has been put in place by the Mammoth’s new Offensive Coordinator, Jason Bishop.

“We had a good training camp for four or five weekends,” Lee said. “We’ve been working a lot on the offensive sets that we put in with [Bishop], and it translates pretty nicely to the actual game.”

But all the love shouldn’t go to the offense. Holding the lead for a majority of a game is no simple task. The Mammoth have long been known in the NLL as a defensive powerhouse, and there’s a reason for that: the back end has grown as a unit for many years.

Led by Ward between the pipes since 2014, he’s been aided by very capable defensive-minded veterans of the club, including Josh Sullivan, Jordan Gilles, transition player Joey Cupido and defenseman Robert Hope. They have all played together since 2016.

Hope emphasized the importance of the experienced back end to the team’s goal of winning. He too, though, felt that more could’ve been done to shut down the Swarm offense.

“We have a very veteran roster on the back end,” hope said. “We have a bunch of guys who have a lot of experience in our system and we’re making some adjustments for some of the guys we brought in. The more that we play, the more we practice, the more we grow as a team, the better we’re going to be.”

One of the most notable defensive “mistakes” was allowing the Swarm to string together three goals in a row in the fourth quarter after the Mammoth had extended their lead to 15-8. The team admits that they took their foot off that pedal and that it will be important in the future to play a full 60-minutes.

Had the Mammoth played the full-60 that they wanted to to hold the Swarm to just eight goals, it would have been the 24th time in the Ward-era that this defensive juggernaut held their opponent to eight or fewer goals. Continuing on that thought, it would have been the first time since 2007 that the Mammoth scored the 16 goals and held their opponent to eight or fewer goals.

It may be one game out of 18, but there are few ways a team can make their mark on this new NLL season. The Mammoth hope they can continue to improve, so they can shake things up this postseason – as is always the goal.

The Mammoth have made the postseason every year since they missed out in 2010, but they have not competed in the championship match since they won it all back in 2006, when Coyle was a player on the Mammoth.

Now, it hasn’t been that long since Coyle has felt like one of the Mammoth rosters was this balanced, but he and the coaching staff feel confident that the pieces are there now to scare their opponents anywhere on the floor.

“I think we feel pretty comfortable with the core that we have right now,” Coyle said. “We always felt we were good [on offense], we felt good on the right side, we felt good on the left side, but we want to be better than that. We wanted to be intimidating on both sides of the floor, and now it feels like we are.”

NLL