It’s a weekend full of ifs, when’s, and how’s as we enter the final week of the regular season! We get the action started at primetime with Friday Night on TSN as the Halifax Thunderbirds wheel into Mississauga to take on the Toronto Rock. Toronto, one of two teams faced with a final-week doubleheader, will host Halifax during their end-of-season Fan Appreciation Night at the Paramount Fine Foods Centre. Though the Rock may be out of the postseason conversation for now, they know their fans would appreciate nothing more than a final home win of the season.
Rock City, this one’s for you! ❤️
Watch the Rock take on Halifax! NLL Friday Night on TSN at 7pm ET!#RockCity🎸 pic.twitter.com/XCfMB2YPfl
— Toronto Rock (@TorontoRockLax) April 18, 2025
The visiting Thunderbirds, however, don’t plan to slink in quietly, as a win this weekend could secure a quarterfinal home playoff game (with the alternative lying in the hands of Rochester or Vancouver to sacrifice a win of their own to ensure Halifax’s home seat). While Halifax looks ahead, Toronto remains focused on the game at hand, with several players eyeing career milestones, including defender Latrell Harris, needing just two loose balls to break 600 Career Pik-Ups, and defender Billy Hostrawser, needing just 27 accrued penalty minutes this weekend to surpass San Diego head coach Patrick Merrill for eighth all-time. Additionally, Hostrawser also needs 57 penalty minutes to break the single-season record set by Rory Smith in 2010 (Smith sat for a total of 105 minutes, but hey, Hostrawser, it’s about leaving your mark on the League, not the League leaving a mark on you).
CALGARY, AB – MARCH 22, 2025: The Calgary Roughnecks against the San Diego Seals at Scotiabank Saddledome on Saturday. (Photo by Jenn Pierce/NLL)
Continuing the Friday night festivities are the Calgary Roughnecks, our second team lodged in a crunch-time doubleheader this weekend. The Roughnecks are back from a Week 20 bye game, preceded by their 10-6 win over the Saskatchewan Rush in the second Battle of the Prairies– a much-needed boost after spending much of the last few weeks just behind the four-way tie for fifth place. Now sitting in the sixth seat in the League standings, the Roughnecks are on the cusp of postseason greatness as they hop over the border down into Sin City to take on the Desert Dogs.
Calgary has their chips spread here in the final week, needing a combination of all sorts of results to punch their ticket (think of it like a nerve-racking game of bingo). A win in their first matchup against Las Vegas, while ideal, would not immediately guarantee entry. Calgary would still need a San Diego loss to Albany, or an Ottawa loss to Saskatchewan AND a Georgia loss to Buffalo. Alternatively, in the event of a Las Vegas upset, the Roughnecks would once again need to root for their Prairie rivals AND bank an even wider mix of losses around the League (sounds to us like the easiest way in is to win). But despite their current absence from playoff contention, after their 14-13 win over the Toronto Rock, the Desert Dogs are signalling no easy go-aheads for the visiting Roughnecks.
San Diego Seals vs Albany
Firewolves
Another of the many teams celebrating their Fan Appreciation Night this weekend (or as the San Diegans call it, $5 Craft Beer Night) is the San Diego Seals, hosting the Albany FireWolves for the second round of their two-game series. The Seals are entering the weekend still locked in a four-way tie (Georgia, Ottawa, Colorado) for the final two playoff spots, and now have the chance to break away and reserve their seat with a win over Albany. The Seals took to the socials this week in preparation for this weekend’s rematch with the FireWolves, leading with the statement, “sink or swim, good thing we’re Seals.” Is San Diego just that cocky or are they that confident in their chances?
In the first match of their end-of-season bout with Albany in Week 20, the FireWolves took game one 12-10, due to the six-goal, eight-point efforts of sophomore Albany forward Tye Kurtz.
Albany tops San Diego 12–10 behind a huge 9-point (6G, 3A) night from Tye Kurtz. Game Recap ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/DHItEVCG17
— NLL (@NLL) April 13, 2025
With last week’s win under their belt, the FireWolves are now 5-2 in their last seven games after starting the season 2-8, and are still a healthy contender in the race to the postseason. But while the Seals have it easy and need only focus on the results of their own matchup, the FireWolves have their eyes on several teams, needing a win above all, and a witches’ brew of losses, washes and upsets to break into the playoffs.
The Toronto Rock hit the road to Blue Cross Arena for their second game of the weekend, heading off against the clinched Rochester Knighthawks. Rochester is sat comfortably in the elite eight, currently occupying the number five seat headed into their final home game of the regular season. With their tickets punched, the Knighthawks are on the prowl for a home quarterfinal matchup, needing a win and either a Halifax or Vancouver loss to secure it (or a Halifax loss and two Calgary wins as the alternative).
Much to no one’s surprise, the Buffalo Bandits have not only maintained their seat atop the regular season standings but also clinched the number one playoff seed and home field advantage through the playoffs. The Georgia Swarm is set to host the Bandits for their final home game of the regular season. As the Swarm prepare for the Bandits’ usual orange and white colorways to clash with the navy-yellow tones of Fan Appreciation Night, they find themselves again making the push to rip away from the four-way tie.
This is Georgia and Buffalo’s first time meeting this season, and coincidentally, the meeting where Georgia most needs a win. The Swarm can clinch a playoff berth with a victory against the Bandits this Saturday and a mixed bag of losses in the four-way tie, depending on the outcomes of the Calgary doubleheader. From the visiting side, the Bandits are on the lookout for a few records, with the League’s leading point-scorer, Dhane Smith, on the road needing three assists and nine points to break both the NLL Single Season Assists and Points records, both currently held by him.
It’s BYOB for Fan Appreciation Night in Vancouver– but not the ‘B’ that you’re thinking of! To celebrate their fans, the Vancouver Warriors encourage their fans to BTOB–Bring Their Own Buckets– to be filled to the brim with popcorn. Additionally, after experiencing overwhelming demand for tickets to this weekend’s matchup, for the first time in Warriors history, Vancouver is opening ticket sales to the upper bowl. The Coquitlam Kids are on the rise, with a 5-0 streak and a clinched playoff seat thanks to the addition of goalkeeper Christian Del Bianco, the Warriors are now looking for their next franchise milestone: a home playoff game. A win against the Philadelphia Wings this weekend, OR a Rochester loss to Toronto would keep the Warriors at home for one more weekend.
The visiting Wings, however, have a chip on their shoulder and a hop in their step, and they don’t look ready to quit. After winning their last two straight games against the Georgia Swarm, breaking a franchise-record eight-game losing streak, the Wings are still in this to win this, and need a win to keep the dream kicking. The Wings and Warriors met previously in Week 8, which Philly took 14-13. A repeat win against Vancouver, two Calgary losses, a San Diego win, a Georgia loss, AND a Saskatchewan win would secure a Wings postseason appearance.
Saskatchewan Rush at Colorado Mammoth from Ball Arena in Denver Colorado on April 13, 2025
Will Malcom celebrates score (Photo: John Harrison)
Calgary is back on their home turf on Saturday for the second game of their doubleheader, hosting the 8-9 Colorado Mammoth. A win over Colorado this weekend would clinch their seat in the playoff spectacle, and stacked with a win against Las Vegas and a slew of other losses, could also clinch a home quarterfinal game for the Roughnecks. After losing several players to injuries and opportunities over the last few weeks, the Mammoth have lost their last four straight games, each by exactly five goals. They enter the weekend still holding onto their corner of the four-way tie. To make it in, they desperately need a win against the home Roughnecks, and one loss from one of their fellow record quadruplets.
Making history in the Black Bears’ inaugural season wasn’t enough for Ottawa’s Jeff Teat— it’s postseason, or no season. After a meteoric rise up from the bottom rungs of the League standings, the Ottawa Black Bears are entering the final weekend caught in the seemingly inescapable four-way tie. Stacking up against the the two-seated Saskatchewan Rush, the Black Bears find themselves between a rock and a hard place (an idea now emblematic of Ottawa’s inaugural season), needing an enormous upset win over the Rush and/or a loss/losses from any of their co-tied rivals to clinch their inaugural playoff berth. This would be the first postseason appearance for both Teat and Ottawa head coach Dan Ladouceur.
