The Albany FireWolves Have Arrived

Last season, the Albany FireWolves crafted one of the most captivating rags to riches tales in NLL history. After posting a meager three wins in the 2022-2023 campaign, the squad from the Empire State capital delivered an 11-7 record, enroute to an improbable NLL Finals appearance versus their in-state rival Buffalo Bandits. While the FireWolves would go down to the Bandits in a two-game sweep, within the span of one calendar year, everything had changed for Head Coach & GM Glenn Clark and his upstart collection of talent.

With the sky now serving as the limit for the FireWolves franchise, the 2024 NLL Coach of the Year is imploring his team to enter this upcoming season with the proper mindset and perspective.

“You always want to build on where you were,” explains Clark. “The simple conclusion is, well, improvement is a championship, but we know how hard it is to win, so the improvement is wanting to be more consistent. You want to be stronger on offense, defense, decision making, all those things.”

Albany returns their incredible young core of Alex Simmons, Tye Kurtz and Ethan Walker, who collectively tallied an impressive 131 goals and 210 assists last season. Simmons, the 2024 NLL Rookie of the Year, was nothing short of sensational, adding 52 scores and 76 helpers to his growing resume.

Despite an incredible rookie effort, for the 25-year-old budding superstar, year two is all about team aspirations, as opposed to individual achievement.

“Our team expectation is to put last year in the rearview mirror,” bestows Simmons. “There are definitely things we want to continue to do on the floor that made us successful in the past, but we have a new group with different skillsets on both ends of the floor that make us more difficult to deal with. With more experience under our belt, we expect to be sharp in every facet of the game and more importantly, be consistent each and every week.”

Notwithstanding his best player’s modesty, coach Clark is 100 percent bullish when discussing the corridor that Simmons is a part of, believing that it is more than just skill that separates the University of Denver/Syracuse alum from his contemporaries in box lacrosse.

“He wants to be a high-end player in this league. He’s on that trajectory,” proclaims Clark.  “I see Alex as a positive contributor for years to come. He’s going to have a nice, long NLL career. He’s obviously got a high-end skill set. But what people don’t see, unless you get to look behind the curtain, is his level of compete. His desire to be better. So that’s what we’re pushing with him.”

Alex Simmons! The Rookie of the Year came to play in the NLL Finals presented by AXIA Time, scoring 3 goals and 4 assists in Game 2.

Simmons highlight reel 👀 pic.twitter.com/rMECH8PnZd

— NLL (@NLL) May 19, 2024

The young and hungry FireWolves are adding even more firepower to the mix this season, with 2023 first overall pick Dyson Williams, 2022 seventh overall selection Will Johansen and former Division 1 hockey player Zac Masson entering the fray. Albany also added a strong veteran presence with the signing of former Thunderbirds standout Eric Fannell. The Ohio State alum missed all of last season with a knee injury, but is ready to go for his new team.

The young stars and offseason acquisitions join a roster that already features major providers like Colton Watkinson, Marshall Powless, Travis Longboat and Sam Firth.

Speaking from a general manager’s perspective, Clark makes clear that all his hard work during the offseason was intended to tip the scales of NLL superiority, both literally and figuratively.

“They’re all big, which was by design. They’re all 6’3, 200-plus lbs. guys. We were, if not the smallest team, one of the smallest teams last year. So, we definitely wanted to get a little bit bigger. We wanted to have a little bit more pushback in our group, so that is what we accomplished with those guys,” boasts Clark.

The longtime NLL coach and former player later added, “it’s an infusion of talent. Dyson is obviously an all-world talent. Johansen is a very good defender/transition player. And we add some size and strength with Fannell and Masson. Bigger, stronger, faster and a little more skilled. That’s kind of what we were looking to do in the offseason. And that’s mission accomplished because those guys all check those boxes.”

Simmons also offers nothing but praise for one of the top contenders for this season’s Rookie of the Year award.

“Dyson is an elite talent. Anytime you have a generational talent in your lineup it will help you. His innate ability to see the floor and score is what sets him apart from most. He adds size to our left side which allows more space for other guys in our lineup,” confers Simmons.

One constant of lacrosse in Albany is between the pipes and goes by the name of Doug Jamieson. With a new three-year contract, the 2020 goaltender of the year remains the backbone of the organization, getting in the way of shots dating back to when he was drafted by the New England BlackWolves in 2016.

As far as the head coach/GM sees it, the goalie who hails from Six Nations is not going anywhere anytime soon.

“Dougie is our starter. He’s one of the best in the game. Our success is directly tied to his performance. So, everybody else that we have in camp in terms of goaltending is vying for that support role. You don’t win without good to great goaltending, and we’re comfortable that we have that,” conveys Clark.

With all the pieces very much in place, combined with the lessons learned via their deep playoff run, the Albany FireWolves are well positioned to live in the upper echelon of the NLL universe, both this season and for the future.

2024 NLL Training Camp is presented by Warrior.