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BUF at TOR - Sat. 7pm ET Schedule

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WK
1
Fri, Dec 2
FINAL
Philadelphia
8
Halifax
18
Sat, Dec 3
FINAL
Vancouver
8
Toronto
19
Sat, Dec 3
FINAL
San Diego
15
New York
14
Sat, Dec 3
FINAL
Albany
11
Buffalo
10
Sat, Dec 3
FINAL
Rochester
16
Georgia
11
Sat, Dec 3
FINAL
Colorado
6
Saskatchewan
18
WK
2
Fri, Dec 9
FINAL
Las Vegas
11
Panther City
13
Fri, Dec 9
FINAL/OT
Saskatchewan
12
San Diego
13
Sat, Dec 10
FINAL
Toronto
7
Rochester
11
Sat, Dec 10
FINAL
Vancouver
9
Calgary
11
WK
3
Fri, Dec 16
FINAL
Calgary
14
Vancouver
5
Fri, Dec 16
FINAL
Panther City
9
Las Vegas
3
Sat, Dec 17
FINAL
Buffalo
11
Toronto
8
Sat, Dec 17
FINAL
Rochester
14
Albany
13
Sat, Dec 17
FINAL
Philadelphia
13
Georgia
12
Sat, Dec 17
FINAL
Halifax
20
New York
11
Sat, Dec 17
FINAL
Colorado
12
Panther City
9
WK
5
Fri, Dec 30
FINAL
Halifax
13
Buffalo
18
Fri, Dec 30
FINAL
San Diego
17
Calgary
14
Sat, Dec 31
FINAL
Panther City
9
Saskatchewan
11
WK
6
Fri, Jan 6
FINAL
Philadelphia
14
Las Vegas
9
Sat, Jan 7
FINAL
Panther City
9
Rochester
17
Sat, Jan 7
FINAL
Halifax
14
Albany
11
Sat, Jan 7
FINAL
Buffalo
18
Georgia
9
Sat, Jan 7
FINAL
Toronto
15
New York
7
Sat, Jan 7
FINAL
Calgary
8
Colorado
9
Sat, Jan 7
FINAL
Vancouver
11
San Diego
16
WK
7
Fri, Jan 13
FINAL/OT
Albany
11
Halifax
10
Fri, Jan 13
FINAL/OT
Saskatchewan
10
Colorado
11
Sat, Jan 14
FINAL
Halifax
8
Toronto
17
Sat, Jan 14
FINAL
Panther City
12
Philadelphia
10
Sat, Jan 14
FINAL
Georgia
9
Buffalo
11
Sat, Jan 14
FINAL
San Diego
10
Calgary
14
Sat, Jan 14
FINAL
Las Vegas
16
Vancouver
19
Sun, Jan 15
FINAL
Rochester
11
New York
8
WK
8
Fri, Jan 20
FINAL
Buffalo
12
Rochester
15
Fri, Jan 20
FINAL
Vancouver
14
Las Vegas
15
Sat, Jan 21
FINAL
Toronto
14
Philadelphia
5
Sat, Jan 21
FINAL
New York
16
Albany
10
WK
9
Fri, Jan 27
FINAL
Rochester
7
Halifax
17
Fri, Jan 27
FINAL
Buffalo
13
Philadelphia
9
Sat, Jan 28
FINAL
Buffalo
16
New York
10
Sat, Jan 28
FINAL
Las Vegas
10
Saskatchewan
15
Sat, Jan 28
FINAL/OT
Toronto
11
Calgary
10
Sat, Jan 28
FINAL
San Diego
13
Colorado
9
Sat, Jan 28
FINAL
Panther City
20
Vancouver
7
WK
10
Fri, Feb 3
FINAL
Georgia
10
Colorado
13
Sat, Feb 4
FINAL/OT
Calgary
12
Halifax
11
Sat, Feb 4
FINAL
New York
14
Toronto
22
Sat, Feb 4
FINAL
Albany
5
Philadelphia
13
Sat, Feb 4
FINAL
Rochester
10
Buffalo
13
Sat, Feb 4
FINAL
Panther City
10
San Diego
12
Sat, Feb 4
FINAL
Saskatchewan
14
Vancouver
8
Sat, Feb 4
FINAL
Colorado
8
Las Vegas
13
WK
11
Fri, Feb 10
FINAL
Toronto
11
Georgia
10
Fri, Feb 10
FINAL
Saskatchewan
6
Calgary
13
Sat, Feb 11
FINAL
Halifax
14
Rochester
16
Sat, Feb 11
FINAL
Albany
12
New York
14
Sat, Feb 11
FINAL
Vancouver
13
Panther City
14
Sat, Feb 11
FINAL
Colorado
9
Calgary
13
WK
12
Fri, Feb 17
FINAL
Calgary
14
Vancouver
9
Fri, Feb 17
FINAL
Saskatchewan
16
San Diego
11
Sat, Feb 18
FINAL
Georgia
7
Toronto
16
Sat, Feb 18
FINAL
Las Vegas
12
Albany
10
Sat, Feb 18
FINAL/OT
Philadelphia
12
Buffalo
13
Sat, Feb 18
FINAL
Colorado
7
Panther City
13
Sun, Feb 19
FINAL
New York
12
Halifax
13
WK
13
Fri, Feb 24
FINAL
Panther City
12
Colorado
14
Fri, Feb 24
FINAL
Calgary
9
Las Vegas
11
Sat, Feb 25
FINAL/OT
New York
10
Rochester
11
Sat, Feb 25
FINAL
Albany
4
Georgia
20
Sat, Feb 25
FINAL
Vancouver
16
Saskatchewan
12
WK
14
Fri, Mar 3
FINAL
Buffalo
10
Halifax
9
Sat, Mar 4
FINAL
New York
12
Philadelphia
19
Sat, Mar 4
FINAL
Las Vegas
12
San Diego
15
Sat, Mar 4
FINAL
Rochester
8
Toronto
9
Sat, Mar 4
FINAL/OT
Georgia
9
Albany
8
Sat, Mar 4
FINAL
Saskatchewan
10
Panther City
16
Mon, Mar 6
FINAL
Toronto
10
Philadelphia
11
WK
15
Fri, Mar 10
FINAL/OT
Halifax
9
Buffalo
10
Fri, Mar 10
FINAL
Calgary
16
Colorado
10
Sat, Mar 11
FINAL
Albany
6
Toronto
12
Sat, Mar 11
FINAL
Philadelphia
10
New York
13
Sat, Mar 11
FINAL
San Diego
12
Saskatchewan
11
Sat, Mar 11
FINAL
Vancouver
14
Las Vegas
5
Sun, Mar 12
FINAL
Rochester
19
Georgia
18
WK
16
Fri, Mar 17
FINAL
Saskatchewan
6
Calgary
11
Fri, Mar 17
FINAL
San Diego
16
Vancouver
9
Sat, Mar 18
FINAL
Georgia
13
Philadelphia
12
Sat, Mar 18
FINAL
Toronto
12
Halifax
14
Sat, Mar 18
FINAL
Albany
10
New York
13
Sat, Mar 18
FINAL
Colorado
13
Buffalo
8
Sat, Mar 18
FINAL
Las Vegas
8
Panther City
11
Sun, Mar 19
FINAL/OT
Philadelphia
9
Rochester
8
WK
17
Fri, Mar 24
FINAL
San Diego
17
Panther City
9
Sat, Mar 25
FINAL
Toronto
11
Albany
9
Sat, Mar 25
FINAL
Halifax
14
Philadelphia
10
Sat, Mar 25
FINAL
Georgia
13
New York
8
Sat, Mar 25
FINAL
Calgary
14
Saskatchewan
6
Sat, Mar 25
FINAL/OT
Buffalo
7
San Diego
6
Sat, Mar 25
FINAL
Colorado
12
Vancouver
14
Sat, Mar 25
FINAL
Rochester
7
Las Vegas
12
WK
18
Fri, Mar 31
FINAL
New York
7
Georgia
12
Fri, Mar 31
FINAL
Las Vegas
9
Colorado
11
Fri, Mar 31
FINAL
Calgary
8
San Diego
14
Q1
06:23
Buffalo
0
Toronto
4
Sat, Apr 1
20:00:00
Albany
Panther City
Sat, Apr 1
21:30:00
Vancouver
Saskatchewan
Sun, Apr 2
13:00:00
Georgia
Halifax
Sun, Apr 2
18:00:00
Rochester
Philadelphia
WK
19
Sat, Apr 8
19:00:00
Albany
Rochester
Sat, Apr 8
19:00:00
Saskatchewan
Georgia
Sat, Apr 8
21:00:00
Panther City
Calgary
Sat, Apr 8
21:00:00
Vancouver
Colorado
Sat, Apr 8
22:30:00
San Diego
Las Vegas
WK
20
Fri, Apr 14
21:00:00
Las Vegas
Calgary
Fri, Apr 14
21:00:00
San Diego
Colorado
Sat, Apr 15
19:00:00
Philadelphia
Toronto
Sat, Apr 15
19:00:00
Georgia
Albany
Sat, Apr 15
19:30:00
New York
Buffalo
Sat, Apr 15
21:30:00
Halifax
Saskatchewan
Sat, Apr 15
22:00:00
Panther City
Vancouver
WK
21
Fri, Apr 21
20:30:00
Calgary
Panther City
Sat, Apr 22
18:00:00
New York
Halifax
Sat, Apr 22
19:00:00
Georgia
Rochester
Sat, Apr 22
20:00:00
Toronto
Buffalo
Sat, Apr 22
21:30:00
Colorado
Saskatchewan
Sat, Apr 22
22:00:00
Las Vegas
San Diego
Sun, Apr 23
15:00:00
Philadelphia
Albany
WK
22
Sat, Apr 29
19:00:00
Philadelphia
Rochester
Sat, Apr 29
19:00:00
Buffalo
Albany
Sat, Apr 29
19:00:00
Halifax
Georgia
Sat, Apr 29
22:00:00
Colorado
San Diego
Sat, Apr 29
22:00:00
New York
Vancouver
Sat, Apr 29
22:30:00
Saskatchewan
Las Vegas
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Scores / Schedule
Stories/Op-Ed

The Swarm Are Back in Town And Ready For A Playoff Push

This past Saturday was a reunion of sorts for the 2017 Champion’s Cup winners, the Georgia Swarm. It was the first time since Game One of the 2017 NLL East Division Final that transition players Chad Tutton and Joel White, as well as forwards Kiel Matisz and Jordan Hall were all suited up and on the bench ready to face an opponent together. As the band Thin Lizzy wrote to open their chart-topping 1976 song, The Boys Are Back In Town, “Guess who just got back today, them wild-eyed boys that had been away.”

 

“We’ve said all along,” Swarm assistant coach Dan Ladouceur noted. “[Each of the returning players] aren’t magic pills. It’s not like we insert them and then everything is right again. But, they’re definitely pieces of something bigger.”

 

While each of the newly returned players may not be an instant solution to winning more games, Ladouceur did make clear that both on and off the floor, guys like Tutton, White, Hall, and Matisz make a significant impact on the team, particularly the younger players.

 

Rookie transition player Zed Williams was forced into various roles from the getgo this season while Tutton and White were out. Ladouceur admits that being in that situation is tough on a young player who is trying to acclimate to the high-quality of play at the NLL-level.

 

“It’s a tough spot for Zed,” Ladouceur said. “Typically we ask an offensive player to be at the [defensive] door and to learn about how to play on defense and then also be a threat in transition. On the defensive said of the ball, I can honestly say we’ve seen marked improvements from him and also his ability to transition on the offensive end. We’ve asked him to do a lot of things as a rookie; it’s pretty tough, we’ve asked him to do a lot. It’s hard to key in on one aspect of his game and get really good at it when we’re changing his role as often as we have. But, he’s responded, and we’ve seen marked improvements.”

 

Williams has collected 41 loose balls and caused nine turnovers over the nine games he’s participated in this year – he also has added eight points (five goals and three assists). While those are decent from a rookie in his ever-changing role, it does not make up for the physical, gritty defense of Tutton who caused 22 turnovers in 2017 or the dogged play of white who recorded four caused turnovers, scooped up 31 loose balls and tallied nine points (3 goals and six assists) in the four Swarm playoff games last season.

 

Even though Williams is likely to see a significant decrease in his playing time with the team’s veteran transition players back in the lineup, he says he is always ready to contribute in any way he can, “Whatever the team needs me to do, I’m ready to do it to help the team win,” The rookie said.

 

Nevertheless, many of the team’s other key players such as the Thompson brothers, Miles and Lyle, Randy Staats, Mike Poulin, Jordan MacIntosh, and Shayne Jackson to name a few, have been trying to string together wins with an incomplete lineup that has looked far less potent than it did last year. Now with four core pieces of last year’s lineup back and ready to play, this team is prepared for a stronger second half of the season to grab a playoff spot.

 

“At the begging of this year,” Lyle Thompson said. “We were telling ourselves, ‘don’t look at last year.’ But now, it’s nice to look at last year as a teaching point and look at what we did last year that made us successful. This year, it has been about going through adversity and learning from it.”

 

There has been a sharp offensive decline from the Swarm’s record-setting season last year. Whereas last year the Swarm averaged 14.78 goals per game, this year they are only posting 11.91 per game. Even more remarkable, the Swarm had the league’s second-best power play in 2017 at 55.56% but have barely cracked the 30% mark this season by capitalizing on a league-worst 32.56% of man-up chances. To put their scoring woes into further perspective, last year the team’s goal differential was +53 while this year it is -10.

 

Lyle Thompson is putting the responsibility on himself as one of the team’s most gifted scorers to help his team get better on 5-on-5 chances, but especially on the power play.

 

“I think the only thing we need to do on the power play is to shoot the ball more accurately,” the youngest Thompson brother said. “I put it on me; it’s my fault. I’m the point shooter, and I have to be a threat and have the defenses respect me as a shooter. If that doesn’t happen, the guys alongside me, the crease-men, they don’t get those better opportunities.”

 

Lyle will be getting help from transition pieces like Tutton and White who will help to create chances throughout the game.

 

“The transition pieces are obviously a very important part of the Georgia Swarm,” White said with excitement. “I think that Chad brings that energy, and myself, I can help bring the ball up the floor; we add a different dimension to be able to get up the floor quickly for our unbelievable offense.”

 

The hope that this team can play better in the second half of this season than they did in the first half is palpable. It is clear that this newly reunited Swarm team is no longer the 5-4 team that is currently sitting fourth-place in the East and out of the playoffs.

 

“For me personally,” Ladouceur said. “Having these guys back and having the team gelling – we’re always talking about having the team gelling – when you’re on this side, it’s really exciting, and you can actually see the differences with the guys and how they interact in the locker room and during warmups. Seeing that now is giving me a sense of confidence that going forward we’re on the way to where we need to be, and that we’re rolling and peaking at the proper time of the season.

 

The players are echoing their coach’s confidence heading into the back-half of the 2018 season. “I know we can beat any team and I’m confident that we’re going to win,” Lyle said. White added, “Being part of the lineup again this past weekend felt pretty good. I think we have a group that is starting to click at the right time as we head down the back-half of the season.”

 

The Swarm will need to mesh quickly, though. With their next four games against East Division opponents and five of their last seven overall against the East, the pressure will surely be on them to sneak back into a playoff spot.

 

The confidence is back because the players are have returned to a more recognizable group to last year’s squad. As the song says, “The boys are back in town, the boys are back in town, again.”

 

NLL