NLL: Ten things to know for Week 12

The National Lacrosse League features seven contests this weekend: three East intra-conference games and three West, plus one inter-conference battle. The TV highlights include linear broadcasts on Friday on ESPN2 (Saskatchewan at San Diego, 10:30 p.m. ET / 7:30 p.m. PT) and the NLL Game of the Week on TSN (Calgary at Vancouver, 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT).

Here are 10 things to know about the NLL for Week 12:

At the midway point of the regular season schedule (exactly 50% of games will have been played by the end of Week 12 action), a few attendance notes:

The Calgary Roughnecks had back-to-back games on Friday and Saturday, drawing a combined 25,889. Friday night’s “Battle of the Prairies” win over Saskatchewan attracted 14,070, the third highest crowd of the season behind two Buffalo Bandits games (14,923 on Feb. 4 and 14,189 on Jan. 14).

The Bandits’ 13,661 average leads the league so far

The NLL continues its bounce back from the pandemic hiatus with a 57% increase in tickets sold over last season

The New York Riptide on Saturday signed Lacrosse Grandmother and Nassau County Legislator Rose Walker to a one-day honorary contract prior to their game vs. Albany. The decision was based on Walker’s longtime and unwavering commitment to the sport of lacrosse and youth sports in Nassau County.

In addition to the two linear TV broadcasts and full coverage across ESPN+, six games this week will be simulcast locally in the U.S.: Albany (WYNA My4); Las Vegas (KVMY Ch. 21); Colorado (Altitude Sports); Panther City (Bally Sports SW); Philadelphia (NBC Sports Philadelphia) and Halifax (CTV2).

On Sunday, Buffalo Bandits players including Ian MacKay (Port Elgin, Ont.) and Brad McCulley (Victoria, B.C.) taught Williamsville’s Heim Elementary School students in grades 2-4 about the game of lacrosse. MacKay told local TV reporters that "...we have the best fans in the league by far and to be able to come out and interact with them and teach these kids a little about lacrosse and introduce the game... some of them have never even heard about it before and spark a little interest in them.”

The NLL continued its celebration of Black History Month with a feature on Halifax Thunderbirds assistant coach Billy Dee Smith, an NLL champion as a player and cousin of current standout Dhane Smith (Kitchener, Ont.).

The NLL remains stalwart in support of Every Child Matters, with the latest inspiring video feature on the Thunderbirds forward Cody Jamieson (Six Nations, Ont.) and other indigenous athletes discussing what the game of lacrosse means to them and the importance of mental health.

The NLL and sport of lacrosse are well represented in the North American Indigenous Athletics Hall of Fame, announced earlier this month. Dean Hill of the Mohawk Nation (10 seasons, 247 points), Delby Powless of the Mohawk Nation (2004 first overall draft pick, Buffalo Bandits NLL champion) and Roger Vyse, Mohawk and member of the turtle clan from Six Nations (2006, 13th overall selection by Buffalo) are among the honorees.

Some milestones players eclipsed last week include:

Albany defenseman Greg Downing (Auburn, N.Y.) now has 1003 loose ball recoveries after collecting four vs. New York
Calgary defenseman Curtis Manning (New Westminster, B.C.) now has 708 loose ball recoveries after recording eight vs. Colorado
Calgary forward Jesse King (Victoria, B.C.) now has 207 assists after recording six vs. Saskatchewan and four more vs. Colorado
Colorado forward Eli McLaughlin (Surrey, B.C.) now has 200 goals after netting four vs. Calgary
Georgia forward Brendan Bomberry (Six Nations, Ont.) now has 100 points after recording an assist vs. Toronto
Halifax forward Cody Jamieson (Six Nations, Ont.) now has 708 loose ball recoveries after grabbing nine vs. Rochester
New York defenseman Damon Edwards (Toronto) now has 101 points after registering two assists vs. Albany
Saskatchewan defenseman Kyle Rubisch (Brampton, Ont.) became the 11th player in league history to reach 1500 loose ball recoveries with six vs. Calgary
Toronto goaltender Nick Rose (Orangeville, Ont.) has now played in 200 games
Vancouver forward Shawn Evans (Peterborough, Ont.) now has 858 assists, passing Colin Doyle for fourth place all-time, after collecting five vs. Panther City

Some milestones players may reach this week include:

Albany goaltender Doug Jamieson (Ohsweken, Ont.) needs 35 minutes played for 3000
Colorado forward Rhys Duch (Victoria, B.C.) needs one game played to reach 200
Colorado forward Chris Wardle (Victoria, B.C.) needs three goals to reach 100
Colorado defenseman Jordan Gilles (Richmond, B.C.) needs three loose ball recoveries to reach 500
Georgia forward Shayne Jackson (Bowmanville, Ont.) needs three points to reach 700
Halifax forward Ryan Benesch (Elmira, Ont.) needs six goals to become the sixth player in league history to reach 500
Halifax defenseman David Brock (Burlington, Ont.) needs two points to reach 100
Halifax forward Clarke Petterson (Toronto) needs one assist to reach 100
Las Vegas forward Rob Hellyer (Lions Head, Ont.) needs five loose ball recoveries to reach 600
Panther City forward Callum Crawford (Ottawa, Ont.) needs five loose ball recoveries for 1000
Philadelphia goaltender Angus Goodleaf (Kahanwake, Que.) needs 16 minutes played to reach 2000
Philadelphia forward Ben McIntosh needs nine loose ball recoveries to reach 500
Philadelphia forward Matt Rambo (Glenside, Pa.) needs eight points to reach 200
Philadelphia defenseman John Ranagan (Yorktown, N,Y.) needs five loose ball recoveries to reach 400
San Diego forward Kevin Crowley (New Westminster, B.C.) needs five assists to reach 100
Saskatchewan defenseman Matt Beers (Coquitlam, B.C.) needs five assists to reach 100
Saskatchewan defenseman Ryan Dilks (Edmonton, Alb.) needs five points to reach 100
Saskatchewan forward Ryan Keenan (Oshawa, Ont.) needs two assists to reach 200
Saskatchewan forward Mark Matthews (Oshawa, Ont.) needs four points to reach 900
Toronto forward Dan Dawson (Oakville, Ont.) needs one point to become the second player in NLL history to reach 1500 in his career (John Tavares is the other)
Toronto defenseman Latrell Harris (St. Catharines, Ont.) needs one loose ball recovery to reach 500
Toronto defenseman TD Ierlan (Victor, N.Y.) needs seven faceoff wins to reach 400
Vancouver forward Keegan Bal (Coquitlam, B.C.) needs four points to reach 300
Vancouver defenseman Justin Salt (Coquitlam, B.C.) needs nine loose ball recoveries to reach 600

Schedule – Week 12 (All Times Eastern)

Friday

Roughnecks (6-3) @ Warriors (1-8), 10pm, ESPN+, NLL Game of the Week on TSN

Rush (4-3) @ Seals (6-1), 10:30pm, ESPN2, ESPN+, TSN+

Saturday

Desert Dogs (2-5) @ FireWolves (2-5), 7pm, ESPN+, TSN+, KMVY, WNYA

Swarm (0-6) @ Rock (7-2), 7pm, ESPN+, TSN+

Wings (3-4) @ Bandits (7-2), 7:30pm, ESPN+, TSN+, NBC Sports Philadelphia

Mammoth (4-4) @ Panther City (5-4), 8pm, ESPN+, TSN+, Altitude, Bally Sports SW

Sunday

Riptide (2-6) @ Thunderbirds (4-5), 1pm, ESPN+, TSN+, CTV2