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NLL: Ten things to know for Week 5

Toronto Rock Toronto Rock - NLL
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The National Lacrosse League features seven games, a season high to date, this New Year’s weekend over three days, highlighted by the New York Riptide vs. Toronto Rock (Saturday, 4 p.m. ET) matinee serving as the NLL Game of the Week on TSN and on ESPNU in the U.S. Seven local market outlets will broadcast games that include the NLL Saturday Showcase featuring the Vancouver Warriors at Colorado Mammoth (Saturday, 9 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. MT, ESPN+, TSN+, Altitude Sports) and the NLL New Year’s Eve Special when the undefeated Albany FireWolves visit the Saskatchewan Rush (Sunday, 8 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. CT, ESPN+, TSN+, My4 Albany).

Here are 10 things to know about the NLL entering Week 5:

  • Resetarits Ranks: Philadelphia Wings forward Joe Resetarits remains one of the all-time great U.S.-born NLL players. He now needs six points to pass Casey Powell (674 points) to be the top scoring American in League history. Read more on his pursuit in this NLL.com feature by Adam Levi.
  • Post Exclusive: The N.Y. Post’s Dexter Henry had this exclusive interview with New York Riptide standout and former #1 NLL Draft pick Jeff Teat (Brampton, Ont.) this week, where he discussed the expectations of that lofty selection, his record-setting rookie season, his 2024 MVP goals, team goals, and more.
  • Hasen Century: Rochester’s thrilling 13-11 victory over Vancouver pushed the Knighthawks to 3-0 for the second straight season, and also marked the 100th victory behind the bench for Mike Hasen, who becomes the sixth coach in league history to reach the century mark. The win occurred nearly 13 years after Hasen's first win as head coach in January 2011. Hasen now trails Tony Cordingley (107), with active coaches Ed Comeau of Georgia (124, second) and Paul Day of Philadelphia (113, fourth) also among the leaders.
  • Mammoth Save Makes ESPN Top 10: This series of saves by Colorado’s Brett Dobson (Oshawa, Ont.) garnered the No. 9 spot on ESPN SportsCenter’s Top 10 plays on Saturday.
  • Auld Lang Sask: The Albany FireWolves and Saskatchewan Rush get New Year’s Eve to themselves on the NLL schedule, and the SaskTel Centre will be the place to be on Sunday night to ring in 2024. The Rush celebrate with the Fan Experience Zone from noon until 5 p.m., followed by the pre-game show live from the concourse, halftime performance by the KC Aerials Group and more. Fans outside the Saskatoon area can tune into the game on TSN+, ESPN+ as well as over the air on My4 in Albany.
  • Here Comes the Metric System: LAXMetrics, powered by the NLL, is an innovative data approach to better understand the League. This week, NLL.com’s Cooper Perkins looks at the prospect of an MVP run by Toronto Rock forward Mark Matthews.
  • Go Local: Seven local outlets will have live coverage of six of the NLL’s games this weekend: Albany at Philadelphia (Friday, 6:30 p.m. ET / 7:30 p.m. AT, NBC Sports Philadelphia); Georgia at Buffalo (Friday, 7:30 p.m. ET, Peachtree Sports Network, CW23); Rochester at San Diego (Friday, 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT, Fox 5); Las Vegas at Calgary (Saturday, 9 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. MT, Silver State Sports & Entertainment Network (SSSEN)); Vancouver at Colorado (Saturday, 9 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. MT, Altitude Sports); and Albany at Saskatchewan (Sunday, 8 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. CT, My4)
  • Power Up: NLL.com’s Adam Levi checks in with his weekly Power Rankings, keeping the Bandits at No. 1 and the Halifax Thunderbirds (2-0) at No. 2. Toronto’s (2-0) win at Panther City vaults the Rock to No. 3, ahead of Albany (3-0), which puts its unbeaten mark on the line at Saskatchewan on New Year’s Eve.
  • NLL Players reaching milestones last week included:
    • Colorado forward Eli McLaughlin (Surrey, B.C.) now has 500 points after a goal and assist vs. Georgia
    • Panther City forward Will Malcom (New Westminster, B.C.) now has 201 points after a two-goal, three-assist effort vs. Toronto
    • Vancouver goaltender Aaron Bold (Victoria, B.C.) became the eighth goaltender in league history to play 9000 minutes (now 9058)
  • Player achievements within reach this week are:
    • Buffalo forward Chase Fraser (Vancouver, B.C.) needs four goals to reach 100
    • Buffalo forward Tehoka Nanticoke (Six Nations, Ont.) needs four points to reach 100
    • Buffalo defenseman Steve Priolo (St. Catharines, Ont.) needs one point to reach 200
    • Buffalo forward Dhane Smith (Kitchener, Ont.) needs six assists to pass Gavin Prout for 10th on the all-time list with 622
    • Calgary goaltender Christian Del Bianco (Coquitlam, B.C.) needs 65 minutes played to become the 20th goaltender all-time with 5000
    • Calgary forward Thomas Hoggarth (Lakefield, Ont.) needs four goals to reach 100
    • Calgary forward Tyler Pace (Coquitlam, B.C.) needs six goals to reach 100
    • Colorado forward Zed Williams (Silver Creek, N.Y.) needs two assists to reach 100
    • Georgia forward Brendan Bomberry (Six Nations, Ont.) needs five assists to reach 100
    • Georgia forward Andrew Kew (Oakville, Ont.) needs six goals to reach 100
    • Halifax forward Ryan Benesch (Elmira, Ont.) needs 12 goals to pass Colin Doyle (depending on Dane Dobbie, see below) for fifth on the all-time goals list with 528
    • Halifax defenseman Graeme Hossack (Port Perry, Ont.) needs four points to reach 100
    • Halifax forward Randy Staats (Six Nations, Ont.) needs seven goals to reach 200
    • Las Vegas forward Casey Jackson (Victoria, B.C.) needs one goal to reach 100
    • Las Vegas forward Zack Greer (Whitby, Ont.) needs nine points to reach 600
    • New York forward Connor Kearnan (Courtice, Ont.) needs seven assists to reach 100
    • New York forward Jeff Teat (Brampton, Ont.) needs five goals to reach 100
    • Philadelphia forward Joe Resetarits (Hamburg, N.Y.) needs 10 assists to reach 400 (in addition to the American-born scoring record, noted above)
    • Saskatchewan forward Patrick Dodds (Victoria, B.C.) needs five assists to reach 100
    • San Diego forward Wesley Berg (Coquitlam, B.C.) needs five goals to reach 200; four assists to reach 300; and nine points to reach 500
    • San Diego forward Dane Dobbie (Elora, Ont.) needs 10 goals (depending on Ryan Benesch, see above) to pass Colin Doyle for fifth place on the all-time goals list with 528
    • Toronto forward Dan Lintner (Courtice, Ont.) needs one game to reach 100
    • Toronto forward Challen Rogers (Coquitlam, B.C.) needs four points to reach 200
    • Vancouver goaltender Aaron Bold (Victoria, B.C.) needs one win to become the seventh goaltender all-time to win 90 games

Schedule – Week 5 (All Times Eastern)

Friday

  • Philadelphia Wings (1-2) at Halifax Thunderbirds (2-0), 6:30 p.m., ESPN+, TSN+, NBC Sports Philadelphia (broadcast team: Dalladay, Gregoire, M. Jenner)
  • Georgia Swarm (2-1) at Buffalo Bandits (1-1), 7:30 p.m., ESPN+, TSN+, Peachtree Sports, CW23 (Gurtler, Bermel, Buchanan)
  • Rochester Knighthawks (3-0) at San Diego Seals (1-1), 10 p.m., ESPN+, TSN+, Fox5 (Perkins, Ossello, Michaels)

Saturday

  • New York Riptide (0-2) at Toronto Rock (2-0), 4 p.m., TSN1, ESPNU (NLL Game of the Week on TSN) (Abbott, Gregoire, Docking)
  • Las Vegas Desert Dogs (1-2) at Calgary Roughnecks (0-2), 9 p.m., ESPN+, TSN+, SSSEN (Farhall, Ballantine, McDonald)
  • Vancouver Warriors (1-2) at Colorado Mammoth (0-2), 9 p.m., ESPN+, TSN+, Altitude Sports (NLL Saturday Showcase) (Lindahl, Shewchuk, Gallant)

Sunday

  • Albany FireWolves (3-0) at Saskatchewan Rush (1-2), 8 p.m., ESPN+, TSN+, My4 (NLL New Year’s Eve Special) (Janzen, Fraser, Ahmad)