Wings, Thunderbirds kickoff 2022-23 NLL season on TSN
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The fastest game on two feet returns Friday night as Cody Jamieson and the Halifax Thunderbirds host Kiel Matisz the Philadelphia Wings to kickoff the 2022-23 National Lacrosse League season on TSN.
The Thunderbirds open the season with high expectations, having lost in overtime of the Eastern Final last year to the Toronto Rock.
"As a team, we have many small goals that will lead to our ultimate goal of bringing a championship to Halifax," Jamieson told NLL.com. "We would love to have a successful season, getting better each game, hopefully propelling us to some home-floor playoff games. We know our fans give us a distinct advantage."
As for the Wings, they head into Friday's game looking to take it one game at a time.
"We are really focusing on our team processes, and executing our game plan. We want to focus on us this season," said Matisz. "Last year, I felt like we were chasing the moments in-game rather than taking advantage of them. We are looking to be better by improving our team’s competitive spirit and preparation.”
The 2021-22 season was the NLL's first season back after the COVID-19 pandemic halted operations across the league, with the Colorado Mammoth capturing their first Champions Cup since in a best-of-three-game series against the Buffalo Bandits.
That season saw the birth of two new clubs: The Albany FireWolves, formerly the New England BlackWovles, and Panther City Lacrosse Club.
This season, the NLL will see two more changes: the newly-announced playoff format and the inaugural season of the Las Vegas Desert Dogs.
The league announced on Nov. 29 that the first games of the playoffs will be single-game elimination, while the Conference Finals and NLL Finals will each be a best-of-three series.
The Desert Dogs, co-owned by Brooklyn Nets owner Joseph Tsai, Wayne Gretzky, Steve Nash and Dustin Johnson will play out of Paradise, Nevada. Led by Shawn Williams, one of the most accomplished players in NLL history, the Desert Dogs open their season against Panther City on Dec. 8.
The reigning champion Mammoth, led by 2021-22 Goaltender of the Year nominee Dillon Ward and forward Ryan Lee, start their title defence season against the Saskatchewan Rush on Saturday.
Last season's point leader Dhane Smith and the Bandits will look to shake off their Champions Cup loss to the Mammoth when they take on the FireWolves Saturday on TSN.
TSN's full broadcast of the 2022-23 NLL season can be found here.
10 things to know about the NLL as it enters the 2022-23 season:
- In August, the NLL announced Brett Frood as its fifth Commissioner since its 1997 relaunch. Frood joins the NLL from Stewart-Haas Racing, where he has served as President of the NASCAR team since its inception in 2008, leading all business initiatives for the championship-winning organization co-owned by NASCAR Hall of Famer Tony Stewart and industrialist Gene Haas.
- The 135-game 2022-23 schedule is the most in NLL history.
- All NLL regular season games will be carried on ESPN+, TSN.ca and the TSN app.
- The Las Vegas Desert Dogs, the NLL’s 15th and newest franchise, open Week 2 at Panther City, and will play their inaugural home game on Friday, December 16, at Michelob ULTRA Arena. The game at Las Vegas will be televised on ESPN2 at 10:30pm ET. The Desert Dogs introduced Shawn Williams as Head Coach/GM last spring
- The Vancouver Warriors announced veteran NLL coach Troy Cordingley as its new Head Coach for 2022-23. Cordingley has previously led the Calgary Roughnecks, Toronto Rock and Buffalo Bandits.
- Brodie Merrill of the San Diego Seals (turned 41 on Nov. 5) is the oldest player in the league; Dan Dawson of the Toronto Rock, who entered the league in 2002 via the 2001 entry draft (6th round, Columbus Landsharks) is the longest tenured player at 21 years.
- A November 21 trade sent Jeremy Thompson from Panther City to Georgia, reuniting Jeremy to play with younger brothers, Lyle and Miles, on the Swarm roster for 2022-23 (Their other brother, Jerome “Hiana” competes for Albany).
- Indigenous players continue to make significant contributions to NLL rosters with more than 30 players of native origin. In addition to the Thompson brothers, standouts include, Cody Jamieson, Randy Staats and Warren Hill of the Halifax Thunderbirds; Shayne Jackson and Brendan Bomberry of the Georgia Swarm; Tehoka Nanticoke of the Buffalo Bandits; Doug Jamieson of the Albany FireWolves; and Zed Williams of the Colorado Mammoth.
- The defending champion Colorado Mammoth will hoist their 2022 NLL Championship banner on Saturday, January 7, 2023, against the Calgary Roughnecks.
- Numerous players are nearing significant career milestones, highlighted by:
Mammoth goaltender Ward needs six wins to pass Steve Dietrich for 10th all-time with 66.
Georgia Swarm defenseman/transition player Jeremy Thompson needs five faceoff wins to become the fourth player in league history to reach 2000 in his career.
New York Riptide forward Callum Crawford needs one assist to pass Shawn Williams for seventh on the all-time list with 709.
Toronto Rock goaltender Nick Rose needs five wins to pass Aaron Bold for 6th all-time with 86.
San Diego Seals forward Curtis Dickson needs two goals to pass Mark Steenhuis for eighth on the all-time list with 460 (pending Vancouver Warriors forward Shawn Evans, who also needs three to pass Steenhuis)