MLL in a Nutshell: 2010 Season Preview
by Jesse Baumgartner and Corey McLaughlin | Special to Lacrosse Magazine Online
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With more experience and a veteran coach at the helm, Kevin Leveille thinks the Machine's road show could yield successful results in 2010. © John Strohsacker/LaxPhotos.com |
Major League Lacrosse's (MLL) 10th season commences Saturday, as the Long Island Lizards visit the Chesapeake (formerly Washington) Bayhawks and the Denver Outlaws visit the Boston Cannons. The ownerless Machine, playing its entire 2010 season on the road, will conclude the weekend with a game Sunday against Toronto in Cary, N.C.
Here's a team-by-team breakdown of what to expect this year.
BOSTON CANNONS
Coach: Bill Daye
2009 record: 6-7
Outlook: The Cannons already have a star to build
around in middie Paul Rabil, who took home league MVP honors in
2009. The key now is finding the other pieces. “There’s
going to be a lot of eyes on him,” Daye said. “So we
need to make sure that we have enough guys around him that can also
generate from up top.” Boston has added some depth at the
midfield with players like Pat Heim and Kevin Buchanan, which
should help push them towards the top of the league.
CHESAPEAKE BAYHAWKS
Coach: John Tucker
2009 record: 5-7
Outlook: Tucker liked the way his team was
playing at the end of the year, but the Bayhawks' early struggles
made them miss the playoffs. One issue was defense, and Tucker
feels like this year’s squad will be tighter in that area
while pushing the tempo. “I think we’re going to be
very athletic and fast going from the back to the front,” he
said. The goalkeeper spot is not set in stone, and the Bayhawks
also could use a creator on attack to help complement finishers
like new addition Jeff Zywicki — Danny Glading and John
Christmas are two possibilities for that role.
DENVER OUTLAWS
Coach: Brian Reese
2009 record: 10-4
Outlook: The MLL’s best team in the regular
season came up short in the championship game for the second
straight year in 2009. “We might have gotten into some bad
habits late in the year, just because we did clinch pretty
early,” Reese said. This team is a bit younger and maybe a
little thinner in the midfield, but Reese sees that youth stepping
into different roles to make up the difference. Shane Walterhoefer
could be a key for the Outlaws at the faceoff circle.
THE MACHINE
Coach: B.J. O’Hara
2009 record: 3-9
Outlook: The Machine, which will be run by the
league and play its home games in different locations, is coming
off a 2009 season in which it finished last in the league standings
by two games. They also allowed a league-worst 14.67 goals per
game. With a new coach in O’Hara -- who led the Rochester
Rattlers to an MLL title in 2008 -- and some more experience --
including the addition of Casey Powell in the supplemental draft --
the Machine will be look to improve. “We get a little bit
more of experience, and everybody else has another year under their
belt,” said attackman Kevin Leveille, who led team with 44
points last year.
TORONTO NATIONALS
Coach: Dave Huntley
2009 record: 9-5
Outlook: The Nationals took home the championship
last season, but this team is missing some of those pieces. Joe
Walters (42 points) isn’t playing, and Jeff Zywicki (33
points) was traded to Washington. Toronto was active in the
offseason, including trading for Huntley's son and former MLL
Rookie of the Year, Kevin Huntley. The elder Huntley will be taking
this new group in search of a repeat. “We’ve got a lot
of different players, so I guess we’ll see what we have when
we get to training camp,” he said. The continued presence of
Merrick Thomson (44 goals, 50 points and playoff MVP) should help
any transition.
LONG ISLAND LIZARDS
Coach: Jim Mule
2009 record: 6-7
Outlook: The Lizards had some injury problems
last year, including defensemen Nicky Polanco and John Orsen, and
attackman Zack Greer. “Getting those guys back will be a big
help,” Mule said. The Lizards made the playoffs in 2009, but
scored the second-fewest goals in the regular season with 144 (12
per game). If they can keep Greer healthy, there should be plenty
of production coming from his combination up front with former Duke
teammate Matt Danowski.
-- JB
*****
New-Look Bayhawks Eye Kimmel
for Draft
New Chesapeake Bayhawks player personnel director Spencer Ford
doesn’t waste any time with deception or mind games when
talking about who the team is targeting in June’s collegiate
draft.
It’s Johns Hopkins midfielder Michael Kimmel.
The Bayhawks have the No. 2 overall pick. If Duke attackman Ned
Crotty is selected No. 1 by the Machine, as Ford expects, Kimmel
will likely wear Bayhawks gear this summer.
“We consider them 1 and 1a,” Ford said of Crotty and
Kimmel.
Kimmel, a talented two-way midfielder, would fill a need for the
Bayhawks, who would like to add a lefty dodging midfielder. Kimmel
also is from Maryland.
In addition to preparing for the June 6 draft, Ford, an attackman
for the Bayhawks last summer, has been busy working trades since
moving to the front office in January under a new ownership
group.
In February, he traded former MLL rookie of the year Kevin
Huntley, midfielder Josh Sims and two draft picks to Toronto in
exchange for attackman Jeff Zywicki, defenseman Nick O’Hara
and midfielder Jordan Levine.
A month earlier, the Bayhawks shipped attackman Kevin Buchanan and
three draft picks to Boston for attackman John Christmas,
defenseman Ray Megill and goaltender Mike Levin.
“We got back six players who will likely be on our roster
for the season,” Ford said.
Huntleys no strangers to father-son act
It may be interesting to be the coach’s son. But what about being the coach’s son on three different teams at once? That’s the situation former MLL Rookie of the Year Kevin Huntley is in after an offseason trade sent him from the Bayhawks to the defending league champion Toronto Nationals.
His father, Dave Huntley, coaches the Nationals, the NLL's Philadelphia Wings and will lead the Canadian National Team at the FIL World Championships in July. Kevin is a player on all three teams.
It’s safe to say no plates have been thrown at the family dinner table.
“I don’t really view it a whole lot different,” Dave Huntley said of coaching his son, which he’s done since Kevin was 7 years old. He said he learned early to avoid treating his son differently than other players.
“Most guys I know who have actually played sports and who coach treat their kid way worse than they should and take out frustration from other players on their kid,” Huntley said. “What I learned was that not only was I doing a disservice to Kevin, but it also wasn’t fair for other kids, because you’re giving them a free pass.”
-- CM
