Dec. 31, 2005
Injuries are a fact of the game. Crippling just about every team at one point during the season, injuries can turn a championship-caliber team into a middling playoff squad and an up-and-coming franchise into a doormat. Rare is a team able to overcome its widespread wounds.
The Calgary Roughnecks came close to pulling off such a feat last year, coming within a quarter of advancing to the NLL title game, despite suffering a string of maladies to some of the top players on the team.
No player or franchise likes to lean on excuses for coming up short, but with Taylor Wray, Devan Wray, Andy Ogilvie and Ryan McNish all getting hurt over the course of the 2004-05 NLL season, it was tough not to accept the obvious.
"It was 100 percent a factor last year," said Roughnecks captain Tracey Keluskey, who led the team with 45 goals last year. "Just look at the players we lost. We were affected by it."
"We lost critical pieces and had to work really hard to win the West," said head coach Chris Hall.
Perhaps heightening the frustration of the injury bug was just how close
"We got up three goals and I thought that was enough to make them go away," said Hall, "and then the wheels fell off."
"We let that one get away," said Keluskey. "We had control of that game up until the fourth quarter and then it was a pretty rude awakening."
As the team finishes up training camp and prepares for its season-opener Jan. 13 against the Edmonton Rush, last year's unwanted excuse may come back to pay huge dividends for the Roughnecks.
Both Wrays and McNish are back from their injuries and Ogilvie, who Hall wasn't sure would ever be back, has signed a new deal. Although he is not expected to play every game, Ogilvie's presence will be pivotal, if only for his leadership abilities. The reemergence of these players has breathed new life into the Roughnecks' title hopes.
"It has rejuvenated the team," said Keluskey. "When you bring players back like that it rejuvenates the guys. It makes us that much more excited about this year."
Last year's casualties were not the only comeback stories on this year's
"Rob's looked great in practice so far," said Hall. "He adds an awful lot to our team with his presence."
This group, in addition to a solid group of players who managed to advance despite the rash of injuries, gives
"Talent is the major factor and I think we have that taken care of," said Hall. "We've just got to take care of the other factors that blend in like chemistry and luck. And injuries."
NOTES: Ratcliff's 86 points placed him third in the NLL last season while Keluskey's 45 goals were third overall...Although last year's knee injury may have slowed him, Ogilvie is still considered one of the best defenders in the league, even at age 40...Hall and the Roughnecks have no intention of burning out Ogilvie during the regular season, only using him in spot situations in hopes of keeping him fresh for the playoff push...Curtis Palidwor gave up the second most goals in the league and was second-to-last in goals against average (13.36), but his numbers are expected to improve with the host of injured defenders returning.
Division: West
Last year: 10-6, first place. Lost to
Home arena: Pengrowth Saddledome (capacity, 17,748).
Head coach: Chris Hall (fifth season, 36-33 record).
Returning all-star: Tracey Kelusky (second team, 45-32-77).
Outlook: There's a new kid in town, general manager Kurt Silcott. He spent the last seven seasons in
The schedule: Home-and-home against
- compiled by Tom Borrelli
