1. Toronto Rock (4-1), The Rock had a 2-0 weekend to improve to 4-1 and take over first place in the East from Philadelphia. Toronto gets a test in its next game from Buffalo, which has been playing very good lacrosse to start the season.
2. Buffalo Bandits (3-1), The Bandits have the second-best record in the NLL and just this last weekend got revenge on the Philadelphia Wings for their only loss of the season. A team that I had near the bottom of the rankings at the beginning of the season now appears to be one of the better teams in the league.
3. Washington Stealth (3-2), A 1-1 road trip for the Stealth. They avenged their first loss of the season to Edmonton with an impressive 12-10 road victory over the Rush, but went into Minnesota the next night and gave the Swarm their first win of the season. There is no question the Stealth are much-improved, but consistency moving forward will be key.
4. Calgary Roughnecks (2-2), After opening the season 0-2, the Roughnecks put it together last weekend with two straight victories. Really this is no surprise. Calgary is loaded with talent and it was only a matter of time until they righted the ship.
5. Philadelphia Wings (2-2), Last week’s No. 1 team in the rankings fell to fifth after going 0-2 last weekend. Panic is not necessary for this team, Philadelphia is a team that will be there at the end of the season, but they are also young and spurts of bad play every once in a while shouldn’t be too surprising. Not backing off my pick of the Wings to win the whole thing.
6. Edmonton Rush (1-2), Rush proved what they can be two weekends ago with their 18-10 dismantling of Washington, but then missed a golden opportunity to put themselves near the top of the West Division by falling to that same Stealth team just five days later. A lot of changes on the offensive end for the Rush, when they have developed total chemistry with each other this team could be scary good.
7. Minnesota Swarm (1-2), The record doesn’t look that impressive, but they beat the Stealth and had a commanding lead against Toronto before coughing it up. This is a young team too, but they have a lot of talent. Minnesota should improve throughout the season and lookout if they peak late like they did a year ago.
8. Colorado Mammoth (1-2), The Mammoth got spanked this past weekend by a Calgary team that looked very good. Both losses this season have been at home and the Mammoth have looked very bad in both games.
9. Rochester Knighthawks (0-3), This team is way too talented to be last and way too good to be winless. For Stealth fans, you better hope the Knighthawks don’t wake up this weekend.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
