The Albany Attack

By Ted Montour

Almost since the team's inception, the Albany Attack have been the subject of speculation, about moving and staying put, about folding, about ownership - the kind of speculation that is commonplace enough in a political city like the New York capital, if not so much in the sport sector.

After finishing the 2000-01 NLL season in seventh place (5 wins, 9 losses), and next to last in League attendance with an average of 4,254 fans per game, ahead of only Washington, Albany's prospects were once again grist for rumor mills.



    
There were some bright spots. Attack penalty killing efficiency was second only to the Toronto Rock. Phil Sanderson and Captain Cam Woods were tied for third in the League in loose balls behind a couple of guys named Veltman and Tavares. Rob "Blazer" Blasdell was ranked fourth among goaltenders with a 12.15 goals-against average, and hometown 1st draft choice Mike Regan scored 18 goals and made the NLL All-Rookie team.


The single biggest off-season change happened early, when Terry Sanderson resigned in May to become the new Head Coach and General Manager of the Montreal franchise. His assistant, Bob McMahon, was appointed to take his place with the Attack.


Owner Herb Chorbajian also announced a new partnership with the American Hockey League (AHL) River Rats, which would see Rats' owner Walter Robb acquiring a one-third share of the Attack, and the two teams joining marketing forces in the Pepsi Arena.

Like the Ottawa Rebel, the Attack were hit unexpectedly hard in the expansion draft, losing the maximum four players: Darryl Gibson (New Jersey, ultimately to Toronto), D'arcy Berthiaume (Calgary), John Rosa (New York), and Dallas Squire (New Jersey).

  

Coach McMahon and General Manager Mike De Rossi moved in July to shore up their offence, trading four players and two draft picks to Columbus for Nick Trudeau.


Originally from the Walpole Island Reserve in Ontario, Nick scored 24 goals last season for the Landsharks, after winning the Mike Kelly Memorial Award as the Most Valuable Player in the 2000 Mann Cup finals, with the champion Brooklin Redmen of the OLA Senior Major series.

The Attack's next big move was the re-signing of veteran free agent Troy Cordingley, who had gone to Rochester last spring in a late-season trade for the 'hawks second pick in the '01 entry draft. A two-time MILL champion with the Buffalo Bandits, Cordingley was an original member of the Attack, having come to Albany in the 1999 expansion draft. He had 13 goals and added 27 assists last season, his ninth as a MILL / NLL pro.


E-Lacrosse quality logo gear is a great Holiday Gift!


The entry draft in Buffalo yielded two keepers, Forward Bryan Kazarian from Owen Sound, Ontario and the OLA Junior A Orangeville Northmen, and Latham, New York native John Madigan from the UMass Minutemen. Kazarian (1st round, 7th overall) scored 21 goals and added 32 assists as last season's #2 Northmen scorer, and Madigan (6th round, 72nd overall) had a 100-point career at attack for the Minutemen. Two other OLA Junior A Albany draft choices, Greg Tregunno of the Burlington Chiefs ('00 entry draft, 7th round), and 'tender Jake Henhawk ("00 entry draft, 9th round) of the Six Nations Arrows, would also stick with the Attack to start this season.






In goal, the Attack are solid with veteran Blasdell. He is backed by Brandon Miller, a team-mate of Josh Sanderson and Dan Teat, among others, with the OLA Senior Major Brampton Excelsiors, who lost the 2001 Mann Cup finals to the Coquitlam Adanacs, and rookie Henhawk, whose Arrows bowed out of the OLA Junior A semi-finals to the eventual Minto Cup champions, the St.Catharines Athletics.

Captain Cam Woods anchors the defence (and contributed 12 goals last season), along with veterans like Brian Biesel, Ryan Sanderson and Mark Cochrane. Cochrane, incidentally, was an OLA Owen Sound North Stars team mate of Bryan Kazarian's father Peter.

The forward corps has a strong right-hand flavor, with Trudeau, Cordingley, Regan, Dan Teat, and rookies Kazarian and Madigan. The not-so-balanced left wing is held up pretty well by last season's leading scorer Josh Sanderson (18 goals, 32 assists) and Gary Rosyski (24 goals), as well as rookie Tregunno.



The Attack are still an OLA-style box lacrosse team, with solid goal-tending and a veteran core, and have added measurably to their offence with Cordingley and Tudeau. Kazarian and Tregunno both have a nose for the net and go inside very well (they're not afraid to mix it up, either). Their biggest obstacles to a play-off berth will be Central Division rivals Buffalo and Rochester, although they can expect trouble from Terry Sanderson's Express at the end of the season.

With five of their first eight games in the Pepsi Arena, it will be imperative for the Attack to get off to a fast start. Including trips to New York and Washington, and a visit from Philadelphia, Albany faces eight games against play-off contenders, as well as one trip out West to Calgary. Although they have a good shot at a .500 season, the Attack will be hard-pressed to make their first NLL post-season appearance. And the rumors won't stop.


The Attack has a very cool web site


12/31/01

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