The Rochester Knighthawks

By Ted Montour

The Blue Cross Arena at the Rochester War Memorial, while the smallest in capacity in the NLL, is home to some of the most loyal and intense fans in the League. These guys organise fan cruise ship excursions. January 7, 1995, the Knighthawks won the first game they ever played in the Major Indoor Lacrosse League. Later that winter they lost a 15 - 14 overtime MILL final to the Philadelphia Wings. Two seasons later, the 'hawks, coached by former Bandit Barry Powless, would win the "last" MILL title, defeating Buffalo in front of 18,055 very disappointed fans in the Marine Midland Arena.

    


    
Cory Bomberry

The Knighthawks have been to the NLL final twice, in 1999 and 2000, only to be denied both times by the Toronto Rock, and last season, they were eliminated in the semi-final round. General Manager Jody Gage and Head Coach Paul Day knew that they would have to do some re-tooling of their line-up if they were to contend again in 2001-02.




Last May 18, they announced what had to be the blockbuster trade of the off-season, sending Goaltender Steve "Chugger" Dietrich, and Forwards Rusty Kruger, Pat McCready, and former Number 1 draft pick Casey Powell to Buffalo, in exchange for Forwards Shawn Williams, Derek Malawsky and D'Arcy Sweet. Later in the off-season, Rochester hit the transaction line again, acquiring Goaltender Pat Campbell and former Syracuse All-American Defender Marshall Abrams of the Onondaga Nation.

In the 2001 entry draft, the Knighthawks took Victoria, B.C native Ted Jenner (Mercyhurst) in the first round. Jenner led the WLA Senior Major League in shooting percentage this summer with 17 goals on 38 shots, an impressive 44.74% in 15 regular-season games. Jenner is the only rookie to crack the Knighthawks' opening-day line-up, and the collective experience of this squad, and along with the fact that they suffered little loss or disruption from the expansion draft, are key reasons that they are an early-season favourite to take the Champion's Cup.



John Grant

Goaltenders O'Toole and Campbell both have professional championships on their resumés, and the Defence, with veterans like Tim Burke and Mike Hasen, now includes Abrams, who can be expected to contribute on transition offence as well.

Former number-one draft pick and NLL Rookie of the Year John Grant has led the team in scoring in his first two seasons, collecting totals of 79 goals and 88 assists. All-time leading Knighthawks' scorer Duane Jacobs returns, as does fellow Six Nations resident Cory Bomberry, and the still-productive Tim Soudan. Derek and Curt Malawsky were united by the off-season trade, and, along with Sweet and Williams and newcomer Jenner, give the K-hawks offensive firepower second to none in the League. Last week they strengthened their draw capabilities with the addition of veteran face-off specialist and enforcer Rodney Tapp.


     

Rochester's schedule, which never takes them out of the Eastern time-zone, has them opening at home with Albany, then playing four inter-divisional matches in a row.

The 'Hawks will face both Eastern and Northern Division competition, including home-and-home series with the Wings and perennial play-off rival Rock, and visits to Washington and Ottawa. They will also host the Saints. While this looks like eight games with contenders, Rochester matches up well against all of the top teams.



While this mix of experience and savvy is a major advantage, it could also lead to questions of durability. Both 'tenders, as well as most of the Canadians on the team, are coming off full WLA and OLA seasons, most with play-off games, while several other veterans, particularly Grant and Soudan, played in the MLL. This could contribute to yet another Knighthawks' slow start, but could be mitigated by the presence of Albany (twice), Ottawa, Calgary and Columbus in the first half of their season.




While the Rochester veterans, collectively, have been very durable in their individual careers, an injury to either goalie, or the loss of a Grant or an Abrams for any length of time, would weaken any team. By the same token, however, if any line-up has the depth and the resilience to withstand losses and continue to win, it is the K-hawks. All 'blue-skying' aside, Rochester fans have every reason to be optimistic about the 2001-02 season, and will no doubt continue to fill the Blue Cross Arena at or near capacity again this winter. Fans in other cities, particularly newcomers to the game in places like Ottawa and Columbus, can look forward to some of the most entertaining lacrosse that the NLL has to offer. Expect the Knighthawks to return to the finals this spring.




GAMES PLAYED

Rochester 22, Albany 16
Washington 13, Rochester 12 (ot)



The Official Rochester Knighthawks web site


12/5/00

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