Schemenauer’s Random Thoughts – December 20

Hello once again my friends.  I apologize for not writing for some time, but life away from lacrosse has been very hectic and sometimes you need to step back and deal with these critical factors in life.

The New Look Rush

Back in early May, Derek Keenan sent out an email to all Rush season ticket holders.  The Rush had just gone through their second straight season without making the playoffs.  There wasn’t a team that had been more affected by the COVID shutdown than the Rush.  Keenan apologized profusely, said the result wasn’t acceptable, and asked Rush Nation to give him a chance to build this team once again.  I don’t believe there was anyone that doubted Keenan’s ability to do this.  

But this was different.  10 players were no longer with the team.  Two future hall of famers that will certainly have their numbers retired by the Rush in Ryan Dilks and Kyle Rubisch left in free agency.  The face of the team, Mark Matthews was traded to Toronto, in a move that I was highly supportive of.  

At the end of the 2024 season, Matthews is a non-franchiseable UFA.  He would be free to sign anywhere he wanted to.  The Rush stood to lose him for a compensatory draft pick at number 16 in the 2025 draft.  In one swoop, the Rush got an underrated forward in Zach Manns, defensive help in Adam Jay, and the number one pick.

This trade has already paid dividends.  Now that Manns has been given an elevated role on the team, he’s taken full advantage.  Three weeks in, Manns is tied for first in the league in goals with 10.  But the other part, that first round pick that the Rush received at #12 turned into Levi Anderson.  

Anderson was the guy I was double checking the draft board thinking I had missed his announcement.  Anderson was one of the top players in the President’s Cup this summer, in a tournament full of NLL players.  I’m not sure why so many GM’s passed on him, but when he falls into Derek Keenan’s lap, you don’t say no.

But Keenan wasn’t done.  He needed to address his goaltending.  The Rush have struggled in goal since the departure of Evan Kirk.  Yes, the locals are excited about their local hero, Laine Hruska, but Laine isn’t ready yet to be a full-time starter.  When the opportunity came to get Frank Scigliano and get him signed for a few years, this was the optimal situation.  

Frank is known to play better when he’s on a limited workload, so Hruska is going to have the ability to play in 4 to 6 games this season, keeping in mind the Rush have double header weekends in March and April.  But Scigliano gives the Rush goaltending some legitimacy.

A week before the season, CBC Radio asked me to come on the air and preview the Rush.  I wasn’t concerned about the goaltending.  I wasn’t concerned about the defense because the Rush had spent a lot of draft capital knowing their defensive core would need replacement.  I was concerned about the offense however.  There were only two returning players in Keenan and Church.  How does an offense mesh together with that many new bodies?  Well, was I ever wrong.

The offense hasn’t been the issue all season.  In three games, they’ve scored 43 times.  That level of output, 14.33 goals per game, should get you an undefeated record.  It was the defense and goaltending that struggled a lot the first two games.  They overcame that in a decisive 17-5 win over Las Vegas this past weekend.  As much as the broadcast team was praising Scigliano, I have to give the credit first to the defensive unit.  They were plugging up the lanes, giving up low percentage shots, causing turnovers, and creating havoc with the Desert Dogs by getting the ball up the floor in transition quickly, exactly what you hoped they would do.  

But most critically, they limited Vegas to 43 shots. Why this is critical is that because Scigliano is a big guy, he works his best when the shot total is limited.  At the half, Vegas had 17 shots.  Frank was able to rest and focus.  That’s exactly what he needed.  And when Frank is able to do that, he plays lights out.

The Rush have a week off and then they play the red hot Albany Firewolves at home on New Years Eve.  It will be interesting to see how this game plays out.  The New Years Eve game is unpredictable.  The off week isn’t the greatest for either team having some momentum.  The game is on a Sunday night which is unusual.  Families are being flown in for this game so they can celebrate New Years with the players, which can sometimes create a distraction.  I’ll be very interested to see how the odds makers set the book on this game. 

Disappointment on Long Island

Not only have the Riptide begun the season 0-2, they haven’t looked good in either loss.  The 14-6 loss this past week was especially disappointing.  Two games in and Jeff Teat has two goals.  The situation isn’t good.  To make matters worse, their next 4 games are Toronto, Philly, Panther City and Buffalo.  If things don’t change, this could get ugly quickly.  

I asked Graeme Perrow if any team had failed to make the playoffs in their first four years of existence.  There has only been one, the Edmonton Rush.  The Riptide are in danger of becoming the second.

The problems of the past haven’t corrected themselves.  The defense has never been good as a whole and the goaltending has forever been shaky.  Their bright spot was their offense, especially with the generational talent of Jeff Teat being there.  Now the offense has sputtered.  Opponents have realized they can double team Teat and see if the rest of the team can beat them.  The Riptide haven’t been able to so far.

There have been some calls for Dan Ladoucer to be fired as head coach, but it’s far too early to consider that.  You don’t at least give him the chance to make adjustments and turn this team around.  Others have placed the blame on Rich Lisk.  Keep in mind, Lisk inherited a mess.  The expansion draft set the Riptide back by several years.  How bad was that expansion draft?  Not a single player that was drafted remains with the team.  Attracting free agents to a team that has never made the playoffs isn’t easy.

The game in Hamilton in a few weeks isn’t a must win.  But statistically, ignoring the strength of teams, a team that starts the season 0-3 has a 7% worse chance of making the playoffs than a team that starts 1-2.

The question was asked as to whether Teat could be traded, and if so, what would it take.  The answer in my opinion is no, Teat isn’t tradeable, but for fun, what would it take to get Teat?  Looking at the draft board this year, two teams have three 1^st round picks, Buffalo and Georgia.  Each of them would also have an enticing lefty that would be dispensable if Teat were available.  

I would think that Buffalo would be the more likely destination in this hypothetical trade in part because Buffalo has the Riptide’s first round pick from a prior trade.  We would be looking at three or four first round picks, plus Chris Cloutier and maybe cash on top.  Buffalo also has two second round picks which could be in play.  This is the extent that a team would have to go to make Rich Lisk think about departing with his franchise player.  Now let’s get out of dreamland.

Most Unpredictable Season Ever?

If you’re playing Who Ya Got, you know how far down the standings I am already.  The number of “upsets” if I can call them that have happened so far this year has been amazing to watch.  Besides, who wants to watch a predictable year?  

Buffalo losing to Albany and  Albany being 3-0 to begin with, when they won 3 games all season last year and pretty much everyone had them dead last in the power rankings to begin the season. 

When I see power rankings out that still put Albany at #6, that history from last season is still playing a major part.  But you have a team of young players, all ready to prove something in this league, and they’re taking full advantage.

Panther City losing to Vegas was such a huge surprise, the winners of week 2 of Who Ya Got were people that had random picks selected and forgot to make their picks.  Vancouver not only beating Georgia, but beating them by 8, when they’ve never beat Georgia since becoming the Warriors was a surprise.  A Rochester team that the odds makers had no confidence in at the start of the year, putting them at +4000 to win the cup, are 2-0.

What to make of this? I’m not going too far just yet.  Keep in mind, these teams have a four weekend long training camp, and a few scrimmages to get back into game mode.  On most every team there are new players to integrate into the systems, with that little prep time.  Only a few teams played an actual exhibition game with an actual game day roster.  

These first few games involve a large amount of integrating those systems and getting to learn to play with your new teammates.  In most sports, exhibition games would have accomplished this.  Teams just need time to acclimatize.  And perhaps, we will still see some upsets along the way.  We always do.  Last year it was Rochester and Panther City.  Who it will be this year probably won’t be determined until March at least.  So buckle up and enjoy the ride.

The Instigator

There was confusion with the instigator call that was issued to Jake Withers on Saturday night that caused debate amongst the inner circles.  I certainly had the unpopular opinion that Ian Garrison and his crew had the call correct. But I wasn’t surprised given my history of officiating hockey and ball hockey at an elite level that people often don’t understand the instigator rule and when and how it should be applied. 

There might be feelings on who was responsible for the incident, but I will attempt to walk you through what all happened, and also, walk you through what happened the next several minutes because there were a number of things for the officials to keep track of.  If you haven’t seen the incident yet and want to watch the replay, the incident occurs with 3:47 remaining in the second quarter.

Off the faceoff, Callum Jones of the Riptide comes running at Jake Withers and delivers a hard, high hit that the officials blow down almost immediately.  In the aftermath, Withers goes chasing after Jones and throws the first punches.  Jones initially ducks out of the fight but recovers and re-engages in the fight.  Jones is immediately escorted to the dressing room and Withers to the penalty box.  Withers is then ejected after a discussion amongst the officials.  The penalty lines that were called in the incident were:

Jones – 5 minutes high sticking, 5 minutes fighting and a game misconduct.

Withers – 5 minutes fighting, 2 minutes instigation and a game misconduct

This is where a lot of confusion occurred, even amongst the broadcast for a bit because the penalties weren’t clearly announced.  The 5-minute high sticking penalty was reviewed as per the new rule and was upheld.

The first bit of confusion was over the 4 on 4 that ensued.  As per NLL rules, the two fighting majors are offset.  New York still has a major and Halifax still has a minor penalty.  This is where I’m going to give you both sets of rules that could apply. 

Because these penalties happened with more than 5 minutes remaining in the game, Halifax has to send their in-home to the box to serve the 2-minute instigation minor and New York had to send their in-home to serve the 5 minute high sticking major. 

Outside of the last 5 minutes of the game, these penalties do not offset.  Barring anything else happening, the teams would have played 4 on 4 for 2 minutes, and then Halifax would have a powerplay for the remaining 3 minutes of the major.

Of course, other things did happen.  New York scored 4 on 4.  Had Halifax scored during the 4 on 4, any goals they scored would not have counted to the maximum two during the major because that two-goal maximum only applies while the team is shorthanded.  Soon after the expiration of the Halifax minor, Mitch Wilde of the Riptide took a minor for checking from behind. 

This meant Halifax had a 5 on 3 powerplay.  When Randy Staats scores with 17 seconds remaining in the quarter, that goal wipes out Wilde’s minor, and also doesn’t count towards the two maximum for the major because New York got relief from Wilde’s penalty expiring.  When Cody Jamieson scores with 2 seconds remaining in the half, that is the first goal that counts towards the two on the major.

Thirty seconds into the 3^rd quarter, Jamieson scores again.  This is now the second penalty applied to Jones’ high sticking major, and that penalty is now expired.  Normally while the team is no longer short handed on a major because of the two goal rule, the player has to remain in the box for the remainder of the major and leaves the box the first whistle after the 5 minutes is up.  However, because Jay Thorimbert is in the box as the in-home, and he’s not responsible for the penalty, he is released as soon as the second Jamieson goal is scored.

What’s the difference if this happened in the last 5 minutes of the 4^th quarter or in overtime?  There is a special rule here that doesn’t apply in the CLA, the NHL, the CHA, CBHA, nowhere else, so you know it if it does happen.  What changes is that the 5 minute major to New York would have been partially offset by the 2 minute minor to Halifax, and Halifax would have started immediately 5 on 4 for 3 minutes with New York’s in-home in the box.  It doesn’t happen often, but that’s the exception to the rule.

Now let’s get into the merits of the instigator penalty.  What confused and angered the people I spoke to about it is that it was Jones that high sticked Withers first, why is Withers the instigator?  For that, let’s look at the rule book itself:

80.1 INSTIGATOR – An instigator of a fight shall be a player who by his actions or demeanor demonstrates any/some of the following criteria: distance traveled; gloves off first; first punch thrown; substitution direct from bench; menacing attitude or posture; verbal instigation or threats; conduct in retaliation to a prior game incident.

80.2 INSTIGATOR PENALTY ASSESSMENT – A player who is deemed to be the instigator of a fight shall be assessed an instigating minor penalty, a major for fighting and a game misconduct.

When Jones high sticks Withers, there isn’t a fight occurring.  The high stick itself does not initiate the fight.  Had Jones immediately dropped his gloves afterwards, or stood over top to taunt Withers, this is a different discussion, but at this point, there is only a high sticking major, and if Withers does nothing, that’s all we have. 

Withers then pursues Jones (distance traveled) and clearly starts throwing the first punches.  The first punches are the key here.  The instigator is not who high sticked who, its who clearly dropped the gloves and/or threw punches first in the fight.  This is the same standard in the NHL, the Canadian Hockey Association and the Canadian Ball Hockey Association.

When incidents like this happen, I always told referees that I instructed to get in the ear of the guy that just got hit and shout at him that I got the guy.  Let the player know that the high stick is getting penalized, don’t do anything that’s going to land you in the box as well. 

I couldn’t make out any audio on the refs’ communication with Withers, but its what I would have expected them to do.  That would have been the smart thing to do here.  Let the refs handle it, take the full 5-minute power play and keep your best transition threat on the floor.

As much as many fans were angry about the instigator call, the high stick doesn’t negate that you shouldn’t start a fight because you want to retaliate.  The refs got this right.

Until next time…