Photo Credit: NLL Photoshelter

The 2024-2025 NLL season has been off to an incredible start. With three overtime games already and countless crazy moments, fans have been treated to a little bit of everything.

This week, I wanted to highlight four players making winning plays for their clubs. From goals, to picks, to loosies and even just hustling to the bench, these guys are getting it done on and off the score sheet.

Welcome back to May’s Grinders.

Ian Mackay, Buffalo Bandits

After a monstrous five-goal performance by Mackay, you might not have expected him to be the first name on this week’s edition of May’s Grinders. The thing is though… he does it all. 

Right from the start, Mackay pulled off one of the filthiest but workhorse-type goals of the year so far. Off an errant pass in the offensive end, Mackay tracked the ball from the restraining line to the corner. He goosed the ball and hit a move that I can hardly explain to pick up the ball and dunk it. 

 A beautiful effort.  

His third goal of the game followed a similar theme. Coming out the d-door this time, he tipped the ball off a two-man game and, then shortly thereafter took the ball up the floor for a chance on the run. He buried one short side on the goalie. 

Mackay’s been a Swiss army knife at every level of his career, and on Friday night in Ottawa he showed why. In addition to the electric goals, he made tough plays out of the back door that he sparked into transition, played on the penalty-kill, powerplay, and mucked it up on the ball team. 

His selfless nature shines through, and luckily the stat sheet finally gave him some credit. Well… and his two rings. 

He ended the night with 5 goals on 6 shots, 6 loose balls, and a caused turnover. Still, his stats don’t seem to match a shred of his impact. 

Jonathan Peshko, Vancouver Warriors 

If we’re following the trend of someone whose impact is starting to find its way on the stat sheet, the rookie out of Mimico, Jonathan Peshko is a perfect example. He scored his first, and second, goal of his careers in the Warriors 10-7 win over the Rochester Knighthawks, but made his impact most away from the ball.

Ever since he’s been added to the Warriors right side, Peshko has made a living in the middle to create space for Kevin Crowley and Keegan Ball to score. The first goal of the game by Ball was largely in part due to Peshko setting a hard up-pick which drew the defender with him off the roll. His efforts opened up the middle for Ball to pick up a loose ball and crow-hop into one on the doorstep.

Every time Peshko comes onto the floor, he goes through the middle and then proceeds to find a defender’s back to pick. It was off one of these patterns where Peshko freed up Ball for his second goal of the game. Peshko came off the bench hard, set a double-pick that freed up Ball at the centre of the floor for a shot that he blasted by the goalies.  

If every pick he set in Rogers arena on Friday led to a goal, the scoreboard would have broken. Peshko’s work in the middle is so crucial to the Warriors success, by willing to take a beating, they can access every inch of the floor on O. Their flow is contingent on Peshko and ability to move bodies, which over-time wears down on a defence.

After the game he was praised by Ball and Head Coach and General Manager Curt Malakwsy on his relentlessness to start the season.

He joins the heavy list of St. Michael’s College School alumni who are making an impact in the NLL.

John Wagner, Albany Firewolves

John Wagner became a big piece of this Albany defence the minute they scooped him up at the trade deadline last season. He does so much for this unit by making a difference on the ground and playing lockdown defence.

Whether it was on the faceoff or in the defensive end, Wagner seemed to have his nose on every pile-up for a loose ball. He came up with many of them (7 in total) and his hustle on loosies helped teammates come up with a few that he couldn’t grab himself.

Wagner’s range is terrific and slickness to navigate around picks makes him a hard guy to shake. On numerous occasions he was in the Roughnecks’s  hands, which forced missed shots or rushed chances that did not amount to anything. Much of the reason why Dane Dobbie was held off the scoresheet for the first three quarters was because of Wagner’s pestiness. I’m not even sure if that’s a word, but Wagner truly is a pest that frustrates his opponents by suffocating them when they have the ball.

John Lintz, Calgary Roughnecks

Everyone notices when Dane Dobbie scores eight straight to propel the Calgary Roughnecks to a win, but we don’t necessarily see the little plays that make it possible.

Calgary climbed back from a 10-6 deficit with 11:36 in the 4th to tie it up at 11 with 1:46 left to go. Albany threw one last punch to go ahead with 1:22 left, which seemed to be the dagger. The Firewolves won the ensuing faceoff and killed some clock, but a savvy play by John Lintz made sure the night continued. 

Off a Cam McLeod save, Lintz put his head down and took off before any other player reacted. His head of steam helped him beat every Albany forward to the bench which, with the far change, gave Dobbie a clean breakaway. That three second sprint to the bench is what created the opportunity for Dobbie to extend the game, giving the Roughnecks another shot to grab the win. 

Lintz fished the game with a blocked shot and caused turnover, but his effort at the end of the game showed just how much more he does outside of the stat sheet. 

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