Week 11 is here, which means we have reached the halfway mark of the 2024-25 NLL Season. If the results and storylines haven’t been captivating enough for you up to this point, buckle up. There is so much uncertainty going into the second half, and so much left to be decided.
To get you geared up for the four games this weekend, check out the nuggets below. This is By the Numbers.
26.3% – Percentage of Goals From Toronto Rock Lefty Forwards
There’s no doubt that the Toronto Rock are rolling again after they struggled to gain momentum during the earliest stages of the 2024-25 NLL Season, mainly due to injuries.
The Rock have now won three games in a row and look like one of the more challenging teams to face in the league. Their offence has improved during the win streak. The Rock scored 11.3 goals per game in their wins, compared to 8.4 in losses. But still, the left side of the offence has been quiet.
The Rock’s Top 3 goal scorers are all righties: Josh Dawick Chris Boushy, and Tom Schreiber. Alone, those three account for 55.2% of the Rock’s goals this season. On the other side of the floor, lefty forwards have only scored 26.3% of the team’s goals this season. Rookie Brian Cameron leads the lefty forwards in goals with 7.Â
In fairness, it does not help that Mark Matthews is out for the season, as he would have been the leader on that side. They have managed to overcome this distribution in recent weeks, but with ten games remaining in the season, Toronto will need some juice from their lefties.
350 – Cody Jamieson and Lyle Thompson Both Closing In On 350 Regular Season Goals
Both Cody Jamieson and Lyle Thompson are closing in on the same goal scoring milestone. Jamieson is 3 goals away from reaching 350 career regular season goals. Thompson is 4 goals away from reaching that milestone.
When it happens (who knows, it could be this weekend), they will become just the second and third Indigenous players in the league to reach that difficult-to-reach milestone. Reaching 350 goals will also put them within reaching distance of Jeff Shattler, the NLL’s Indigenous leader from all-time regular season goals – Shattler scored 360 goals in his illustrious regular season career.
It’s not often that two players of such importance and value to the NLL are closing in on the same elusive milestone at the same time, but we’re seeing this play out this year with these two – Dane Dobbie and Curtis Dickson have been doing something similar over the years with the Calgary Roughnecks and San Diego Seals, and they’ve been teammates.
Thompson and the Georgia Swarm face the Colorado Mammoth this weekend, while Jamieson and the Halifax Thunderbirds are battling the Philadelphia Wings. It is possible that both players reach 350 goals this weekend, it would be far from the first time we’ve seen either of these incredible talents go off for a hat trick and change.
Cody Jamieson has dominated the Philadelphia Wings throughout his NLL career.
— Adam Levi (@AdamLeviLAX) February 6, 2025
Whether it was the original Wings or this newest version of the Wings, Cody Jamieson's teams have built up a 19-3 record against the Wings, and 2 of those losses were determined by only 1 goal.
Keep your eyes on these games and these players this weekend as they look to make NLL history.
43.4% – Percentage of Philadelphia Wings Offensive Production (Points) From Mitch Jones & Joe Resetarits
I’ll say it: I would give Joe Resetarits or Mitch Jones the NLL’s MVP award over either Dhane Smith or Josh Byrne. It’s ok if you think that’s a hot take. Let me know how wrong you think I am in the comments.
The Wings dominating duo has been electric all season long. They are tied for the team lead in goals with 22, and they rank first and second in assists (Resetarits has 46 assists, while Jones has 42). They are fuelling one of the best offensive teams this season and one of the best Wings’ offences in a generation.
The duo has accounted for 43.4% of the Wings production this season. And the Wings have needed every bit of it, as they are giving up the second most goals in the league (13.25 per game).
They have also accounted for 46.3% of Philly’s assists. So shutting them down has to be the priority for opposing teams.
Since 2021-2022, the Thunderbirds are 3-0 in Philadelphia and 5-1 overall against the Wings. For the Wings to reverse that trend, Jones and Resetarits will need to be at their best.
13 – Regular Season Faceoff Wins Jeremy Thompson Needs to Reach 2,500 in His Career.
Jeremy Thompson has been taking faceoffs in the NLL for a long time.
Thompson took his first NLL faceoff over 13 years on January 14th, 2012, when he was a member of the Buffalo Bandits. He won 7 of 11 draws that night against the Toronto Rock. He has been winning faceoffs at a 51.8% clip going on 13 years now.
He is the Saskatchewan Rush’s all-time faceoff wins leader by a wide margin, having accumulated 1,731 face-off wins over 8 seasons with the Rush. Now with the Swarm, he needs only 8 more face-off wins to become just the second player in Swarm history to reach 500 face-off wins in the regular season – Jordan MacIntosh is the other.
Bigger picture, Thompson needs only 13 more face-off wins to become just the 2nd player in NLL history to reach 2,500 face-off wins. Jay Thorimbert is the all-time leader with 3,293 wins.
If the Swarm’s Week 11 game against the Mammoth is a high-scoring affair, there’s a good chance Thompson sets both marks this weekend. Last weekend, Thompson won 22 of 33 draws against the Las Vegas Desert Dogs. Thompson has won 13 or more face-offs in three of the Swarm’s eight games this season.