We have reached the beginning of the final stretch of the 2024-25 NLL Season. Buckle up because the last month of the regular season is about to be must-watch programming.
This week, the Buffalo Bandits play twice, and have a chance to clinch a playoff spot. The Ottawa Black Bears play twice, hoping to keep their playoff hopes alive. All in all, seven games will be featured this weekend across Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, with so much on the line.
The March to May never disappoints and neither does By The Numbers. Here are some statistical nuggets to be on the lookout for this weekend.
6 – # of Multi-Game Weeks For Ottawa Black Bears/New York Riptide After Week 17
Week 17 of the 2024-25 NLL season will be the first time we’ll be seeing the Ottawa Black Bears play 2 games over a weekend. They play the Halifax Thunderbirds in Halifax on Friday and the Colorado Mammoth in Ottawa on Sunday.
When the Black Bears were the New York Riptide (2020-2024), they played multiple games in a single weekend on five occasions – they lost both games over each of those five weekends. The last time they were in this situation was the weekend of April 2nd-4th, 2022. The Riptide lost to the Philadelphia Wings and the Mammoth that weekend.
Coming into this weekend, the Blears Bears are 5-7 with chance to move right on the tails of the NLL’s playoff position holders. On the flip side, if the Black Bears lose both games, Ottawa will be 5-9 and will pretty much need a miracle to be included in the 2025 playoffs.
It doesn’t get much more clear than that.
1 – Loose Ball Recoveries Jake Withers Needs To Reach 150
“In this world, nothing is certain except death and taxes.” – Benjamin Franklin
Jake Withers reaching 150 loose ball recoveries (LBs) over an NLL season should be considered an addition to that famous quote. With five games remaining on the Thunderbirds schedule this season, Withers already only needs more more LB to reach 150 for the fifth time in seven years.
The only full season that didn’t record 150 LBs was during his rookie 2017-18 season. The other time he didn’t reach that mark was during the COVID-shortened season – that year, he picked up 147 LBs in just 12 games. In each of the three full season since the COVID stoppage, Withers has averaged 246 LBs per year. This season, Withers is on pace to reach 211 loose ball recoveries.
Historically, reaching 150 or even 200 loose ball recoveries as many times as Withers has already is very impressive. When he reaches 150 LBs this weekend, he will become just the ninth player in NLL history to have five or more 150+ LBs in a season. If he reaches 200+ LBs, he will become just the second player in NLL history to have reached that milestone 4 or more times – Geoff Snider currently holds the record, having grabbed 200+ LBs in six of his seasons in the NLL.
12 – # of Sock Tricks During The 2024-25 Season
Socks have been flying off this season, especially this month.
So far this season, there have been 12 sock tricks in the NLL. For those of you reading this who may not know what a sock trick is, it’s when a player scores 6 goals in a game, just like a hat trick is when a player scores 3 goals in a game.
Over the past two weeks, four sock tricks have been achieved, including 2 sock tricks that were scored by San Diego Seals’ teammates Rob Hellyer and Wes Berg. It is such a rare occurrence for teammates to have a sock trick in the same game that the last time it happened was in 2009 – John Tavares and Mark Steenhuis both did it for the Buffalo Bandits.
With 5 weeks remaining in the 2024-25 regular season, we’re on pace to see 16 sock tricks this season. That would tie last year’s total, and it would tie for the most sock tricks in a single season over the last 20 years – aside from last season, there were also 16 sock tricks in 2016.
7 – Points Wes Berg Is Averaging Vs. Calgary Roughnecks In Calgary
The San Diego Seals Wes Berg is in MVP form right now. He’s been reliable. He’s been clutch. He’s been unstoppable.
Berg is averaging 7.75 points per game over his last 4 games, including 4.25 goals per game. His 12-point (6-goal and 6-assist) game against Vegas was the highlight of that impressive stretch. Berg is a big reason for why the Seals have won 3 of their last 4 games in that blazing hot 4-game stretch and 4 of their last 5 games overall.
With all that being said, Berg and the Roughnecks are headed to Calgary to face the Roughnecks. In his career, Berg has loved playing the Roughnecks throughout his career, particularly on their home floor.
When you consider he was a member of the Roughnecks for the first 3 years of his NLL career, including playing in 27 home games, you can understand why Berg would feel comfortable inside Scotiabank Saddledome.
Berg has played the Roughnecks 10 times since he left Calgary. His Seals won 8 of those 10 games. Over those 10 games, Berg averaged 5.8 points per game. Comparatively, Berg has averaged 6.4 points per game when playing in Calgary. He’s also had some of his biggest games against the Roughnecks while battling in Calgary. Of the 10 games he’s faced the Roughnecks, he’s tallied 8+ points in 4 of those contests. 3 of those were in Calgary.