We have made it to the 2025 NLL Playoffs, and parity is alive and well. There is not one team that looks like they can coast to the NLL Cup. There are four quarterfinals matchups this weekend with one on Friday night and three on Saturday night. These are win-or-go-home games. Everything will be left on the floor for the chance for teams to keep their playoff hopes alive.
Here are some nuggets that give you some historical context for each of the four matchups and some of what you can expect from this weekend’s playoff action.
6 – # of Matchups Between San Diego Seals and Buffalo Bandits
There have only been six matchups between the San Diego Seals and Buffalo Bandits in NLL history. None have come in the playoffs. Five of the six matchups have been highly competitive, including a trio of 1-goal games.
It just so happens that a couple of those 1-goal games happened this season, including San Diego’s lone franchise win against the Bandits only a month ago on March 25th. We cannot forget that this game was in Buffalo.
The Bandits’ Josh Byrne has been the leading goalscorer over the team’s 6 matchups, having totaled 14 goals in those games, but it is the Seals’ Wes Berg who is averaging the most goals per game in the head-to-head, having scored 2.4 goals per game in five games. But while Berg has found a way to beat the Bandits with regularity, no other Seals player has posted more than 5 goals against the Bandits. So, if the Seals can stop Wes Berg from scoring, San Diego will need someone else to have an uncharacteristic big game against Buffalo.
The Bandits’ Steve Priolo has been played like a defensive leader in the six games he’s played in. Priolo is the only player who has tallied 10+ caused turnovers and 10+ blocked shots in games between these clubs, and he leads all players in loose ball recoveries, having scooped up 44 of them in his time playing the Seals.
We also can’t forget the goaltenders. This is going to be such an intriguing matchup as the Seals’ 22-year-old Chris Origlieri is going to be battling the 42-year-old Matt Vinc. Origlieri is hoping to prove that he can outdo one of the greatest goaltenders in NLL history, while Matt Vinc would like to keep his championship hopes alive. The reality is that we don’t know how many more times Vinc will have the opportunity to compete for an NLL Cup.
The 2025 NLL Playoffs could be his last.
3 – # of Playoff Matchups Between Calgary Roughnecks and Halifax Thunderbirds Organization in History
The history between these organizations matters.
11 years ago, the Calgary Roughnecks faced the original Rochester Knighthawks (now Halifax Thunderbirds in the NLL Finals. The clubs split the first 2 games, and then the Knighthawks won in a mini-game to determine a championship. For the Knighthawks, it secured their NLL three-peat, the only three-peat in NLL history. For the Roughnecks, it was a heartbreaking loss that many of the players and members of the coaching staff remember vividly.
These organizations have not met in the playoffs since… until now. On Saturday, the Roughnecks will be heading to Halifax to face the Thunderbirds for the first home game in Halifax in pro lacrosse history. What a moment it will be for the organization. The Roughnecks will be looking to have the last laugh this time around.
The Roughnecks Dane Dobbie and Curtis Dickson both competed in the finals against the Knighthawks. Cody Jamieson of the Thunderbirds was on the other side of the floor for those matchups. Halifax Thunderbirds Head Coach Mike Accursi was there, too.
Roughnecks goaltender Nick Rose will be primed and ready to go for his Roughnecks’ debut. Since being traded to the Roughnecks from the Toronto Rock back in late February, Rose has been lights out. His goals against average of 9.95 and his save percentage of 82% have been elite.
However, the most glaring nugget regarding Rose is his record when he allows 10 goals or more. This season, Rose is 6-0 (3-0 with the Roughnecks and 3-0 with the Rock) in games that he’s allowed less than 10 goals. When he’s allowed 10 or more goals this year, his teams are 1-11. So, Roughnecks fans will need Rose to keep the Thunderbirds to single digits if they want to have the best chance to win.
8 – # of Years Since Saskatchewan Rush and Georgia Swarm Last Competed in the NLL Championship
Believe it or not, we have another past NLL Finals matchup taking place in this year’s quarterfinals. 8 years ago, the Swarm beat the Rush 2-0 in the best-of-3 finals series.
Ryan Keenan, Robert Church, and Matt Hossack were all a part of that Rush squad. Lyle Thompson, Shayne Jackson, Jordan MacIntosh, and John Ranagan were part of the Swarm eight years ago. They are all expected to be on the floor battling again this weekend. Rush Co-Head Coach Derek Keenan and Swarm Head Coach Ed Comeau were also both on their respective benches for that series.
Keenan and Comeau go way back to their time as Assistant Coaches under Les Bartley for the Toronto Rock in the early 2000’s.
When those two teams met in the finals that year, they were already very familiar with each other. The Edmonton Rush had played the Minnesota Swarm 14 times prior to that finals matchup. Six of those 14 matchups were decided by 1 goal, and three of those six games ended in overtime.
So, to say there’s plenty of familiarity between these two clubs heading into this matchup would be an understatement. That makes this win-or-go-home game in Saskatoon this weekend even more intriguing.
77.4% & 14 – Christian Del Bianco’s Career Save Percentage & Goals Against Average Against The Rochester Knighthawks.
It’s hard to believe that a team has been consistently dominant against Christian Del Bianco, but the Rochester Knighthawks have.
The Knighthawks have faced Del Bianco three times (all when he played for the Calgary Roughnecks). They’ve won all three games and managed to average 14 goals per game against him with a 77.4% save percentage. You just don’t see those kinds of numbers when you’re talking about CDB.
Regardless of the Knighthawks post success against Del Bianco, Knighthawks Head Coach Mike Hasen knows that things are going to be different this time around. This is the first time the Knighthawks are facing CDB in the playoffs, and he’s now on the Warriors, who run things differently than the Roughnecks.
“When he [Del Bianco] was in Calgary… they [the Calgary Roughnecks] were set up a bit differently,” Hasen said. “They were built a little bit more to run and get up floor press out. We’ve been athletic enough to handle that. This is going to be a different test because Mouse [Vancouver Warriors Head Coach Curt Malawsky] has kind of followed the Buffalo model. They’re big. They’re strong, They’re physical… That’s where you’re going to get your biggest opportunities, the middle of the floor against Del Bianco.”
The 2025 NLL Playoffs should be incredible. I can’t wait to watch.