Will the Swarm Turn Their 6-10 Around?
A little preface before we get to the gist of the story. Everyone is looking for the Minnesota Swarm to make improvements throughout the organization for 2010. The Swarm are attempting to do just that, except they still want me to blog for a third year. Hopefully, that won’t hinder the team’s overall efforts.

6-10. In sports, it means not performing to capabilities. It causes disappointment and doubt. To turn around to 10-6 or better requires that changes be made. Those changes tend to be drastic, painful and controversial but also bring new optimism, even if we don’t know that the changes will yield the desired results.

That's where the Minnesota Swarm stand right now, at least according to this writer who has agonized through the off season since the Swarm were handed a 12-10 loss to the New York (now Orlando) Titans at the Xcel Energy Center. Finally, on the day that retailers refer to as Black Friday (day after American Thanksgiving), the Swarm [like the retailers] hope to mark the beginning of more wins than losses, more black ink in the books than red. This day is the start of NLL training camp, which the Swarm host on the Six Nations reserve near Hamilton, Ontario.

When the Swarm meet this Friday, the returning players will see some familiar faces but also many not so familiar. The person who calls them to the face-off circle to make his opening speech will be a familiar face in a new role. That man is new Minnesota Swarm Head Coach Mike Lines, who replaces Duane (Dewey) Jacobs, who resigned in June after coaching the Swarm for the past three seasons. Last year, Lines coached the Swarm’s offense and after only two seasons as an NLL assistant, Linesy has become one of eleven head coaches in the NLL. Along with new assistants Aime Caines and Joe Sullivan, Lines plans to open up the offense with new weapons while renewing the commitment to strong defense that can go on the attack when the opportunity arises.

When Swarm fans go to the home opener on January 15 against the defending NLL Champion Calgary Roughnecks, they will definitely notice a notable absence in Ryan Ward. Ward was traded in the off season along with Justin Norbraten, Scott Stewart and Richard Morgan (since reacquired) to the Edmonton Rush for 2007 NLL Rookie of the Year Ryan Benesch and Scott Self. General Manager Marty O’Neill feels that the team needed to improve on the power play and have better flow so the idea was to trade the Swarm’s All-Time leading scorer to accomplish this. Benesch is expected to improve the power play while maintaining overall team youth. Time will tell if trading Ward was the correct move but I think for most fans and even some of the players will need some convincing.

Even though Benesch and Self, a highly regarded defenseman in the league, are huge acquisitions, when the Swarm finished the 2009 season they had a particular player in their sights to bring to the Land of 10,000 Lakes. They hit their target on draft day with Zack Greer at the third overall pick. One of the greatest college field players of all time, Greer set the NCAA goals and points records at Duke and then Bryant in his final year of eligibility. The Whitby, Ontario native grew up playing indoor before attending college stateside. Greer and the Swarm expect that he will re-adjust back to the indoor game quickly. Some thought Craig Point was the future of this team when he won the 2008 NLL Rookie of the Year award, but expectations on Greer are many times greater and we are still about 50 out from the 2010 season. When Swarm owner Andy Arlotta states that Greer is the “Michael Jordan of Lacrosse”, one realizes the importance of Greer to the organization in the coming years.

Left-handed Forwards
The additions of Greer and Benesch accomplished a goal that O’Neill had at the end of the 2009 season to improve the left-handed scoring. Factoring in returning lefties Chad Culp, Kevin Buchanan and Kevin Ross, the previous weakness is now a perceived strength. Unfortunately for the Swarm, one of those five will probably sit each game as the team will most likely only play four lefty forwards. But that is a better situation compared to only having three reliable lefties last year which limited lineup flexibility. Others on the left side include Rory McDade, Alex Turner, Tim Campeau and Alex Henderson. Turner, a second year player acquired in a draft day trade from the Washington Stealth, may have a shot if one of the top five doesn’t come to play.

Right-handed Forwards
With Ward gone, the Swarm still have three strong righty forwards in 2009 Swarm leading scorer Sean Pollock, Aaron Wilson and Dan Marohl. Pollock continues to improve each year and the word is he is in fantastic shape for the upcoming season. Wilson replaces Ward as an assistant captain, which shows how much impact he had in just an half of a season since he was acquired from Rochester. Of course Marohl will bring back his Air Marohl to the X, which notched two game winners in 2009. Will Marohl bring more to the table to replace Ward who directed the offense? Other players in camp fighting for a spot are Jay Thorimbert, Ryan Hoff, Steve Hutchins and Sean Thomson. Thorimbert will be in the running for face off duty after arriving from Boston in an August trade. Hoff, like Swarm owner John Arlotta, is a Notre Dame alum who may get a spot on the practice roster to start the season.

Left-handed Defensemen
The Swarm have a lot of transition strength at this position but Noah Talbot may be the most valuable as a steady stay at home defender. Talbot has played in a current Swarm record 41 straight games and is always in correct position. No game is easy for Talbot as he usually has to take on the other team's best right-hander in the crease. Ryan Sharp returns to regain his 2008 form and it appears the Swarm have found the spot for 2008 first round pick Andrew Watt. Watt led the team with four shorthanded goals last year. One newcomer fans and players alike won’t miss on the floor is 6’ 8” Richard Morgan, who will be the tallest player in Swarm history. Not only is Morgan a big body that terrorized the Swarm, Morgan can also run the floor. A move this writer is pleased to see is the return of Brock Boyle after two years in Chicago and Rochester. In three years with the Swarm, Boyle scored 30 goals and is healthy again compared to when he left Minnesota after the 2007 season. Jay Winder will also battle to crack the roster as the Swarm will probably go with four players at this position.

Right-handed Defensemen
Greer may get all the hoopla but he along with the rest of the team still answers to the only captain in Minnesota Swarm history, Ryan Cousins. After being named NLL Defensive Player of the Year n 2007 and 2008, injury limited Cousins in 2009 but that is now behind him. Nick Inch comes back off an All-Star season in 2009 and Jon Sullivan enters 2010 with a lot of confidence from his play on the MLL Champion Toronto Nationals and being named as one of 30 Team Canada members with Greer and Ross. Self, mentioned earlier, brings leadership to the back door and is very familiar with the defense assistant Joe Sullivan will be installing as they have teamed up in Peterborough over the summer. Kevin Fines will be back to being a transition threat and taking face offs when needed especially as Travis Hill recovers from an ACL injury. An interesting battle on the team will be between American defenders Joe Cinosky, Colin Achenbach, Josh Funk and Ricky Pages. Achenbach has the edge in transition as the others represent a more physical game, especially Cinosky. The Swarm will look to enhance Cinosky’s physicality in training camp as they invite Tim O’Brien, one of the top ten fighters in NLL history, to camp as a consultant to show Joe a few pointers in pugilism on the floor. Eric Pacey should also be back in the line up after missing the last half of 2009 to injury. However, considering that Pacey is an unrestricted free agent next year, will the Swarm keep him or go with younger guys like Funk and Pages. Probably eight of these players will make the active roster, with one or two on the practice roster. Expect Hill to go to the PUP list to start the season until he is healthy.

Goaltending
It is once again a two man battle for the number one position between Nick Patterson and Kevin Croswell. Entering 2009, nearly anyone you asked would have said that Patterson was the Swarm’s number one for years to come but an off year and the emergence of Croswell in 2009 leaves some doubt. Expect Patterson to be the starter but the Swarm know that Croswell can do the job if Patterson has similar results in 2010. Both netminders are still young in NLL goaltending years with Patterson turning 27 in December and Croswell turning 24 in October. Look for Patterson to rebound strong... as the Swarm appear convinced enough to have not brought in any additional veteran goaltenders to ratchet up the competition.

Conclusion
From all accounts, coaches and front office, the roster is very formidable and should bring success in 2010. I tend to be cautiously optimistic since I have not seen some of the new players play yet. I will probably remain that way until just prior to the regular season opener in Calgary on January 10 because right now the Swarm are not scheduled to practice in the Twin Cities leading up to the season.

A few things that will hopefully come out of camp include:

· More accurate shooting
· Quick adjustment for Greer
· A new floor general to run the offense (replacing Ward)
· The defense adjusts to Joe Sullivan’s plan
· Renewed confidence in the team goal
· The players buy into Lines as head coach
· Staying healthy

Only 51 days until real entertainment returns to the X, that being the Minnesota Swarm. Get ready to Swarm it up!

Corporal