truebluefan

PORTLAND, November 5, 2007 - The Portland LumberJax have re-signed forward Ryder Bateman and defenseman Michael Kilby to one-year agreements, as was announced today by Head Coach/General Manager Derek Keenan.

The aggressive forward will enter his third season with the Jax in 2008. Bateman is seventh in team history in goals scored (18), assists (24), points (42) and games played (27).

In 2007, Bateman was fourth on the team in points (24), shots (89) and shots on goal (60). He also led the squad in penalty minutes (50).

"We like Ryder's versatility," said Keenan. "He can play both ends equally as well and he runs the floor in transition very well. He gives us solid depth in all areas of the game."

Kilby was acquired by the Jax on draft day from the Minnesota Swarm. The veteran defenseman scored two goals, added six assists, collected 37 loose balls and spent 56 minutes in the penalty box during the Swarm's 2007 season.

"Mike brings us just the kind of grit we lacked last season," said Keenan. "He's a solid defender who will provide a lot of insulation for our star players."

truebluefan

DENVER - The Colorado Mammoth signed veteran defenseman Pat Coyle and transition player Nenad Gajic on Monday.

Gajic, a 6-foot, 195 pound right handed transition player, signed a three-year contract, pending National Lacrosse League approval. The Mammoth acquired him prior to the start of last season and he went on to be selected to the NLL all-rookie team after compiling 13 goals and 24 assists in 16 games.

"Nenad is only going to get better," Mammoth general manager Steve Govett said. "His upside is phenomenal and we look forward to seeing him grow as a player in the years to come."

Coyle, at 6-feet and 220-pounds, is entering his 12th season in the NLL and fourth with the Mammoth after signing a one-year contract. Coyle has played in 158 games (17 postseason) and is second all time in regular season penalty minutes with 361.

"Pat's experience, leadership, intensity and commitment to the team help us reach for our goals, Govett said. "He knows what it takes for us to win another NLL championship."

truebluefan

PORTLAND, November 5, 2007 - The Portland LumberJax have the first overall selection in today's National Lacrosse League Dispersal Draft. The Jax have three picks in today's 5 p.m. PST, three-round draft.

The Jax also select 24th (second round) and 25th (third round). The draft will consist of players from the Arizona and Boston franchises. Results will be posted live on the league's website, NLL.com -- Official Website of the National Lacrosse League - Home.

All of the players on Arizona and Boston are available in the draft with the exception of those who had already qualified as Unrestricted Free Agents. Arizona has three such players in defensemen Brian Beisel and Peter Lough, as well as forward Curt Malawsky. All three had qualified for unrestricted free agency prior to Arizona's opting for inactive status for the 2008 season. Boston does not currently have any Unrestricted Free Agents on its roster.

Due to the unique business issues arising out of the cancellation of the original 2008 season schedule, Arizona and Boston were provided the option of electing inactive status for the 2008 season. The clubs were provided the option to re-enter in 2009 season by participating in the expansion draft or to receive back their rostered players from 2008. Arizona has chosen to re-claim their dispersed players for the 2009 season, while Boston has chosen not to re-claim their players following this season, and will build their 2009 roster as an expansion team.

truebluefan

New York, NY - The New York Titans announced their revised 2008 16-game season schedule today, with five home games at the Garden, 10 away games and one game at a neutral site at Sovereign Bank Arena in Trenton, N.J. against the Philadelphia Wings. The Titans open their season on the road against the Portland LumberJax on Saturday, January 12. The Titans new Home Opener takes place on Thursday, January 31st against the San Jose Stealth at 7:30pm at the Garden.

The original NLL schedule for the 2008 season was lost when the league cancelled the season on October 16th, when a deadline to reach a new Collective Bargaining Agreement with its player's association was not met. On October 24th, it was announced that a new seven-year CBA had been reached, and that a new schedule would be created for the 2008 season, subject to availability of dates at each team's home arena. In the new schedule, twelve teams will each play a sixteen-game regular season schedule.

"We're very thankful that the folks at the Garden were so accommodating over the past couple of weeks," said Titans Chief Operating Officer Timothy Kelly. "We feel very lucky to be partnered with such a great organization."

While the Titans will be playing two additional road games this season due to the fact that the team was unable to recoup its original 2008 schedule after the season was reinstated, Titans head coach Adam Mueller says that's not necessarily a bad thing.

"Given that two weeks ago, no one thought the season was salvageable, we're all very happy that the Titans will play this season," he said. "It will be tough spending extra games on the road, but we'll have a three week home stand at the end of the season in April, which will make all of our traveling worth it."

"We're also playing some the best teams in the league at home this season, Buffalo, Rochester and Colorado will be playing us at the Garden, and we're looking forward to the challenge," Mueller added.

Another reason the 2008 NLL season schedule has been revamped is due to the new Boston franchise and the Arizona Sting going dark for the 2008 season in light of the original 2008 season cancellation. Both teams will be back for the 2009 season. The NLL is holding a dispersal draft this evening at 8pm for clubs to pick up players from both teams. The Titans have the second pick in the dispersal draft. Results of the draft will be posted live on NLL.com -- Official Website of the National Lacrosse League - Home starting at 8pm.

New York Titans 2008 Season Schedule

Date Opponent Time (EST)

Sat. Jan. 12th at Portland 10:30 PM

Sat. Jan. 19th at Buffalo 7:30 PM

Sat. Jan. 26th at Toronto 7:00 PM

Thurs. Jan. 31st San Jose 7:30 PM

Fri. Feb. 8th at Minnesota 8:00 PM

Sun. Feb 10th Buffalo 12:30 PM

Sat. Feb. 16th at Chicago 8:00 PM

Sat. Feb. 23rd at Rochester 7:35 PM

Fri. Feb 29th at Philadelphia 8:00 PM

Fri. Mar. 14th at Toronto 7:30 PM

Sat. Mar. 22nd Philadelphia (at Sovereign Bank Arena) 7:30 PM

Sat. Apr. 5th at Minnesota 8:00 PM

Sat. Apr. 12th Colorado 8:00 PM

Fri. Apr. 18th Chicago 7:30 PM

Sat. April 19th at Philadelphia 7:30 PM Sat. April 26th Rochester 8:00 PM

Highlighted Games

January 12 at Portland

Powell on Powell: Casey Powell will take on his younger brother Ryan Powell when the Titans travel to Portland on Saturday, January 12th. This will be the first time New York will face Portland and the first time Powell brothers will face each other in an NLL game.

"I haven't had the opportunity to play against Ryan yet, so I'm looking forward to playing him," the oldest Powell said when he heard about the match up.

January 31 vs San Jose

Physical Home Opener: The last time the New York Titans played the San Jose Stealth at home, the Titans suffered an emotional 12-11 loss and ignited an instant rivalry. Both teams played a physical game and saw star players sit for lengthy stretches of time in the penalty box. Titans stars Casey Powell and Ryan Boyle, more known for their finesse than their aggressive play sat for a combined 25 minutes in the box. The Titans will be looking to avenge that loss in the 2008 home opener on January 31st.

February 16 at Chicago

April 18 vs Chicago

Looking for Revenge: The Titans play their mid-west rivals the Chicago Shamrox, against whom the Titans went 1-2 last season, once in Chicago and once at home this season. Each expansion team won their home opener last season; the Shamrox defeated the Titans 12-15 on January 6th at the Sears Center and the Titans beat Chicago 11-9 at their home opener on January 20th in front of a raucous crowd of 13,127 fans at the Garden. On February 16th, the Titans will be looking to avenge their loss to Chicago on the road on March 24, 2007.

February 23 at Rochester

April 26 vs Rochester

The Casey Powell Show vs. The John Grant Show: The Titans take on the Rochester Knighthawks on the road on Saturday, February 23rd and play the Knighthawks on April 26th at the Garden for the first time in franchise history. When these two teams play each other, anything can happen. In their first meeting last season, Powell could have compiled his own highlight dishing 10 assists and landing an "Air Gait" goal from behind the net, while Rochester's John Grant scored 15 points off of nine goals and six assists, setting the NLL single game point record. At the end of the night, it wasn't the scoring totals that were impressive, but how they got there - off of behind back passes, behind the back goals and other acrobatic plays. The game's live broadcast on SportsNet NY registered a higher Nielsen television rating than its head to head competition, New York Islanders hockey on Fox Sport New York (FSNY) and the New Jersey Devils hockey on MSG.

truebluefan

Toronto - The Toronto Rock have picked up former Chicago Shamrox Captain and NLL Veteran Cam Woods in a trade this afternoon in exchange for defenseman Kevin Fines, the Rock's first round (6th overall) pick in this evening's dispersal draft as well as a 2008 fifth round Entry Draft pick. Terms of the deal were not disclosed due to club policy.

Named best Defensive Player of the Year in 2004, Woods represented the Shamrox in the 2007 NLL All-Star game and is seventh on the All-Time Loose Ball leaders with 921 career loose balls.

"Our organization is excited to acquire a player of Cam Wood's stature and look forward to him bringing his NLL All-Star abilities and leadership to our team" says Rock Director of Lacrosse Operations, Mike Kloepfer.

Woods, a Toronto native and NLL Veteran has been with the League for eight years, with time played in Albany and San Jose Stealth before signing with Chicago last year for the 2006/2007 season.

A dispersal draft of players from the Arizona and Boston franchises will be held this evening, November 5th at 8:00 p.m. EST. NLL.com will provide live coverage of the draft, which will consist of three rounds.

Due to the unique business issues arising out of the cancellation of the original 2008 season schedule, Arizona and Boston were provided the option of electing inactive status for the 2008 season. The clubs were provided the option to re-enter in 2009 season by participating in the expansion draft or to receive back their rostered players from 2008. Arizona has chosen to re-claim their dispersed players for the 2009 season, while Boston has chosen not to re-claim their players following this season, and will build their 2009 roster as an expansion team.

Results of the Dispersal Draft will be posted live on the league's website, NLL.com -- Official Website of the National Lacrosse League - Home.

truebluefan

The National Lacrosse League held a dispersal draft on Monday night for the players from the Arizona and Boston franchises. Portland used the first selection to pick Arizona forward Dan Dawson. Dawson tallied 107 points last season on 47 goals and 60 assists, the second-highest point total among players in the league last season. The first Boston player selected was defenseman Patrick Merrill, who was chosen by New York with the second overall selection.

The complete draft order and trade recap is as follows:

First Round
1. Portland - Dan Dawson (F)
2. New York - Patrick Merrill (D)
3. Philadelphia - Rob Blasdell (G)
4. Chicago - Scott Self (D)
5. Minnesota (from Edmonton)** - Andy Secore (F)
6. Chicago (from Toronto)* - Lindsay Plunkett (F)
7. San Jose - Peter Veltman (F)
8. Minnesota - Ryan Avery (G)
9. Calgary - Pat Campbell (G)
10. Buffalo - Craig Conn (F)
11. Colorado - Bruce Murray (D)
12. Rochester - Jack Reid (D)

Second Round
13. Rochester - Matt Lyons (F)
14. Colorado - Matt Brown (F)
15. Buffalo - Brian Croswell (F)
16. Calgary - Bruce Codd (D)
17. Minnesota - Mike Grimes (D)
18. San Jose - Sean Morris (F)
19. Toronto - Curtis Ptolemy (F)
20. Edmonton - Chris Seller (F)
21. Chicago - Brock Boyle (F)
22. Philadelphia - Jamie Rooney (F)
23. New York - Matt Alrich (D)
24. Portland - Derek Malawsky (F)

Third Round
25. Portland - Brad MacDonald (D)
26. New York - Greg Downing (D)
27. Philadelphia - Brenden Thenhaus (F)
28. Chicago - Andrew Lazore (F)
29. Edmonton - Chris McKay (D)
30. Toronto - Jon Harasym (F)
31. San Jose - Keegan Davidson (D)
32. Minnesota - Mark Tinning (F)
33. Calgary - Greg Hinman (D)
34. Buffalo - Joe Smith (D)
35. Colorado - Jed Prossner (F)
36. Rochester - Alex Smith (FO) (faceoffs)

*Toronto traded the sixth overall selection, Kevin Fines, and a fifth round pick in the 2008 Entry Draft to Chicago in exchange for defenseman Cam Woods.

**Edmonton traded the fifth overall selection to Minnesota in exchange for goaltender Matt Disher.

On October 16th, the league cancelled its 2008 season when a deadline to reach a new Collective Bargaining Agreement with its player's association was not met. When a new seven-year Collective Bargaining Agreement was reached with the player's association on October 24th, efforts began to create a new schedule for the 2008 season. The original schedule had been lost with the October 16th cancellation.

Due to the unique business issues arising out of the cancellation of the original 2008 season schedule, Arizona and Boston were provided the option of electing inactive status for the 2008 season. The clubs were provided the option to re-enter in 2009 season by participating in the expansion draft or to receive back their rostered players from 2008. Arizona has chosen to re-claim their dispersed players for the 2009 season, while Boston has chosen not to re-claim their players following this season, and will build their 2009 roster as an expansion team.

All of the players on both clubs were available in the draft with the exception of those who had already qualified as Unrestricted Free Agents. Arizona has three such players in defensemen Brian Beisel and Peter Lough, as well as forward Curt Malawsky. All three had qualified for unrestricted free agency prior to Arizona's opting for inactive status for the 2008 season. Boston did not currently have any Unrestricted Free Agents on its roster.

The league announced a new schedule for the 2008 season on November 2nd. The 2008 season will open on December 29th, 2007, when Colorado hosts Calgary.

truebluefan

Toronto - The Toronto Rock have picked up former Chicago Shamrox Captain and NLL Veteran Cam Woods in a trade this afternoon in exchange for defenseman Kevin Fines, the Rock's first round (6th overall) pick in this evening's dispersal draft as well as a 2008 fifth round Entry Draft pick. Terms of the deal were not disclosed due to club policy.

Named best Defensive Player of the Year in 2004, Woods represented the Shamrox in the 2007 NLL All-Star game and is seventh on the All-Time Loose Ball leaders with 921 career loose balls.

"Our organization is excited to acquire a player of Cam Wood's stature and look forward to him bringing his NLL All-Star abilities and leadership to our team" says Rock Director of Lacrosse Operations, Mike Kloepfer.

Woods, a Toronto native and NLL Veteran has been with the League for eight years, with time played in Albany and San Jose Stealth before signing with Chicago last year for the 2006/2007 season.

A dispersal draft of players from the Arizona and Boston franchises will be held this evening, November 5th at 8:00 p.m. EST. NLL.com will provide live coverage of the draft, which will consist of three rounds.

Due to the unique business issues arising out of the cancellation of the original 2008 season schedule, Arizona and Boston were provided the option of electing inactive status for the 2008 season. The clubs were provided the option to re-enter in 2009 season by participating in the expansion draft or to receive back their rostered players from 2008. Arizona has chosen to re-claim their dispersed players for the 2009 season, while Boston has chosen not to re-claim their players following this season, and will build their 2009 roster as an expansion team.

Results of the Dispersal Draft will be posted live on the league's website, NLL.com -- Official Website of the National Lacrosse League - Home.

truebluefan

The Philadelphia Wings acquired goaltender Rob Blasdell from the Arizona Sting in the first round (3rd overall) of the National Lacrosse League Dispersal Draft. The three-round draft included players from the Arizona Sting and Boston Blazers franchises, both who have chosen to remain inactive for the 2008 season due to unique business issues arising out of the cancellation of the original 2008 season schedule.

Blasdell, a ten-year NLL veteran and former Goaltender Of The Year, had a 76% save percentage in 16 games for the Sting last season. He led his team to the championship game and made 48 saves in Arizona's 13-11 loss to the Rochester Knighthawks. Blasdell finished the regular season second overall in goaltenders with a 10.94 goals against average.

In the second round (22nd overall) the Wings selected second-year forward Jamie Rooney from the Sting. Rooney was originally drafted by Buffalo in the third round (21st overall) of the 2004 Entry Draft, before signing a free agent contract with Calgary in 2006. He has never played in an NLL game.

The Wings third-round selection was Brendan Thenhaus (27th overall) from Boston. The second-year forward played in four games for the Buffalo Bandits during his rookie year with the Buffalo Bandits.

Both Arizona and Boston were provided the option to re-enter the 2009 season by participating in the expansion draft or to have their rostered players from 2008 returned to them. Arizona has chosen to re-claim their dispersed players for the 2009 season, while Boston has chosen not to re-claim their players following this season, and will build their 2009 roster as an expansion team.

The Philadelphia Wings open the 2008 season on Saturday, January 12 against the Chicago Shamrox at the Wachovia Center. Season tickets start as low as $80 and are available by calling the Wings sales office at (215) 389-WING or log on to wingslax.com.

truebluefan

PORTLAND, November 5, 2007 - The Portland LumberJax selected forward Dan Dawson with the first overall pick in the National Lacrosse League Dispersal Draft. The Jax followed the first selection by picking up forward Derek Malawsky with their second pick (No. 24) and finished the Dispersal Draft by selecting Brad MacDonald with their third selection (No. 25). All three players were from the Arizona Sting.

Dawson was third in the NLL in goals-scored during the 2007 season with 47. Nicknamed "Dangerous", the 6'5" scoring machine was also tied for second in the NLL with 60 assists and 107 points.

"Dan was the obvious choice," said Head Coach/General Manager Derek Keenan.

A nine-year veteran, Malawsky scored 20 goals and added 35 assists for the Sting last season. An instrumental part of the Sting's run into the Champion's Cup Final; Malawsky also collected 78 loose balls.

MacDonald appeared in 10 games for the Sting during the 2007 season. The Orangeville, Ontario native scored one goal, added two assists and collected nine loose balls.

"All three players are NLL starters with a lot of experience," said Keenan. "With the amount of postseason experience and grit they bring to the table, each will automatically make us better."

truebluefan

Calgary, AB - The Calgary Roughnecks picked up a goalkeeper and two gritty transition players in tonight's National Lacrosse League dispersal draft.

In a deal struck earlier in the day, the Riggers also signed high scoring unrestricted free agent Curt Malawsky. That deal is subject to NLL approval.

Two clubs, Boston and Arizona, did not return when the NLL recently annulled its decision to cancel the 2008 season after it failed to agree on a deal with the Professional Lacrosse Players' Association.

As a result, the players on those two rosters were the subject of tonight's draft.

With its first pick (9th over-all), the Riggers obtained goalie Pat Campbell from Boston.

In the second round, Calgary snatched Bruce Codd (formerly of the Arizona Sting), and then with its third and final selection, the Roughnecks obtained Greg Hinman (also of Arizona).

"I am very happy with the way things turned out," said Riggers' General Manager Kurt Silcott.

"Paddy Campbell is one of the characters in this league. He's a great team guy, a great goalkeeper and he'll battle with Andrew Leyshon to be our Number Two in net."

Steve Dietrich, a recent addition from the Buffalo Bandits, and a former league MVP, is the undisputed starter.

Both Silcott and Roughnecks president Brad Banister like the addition of Bruce Codd.

"He's small, but he's feisty," said Banister. "He can hurt you at both ends of the floor and I've no doubt there'll be a spot on the roster for him."

Silcott added, "Bruce is real gritty. He's left handed, can play either transition or defence, yet he'll still get his share of goals.

"He is also very quick and as a result picks up a load of loose balls."

Silcott was surprised to find Hinman still available when it came time for the Roughnecks third pick.

"We thought for certain he'd go in the second round," said Silcott. "He's a gritty in your face type of defender, very much in the Andrew McBride mould."