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Calgary Herald
27-04-2025
- Sport
- Calgary Herald
Calgary Roughnecks bow out of NLL playoffs early with loss to Thunderbirds
Article content Another NLL Cup will have to wait at least another year for the Calgary Roughnecks. Article content Because their bid to capture their fourth such trophy — realistic due to their dynamic personnel — came to a heartbreaking halt Saturday night on the East Coast. Article content A 16-12 loss to the host Halifax Thunderbirds did them in, with the usual bugaboos of slow starts and inconsistency getting the better of their talented high-octane roster in the National Lacrosse League single-game quarterfinal. Article content 'It sucks — it stings,' Roughnecks assistant captain Eli Salama told TSN, moments after the buzzer sounded on their one-step-forward, one-step-backward season at Halifax's Scotiabank Centre. Article content Article content 'It's just a bummer,' continued Salama. 'Like we've got some guys that are getting up there in age, and we don't know how many more years they have left in the game, and they mean a lot to the guys in the room.' Article content Roughnecks legends Dane Dobbie, 38, and Curtis Dickson, 36, who shockingly both arrived back in Riggers gear during a tumultuous off-season for the NLL franchise after bolting for sunny San Diego years earlier. Their return did wonders for a club choked by the hold-out of MVP goaltender Christian Del Bianco at one end and hurting for production at the other. Article content Article content 'Having Dobes and Dicks come back is huge,' Salama said. 'You know those guys were super influential for me as a young guy coming into the league.' Article content When the dynamic duo was wheeling and dealing during the regular-season, it was like magical times again for the Roughnecks, giving them every reason to believe they could ride another run to the league championship. Article content At least not in the first half.
Calgary Herald
25-04-2025
- Sport
- Calgary Herald
Calgary Roughnecks hoping road dominance will drive them to fourth NLL title
And away they go, hopefully all the way to a fourth National Lacrosse League title, with playoffs under way Saturday for the Calgary Roughnecks. Article content It truly is away where it begins in their bid for another NLL Cup to live proudly alongside championship trophies won from 2004, '09 and '19. Article content That's because the Roughnecks (10-8) start that quest on the road against the host Halifax Thunderbirds (11-7). Article content Article content But with the season they've had away from Scotiabank Saddledome, that doesn't scare the Calgary club. Article content Article content 'We have confidence on the road, for sure,' said Roughnecks head coach Josh Sanderson, ahead of Saturday's NLL quarterfinal contest — a winner-move-on playoff affair — in Halifax (5 p.m., TSN5/TSN+). Article content 'But this is a whole new challenge.' Article content Still, the Riggers have the wares to clear that challenge away from the Dome to move them onward in the post-season. They have the offence — hard not to with the likes of legends Dane Dobbie and Curtis Dickson on the stick and joining captain Jesse King, fellow savvy veteran Tyler Pace and young-ish bull Tanner Cook. Together, the fab five engineered a total of 160 of the team's 218 goals, with Dickson matching a career-high 108 points and King also finishing with a career-high 105. Article content Article content The defence isn't too shabby, either — but that's nothing new for the forever-stout Roughnecks. Veteran warriors Eli Salama and Reece Callies anchor the unit, and both — along with Dobbie and Dickson — were part of the 2019 NLL Cup run. Article content And the late-season addition of veteran goaltender Nick Rose, who is second all-time in NLL saves with 7,292, has tied it altogether.
