Come one, come all for the 2022-23 Calgary Roughnecks Preview Party.
It’s an exhibition of thrills and spills under the big top of Scotiabank Saddledome.
For one night only, it’s your chance to check out this year’s edition of the Roughnecks and wonder what might be before the real action of the National Lacrosse League’s regular season begins next month.
It promises to be fun.
Will they be showmen or showstoppers?
Or will they be a little of both?
The best way to find out is to give the season a peek with the pre-season preview party, featuring the Roughnecks and the visiting Vancouver Warriors Saturday on WestJet Field (7 p.m.).
Plus, it’s one last opportunity for Roughnecks on the bubble to prove their wares with Monday’s 1 p.m. deadline for teams to cut down to 21 roster players and four practice guys.
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1. WHO’S BACK?
Two of the club’s cornerstones return to Calgary for at least another year in Zach Currier and Christian Del Bianco.
The 2021-22 NLL Transition Player of the Year and one of the league’s best goaltenders got deals done late in the off-season with the Roughnecks, but the most important thing is that they did get done.
And that bodes well for the future of the franchise.
“I have a lot of loyalty to our coaching staff,” said goalie Del Bianco, who’s touted by many — including Riggers head coach Curt Malawsky — to be the best backstop in the league and will be backed up by newcomer Adam Bland. “‘Mouse’ (Malawsky) is a guy who I’ve been in my whole career in the NLL.
“I think he puts a lot of trust in me, and obviously, I trust him a lot.”
Currier, meanwhile, led the league in loose-ball recoveries with 237 and set a record for most caused turnovers in a season with 62 in being named the NLL’s top transition guy last year.
“I love the fans,” said Currier, a native of Peterborough, Ont. “I love playing in the Saddledome. I have some family here. And now, I have more family here, because (new wife) Eva’s family is from Calgary and lives here. So really happy to be playing in the Saddledome in front of friends and family and in front of the best fans in the league.
“I love the city, even though it snows a ton. Really like being here and going to Flames games. Couldn’t ask for anything better.”
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2. WHO FLEW THE COOP?
Unfortunately for the Roughnecks, the one they didn’t get re-signed was Curtis ‘Superman’ Dickson.
A holder of many franchise goal records, Dickson took his offensive heroics to the San Diego Seals, following good buddy Dane Dobbie to the California club a year after Dobbie flew south.
It’s another tough roster loss for the Roughnecks, with Dickson having scored 521 goals — including a team-high 42 last year — and 960 points with the club.
“I love Calgary — I love the fans … when you spend your entire career in one place, it becomes a second home,” said Dickson after making his decision in August. “Obviously the players, the coaches and everybody in the organization has been so good to me over the last 11-plus years. And it was an incredibly hard to decision.
“It weighed on me for a while.”
But a “substantial offer” to play in SoCal won him over. As did the chance to reunite with Dobbie — a partnership that was a formidable 1-2 punch for years in Calgary and a massive key to the Roughnecks championship run of 2019.
“Obviously, it’s a little different without Curtis and Dane,” said Del Bianco of his view from the goal crease. “I think that’s the natural progression of the NLL — guys leave, and guys move on to other spots, and people just need to step up.”
Defenceman and faceoff guru Tyler Burton left, as well, after he signed on with the Panther City Lacrosse Club in Fort Worth, Texas. Gone, too, are 2019 draftee goalie Landon Kells, who was plucked by the Las Vegas Desert Dogs in the expansion draft, defender Carter McKenzie, who inked a pact with the Buffalo Bandits and forward Cole Pickup, who signed with the Desert Dogs.
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3. WHO’S ON OFFENCE?
With Dickson gone, the onus falls now on a few other talents to generate offence.
But last year proved a few of them could certainly bear that burden.
“Guys like Jesse King and Tyler Pace, they’re ready to go and step up,” agreed Del Bianco. “Haiden Dickson is another year older. I think he had a great year this summer in the off-season.
“So guys like that are going to step up into a bigger role.”
King, who was the team’s points leader last year with 95, is the main man in the attack.
And Pace is another significant re-up for the Riggers after a breakout season in which he scored a career-high 26 goals in finally getting a chance to be full-time NLLer.
But the Roughnecks will need a few others — maybe many others — to help fill the net.
On paper, the goals appear to be few and far between, so the ‘other’ Dickson (12 last year), Calgary’s own Dan Taylor (18) and Zach ‘Eastern Hands’ Herreweyers (21) will be called upon to fill those gaps.
“Like everybody says, the buzzword is offence by committee,” Malawsky said. ”But truly for us, we got Pacer on the right side and Jesse on the left side, and then we’ve got a lot of young guys that can bang and crash.”
Tanner Cook had 11 goals last year, and Kyle Waters had seven.
Journeyman Brett Hickey, a former 50-goal scorer with the Toronto Rock, joins the team, as does the Riggers’ first-round draft pick this year, Seth Van Schepen.
4. WHO’S ON DEFENCE?
It needs to be big — and should be with the pieces returning to the fold.
In fact, it’s the backbone of the club — coupled with Del Bianco anchoring the backline.
“I don’t think it’s a secret that we’re bringing pretty well everybody back on the defensive end and we’re going to be pretty strong back there,” Currier said. “We just gotta keep doing what we were doing last year.”
Indeed, the Roughnecks were tickled pink to also re-sign the likes of Mitch Wilde, Reece Callies, Shane Simpson, Eli Salama and veteran Curtis Manning.
That’s a boatload of experience — all pieces of the 2019 title team — to lead what’s likely to be a defence-first philosophy for the Riggers.
“I think every year we come back, it seems like our team is getting bigger and bigger and bigger size-wise out there,” Del Bianco said. “I know we’ve got a lot of young guys, but I don’t think we’re going to be pushed around out there. That’s for sure.”
The LeClair brothers — Liam and Kellen — can also be counted on, as well as youngsters Ethan Ticehurst and Harrison Matsuoka.
The new faces are Justin Inacio, a 2021 Riggers draftee, and Kieran McKay.
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5. WHO’S NEW?
The new name that has the Roughnecks brass excited is Jeff Cornwall, a defenceman with some promising transition skills.
Cornwall was acquired from the Desert Dogs for forward Marshal King and the 18th overall selection in the 2022 NLL Draft, and his arrival has been a welcome one for not just Malawsky and GM Mike Board but for teammates, as well.
He’s got game at both ends, says Malawsky, which could make for a lethal tandem when paired with Currier on the transition.
“I think adding a guy like Jeff Cornwall — a big, lefty defender — stabilizes the back end pretty well,” Del Bianco said. “And you put him with guys like Zach Currier and Shane Simpson and Eli Salama — a lot guys that have a lot of years left of lacrosse here — I think makes for a good corps to build with.”
QUICKSTICKS
The Roughnecks traded defenceman Nathan Wade to Panther City for a fifth-round draft pick in the 2024 NLL Entry Draft … The club released goalie Connor Nichols and defenceman Kaden Doughty to help get them down to numbers … The season-opener for the Riggers goes Saturday, Dec. 10, against the visiting Warriors at the Dome (7:30 p.m.).
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