Blazers Roster Shaping Up

We made it through the Arizona Dispersal Draft and last Thursday’s National Lacrosse League Expansion Draft. The 09 Blazers’ Roster is starting to take shape. We still have a few loose ends to tie up, but I feel good about where we are and where we are headed.

Let’s take a look at what we know.

Dan Dawson. What can I say about Dan? He is one of the most impactful players in the game today.

Mike Poulin. Mike deserves his shot at being a starting goalie in this league. We are impressed with his attitude and athleticism. At only 22, Mike has a bright future.

Jack Reid. Jack has quickly established himself as a dominant defender in the MLL with the Rochester Rattlers. He has had two solid indoor seasons, but the best is yet to come. We need Jack to be one of our leaders on the floor.

Mitch Belisle. Randy Fraser and I watched a ton of Titan games last winter. Mitch impressed us in every game we saw. He is smart. He is a great 1 on 1 defender. In their “home game” against Philly in Trenton, Mitch had 2 goals and 1 assist along with 9 lb’s in route to the 20-13 win … impressive stuff from the 2007 NCAA Defensive Player of the Year.

Matt Lyons. We selected Matt in the first round of last year’s entry draft. Playing 12 games for Rochester last winter got him some valuable floor time on a stacked Knighthawks offense. We are expecting Matt to continue his development with us as he develops into an NLL regular.

Steve Panarelli. Steve had a great rookie season with the Stealth, playing in 14 games. He fits our defense/transition mold well with his athleticism and speed.

Kyle Ross. Once again, a very athletic transition player. At 25, this BC native’s best lacrosse is still ahead of him.

Sean Morris. Sean saw limited action in San Jose last year. Sean is active in New England Youth Lacrosse. We will give him the chance to prove he belongs in this league.

Brendan Thenhaus. Brendan bounced around a bit last year. He has great size and is versatile. His style of play reminds me of Jake Bergey.

Matt Holman. Matt ended the 2007 season on a tear, scoring a hat trick in his final four games. With such a heavy right side last year in Portland, Matt saw limited time. Matt has a lethal outside shot.

Kurtis Wagar. Another promising young goalie anxious to get playing time.

Jake Bergey. Jake looked great last year scoring 60 points in 13 games. As much as I wanted to take Pat Heim, Jake is just too valuable.

Peter Veltman. Peter is a tough and talented veteran scorer.

John Gallant. John is an All-Star and was an Assistant Captain with the Mammoth. He is a scrappy defender that you love/hate to play against.

Mike Kilby. He is a consistently solid defender that helped get the unlikely Lumberjax to the final.

Overall we like what we got … athleticism and youth. We will be looking over the next couple days and weeks to sign our top free agents.

I have been getting e-mails asking about our tryout and training camps. Our final training camp spots will be filled with players from the USIL Free Agent Combine scheduled for Saturday October 4th. Check back to their Web site for updates on the event.