The Vancouver Warriors turned in a performance that can be used as a blueprint going forward this season. Going into Calgary, the Warriors put the damper on the Roughnecks home opener, leading from start to finish and picking up a decisive 14-10 victory over the previously unbeaten hosts from the Stampede City.
While most games can’t be perfect, they can be full of moments that when sewn together can make for a pretty complete performance.
Jumping out in front of a jammed and boisterous Saddledome crowd and putting up six goals in the opening 15 minutes will put the brakes on any party, and the Warriors did that in a variety of ways.
- Rookie Payton Cormier opens the scoring and adds another in the first quarter for his first two goals in the NLL. It wasn’t a matter of if Cormier would score, it was a matter of when, and when was in this game.
- Brayden Laity continues the Warriors strong transition game, scoring the first of Vancouver’s three goals in transition on the night (Reid Bowering had the other two). The beauty of Laity’s marker was that Owen Grant, who has scored in every game this season for the Warriors, drew the defender before dishing to a wide-open Laity for the goal.
- Kevin Crowley found his stride, scoring four goals in the first half and five overall. You could hear the bench yelling “FEED the CAT” throughout the game. Crowley scored eight points in the game with three assists to go along with the handful of goals. It is the first eight-point game by Crowley in Vancouver colours (he had two seven-point games last season), and his first five-goal performance since last year in Colorado on December 30, 2023.
- Aden Walsh made the stops when he had to. Walsh is now 2-1 on the season, with a goal against average of 9.00 and a save percentage of 80%. Don’t look now, but since Walsh took over as Vancouver’s full-time starter, he is 8-3, and Walsh’s numbers this season are impressive, a full 3.5 goals per game fewer than his career numbers, and five percent better on save percentage.
While it is easy to highlight individual performances, the key to winning is as a team, and here are some team numbers to consider:
- The Warriors won the blocked shots battle and the caused turnovers battle versus the Roughnecks, and the numbers were profound.
- Vancouver had 15 blocked shots to Calgary’s four; as a group they laid out in front of Walsh. Owen Grant blocked four, while Matt Beers blocked three, including taking one in the neck on a high heater from future Hall of Famer Curtis Dickson. Nine of the ten Warriors D who played in the game had a block which shows the team’s commitment on the back end.
- Vancouver forced 17 caused turnovers to just three from Calgary. The Warriors were tenacious on defence, with Owen Grant causing five turnovers and eight of the ten defenders chipping in on CT’s.
- The Warriors allowed just four even strength goals on the night. The vaunted Calgary powerplay (#1 in the NLL) went a healthy 5-for-10 and added a six-on-five goal to wrap up the first quarter, but five-on-five, Vancouver allowed few premium opportunities.
THEY SAID IT:
GM and Head Coach Curt Malawsky when asked to summarize the win: “The one word that comes to my mind is sacrifice. Our guys soaked so many shots tonight. They got in lanes, Beersy [Matt Beers] got one right in the neck, Subby [Jackson Suboch] took one in the first quarter. They don’t have goalie gear but were willing to stand in front of the shots, and when they did get through, you had Walshy [Aden Walsh] there to make the save. It was a great effort on the back end.”
Malawsky on winning on the road: “It’s so important. It’s two points that we needed. We like playing home in Vancouver, our fans have been great, and they give us a boost. (But), we want to build belief in our program, and the biggest thing is that if we battle and compete for sixty minutes, we’re good.
Forward Kevin Crowley on his five-goal night: “I shot the ball well tonight. A lot of guys were sealing for me to get me open. The opportunities presented themselves and I was fortunate to put them in the back of the net.”
Crowley on the first road win of the season: “It’s amazing. For all the storylines to happen tonight, Corm’s (Payton Cormier) getting his first goals of the season, he could have had three, and the coaching staff getting the win coming back here, it was a pretty special night.”
Crowley: “It was just a gritty performance. Our back-end diving in front of balls, blocking shots, it’s so motivating on the front end, we feel like we owe them when they are putting their bodies on the line.
ONE LAST THING:
It wasn’t mentioned all week, but it was something that the players wanted to do, and that was to win for the entire coaching staff. The coaching staff made their first appearance in Calgary since joining Vancouver in July of 2023 and it was a comeback of epic proportions. Rob Williams, Bob McMahon, Tyler Richards, and Curt Malawsky came to Calgary and earned what might be one of their best road wins that this team has had since moving downtown.
Also kept quiet so as not to cause a distraction was the victory being Malawsky’s 100th win behind the bench. As is with the way that he wants to run his team, the Head Coach didn’t want his milestone to be a distraction to his players…but the players understood the significance of the win.
Curt Malawsky is just the 7th coach in NLL history to hit the century mark in wins.
WHAT’S NEXT:
The Warriors will get another early season bye and return to action on Friday, January 10th with a home game against the always tough San Diego Seals. It is Country Night at Rogers Arena, with opening faceoff taking place at 7 p.m. PT.
