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Minnesota Swarm
The Work Out The Kinks Edition of Minnesota Swarm LacrosseExhibition Game
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Departures | Pos | To | Arrivals | Pos | From |
Matt Disher | G | Edmonton | Kevin Croswell | G | Practice Squad |
Andrew Biers | D | Injured Reserve | Mark Miyashita | D | Injured Reserve |
Brock Boyle | D | Chicago via Boston | Darren Halls | D | Boston |
Riley Kemp | D | Injured Reserve | Chris Courtney | D | 2007 Draft |
Michael Kilby | D | Portland | Nick Inch | D | Toronto |
Ashton McLean | D | Injured Reserve ? | Colin Achenbach | F | Free Agent |
Spencer Martin | F | Portland | Andy Secore | F | Arizona |
Kasey Beirnes | F | Toronto | Craig Point | F | Boston via 2007 Draft |
Scott Stewart | F | Portland via Boston | Justin Norbraten | F | 2007 Draft |
The new players are led by Point. A righthanded forward from Six Nations in Ontario, Point was drafted third by the Boston Blazers in the 2007 entry draft but the Swarm made a trade during the draft to bring him to the Swarm. He is a natural goal scorer who can shoot from most anywhere, a force on the power play and should be a fixture in the Swarm line up for years to come. The Swarm also drafted a fellow righthander scorer in the first round by the name of Justin Norbraten to go with Point. Norbraten will be more of a transitional player who can score on occasion and take face offs. General Manager Marty O'Neill's plan is that these two additions will help offset the losses of Kasey Beirnes and Scott Stewart in the forseeable future.
Nick Patterson is the undisputed number one goaltender in Minnesota after being Second Team All-NLL the last two years. Disher, who had been original member of the Swarm in 2005, will be replaced by Kevin Croswell, who the Swarm drafted in 2006 and had on their practice squad in 2007.
The Swarm roster battles probably left to be decided before the roster deadline on the 13th, should be the last two or three defensive spots and the decision to carry either four lefty or five righty forwards or five lefty and four righty forwards.
The Toronto Rock have won five of the last nine NLL championships; however, like the Swarm have lost in the first round of the playoffs the last two years. They have added two excellent veteran defensemen in Cam Woods and Peter Lough and acquired Beirnes, in a trade from the Swarm this offseason, to add righthanded scoring punch to the Rock. The Rock still have the best assistman in the league in Josh Sanderson and Bob Watson has always been a thorn in the Swarm's side in between the pipes.
The Swarm will make their first appearance in Minnesota on Saturday, January 5th. That day, the Swarm will be hosting an open house for their fans, free of charge, at the Xcel Energy Center from 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm CST. The highlight of the day will be a blue-white intrasquad scrimmage.
The Swarm's regular season begins on Friday, January 11th at 6:30 pm CST in Toronto against the Rock. Their home opener is the next night, Saturday, January 12th, at the Xcel Energy Center at 7:00 pm CST.