Author: Brandon Gilfoy
The Halifax Thunderbirds make their return to the National Lacrosse League (NLL) playoffs this Sunday as the T-Birds migrate south to meet their vexatious former eastern conference rival: The Albany Firewolves.
I call this a vexatious rivalry because the Firewolves have held a one-sided history against the Thunderbirds, winning four out of five since Albany’s inception in 2022. However, despite this, the games have always remained tight. The greatest margin of defeat has only been a three-goal difference in their short history as rivals, so expect this game to go down to the wire in another tightly battled contest.
The Firewolves ripped through the first half of the regular season, rattling off six straight victories, including a 12-10 win over the Thunderbirds during their only meeting of the season in January. The Firewolves host this game due to their higher point total in the standings with a third-place finish, however, Halifax lands as the narrow betting favourite on Proline’s Sportsbook, at 1.81 (meaning for every dollar you bet, you stand to win $0.81 if the Thunderbirds are victorious). In my opinion, the Sportsbook is judging how both teams finished down the stretch, which saw Albany, who went 11-7 this season, take 5 of their 7 losses during the last two months of the season. Dan Arestia, of the Sticks In podcast, spoke to me about Albany’s downturn and attributed this to a struggling offense; in those seven Albany losses, four of them saw the Firewolves score seven or fewer goals. In a high-scoring league like the NLL, which sees an average combined score of 25 goals per game, the Firewolves must rely on their offensive catalysts to keep pace with the high-octane Thunderbirds.
Arestia also alerted me to The Firewolves’ electrifying attack, led by exceptional first-year forward, Alex Simmons. In 2024 alone, Simmons scored a remarkable 38 goals and 96 points, the second-highest point total by a rookie in NLL history. Given his generational numbers, Simmons has made an undeniable case for Rookie Of The Year honours and will be one to watch against the Thunderbirds this weekend.
Fellow rookie Tye Kurtz, who set records in goals and points during his time at the University of Delaware, brings speed and a natural goal-scoring ability to The Firewolves’ attack.Now at the professional level, Kurtz and Simmons bring a swift 1-2 scoring punch that has translated seamlessly from the collegiate level. The veteran Thunderbird’s defence face a formidable challenge with the fleet-footed duo.
The Thunderbirds wielded an explosive offense, securing second place in the league for goals scored during the 2023-24 season. A multitude of veteran offensive catalysts led the charge, poised to challenge the young Firewolves team in the franchise’s first postseason birth.
We begin with leading scorer Clarke Petterson, a dynamic forward who has spent his entire four-year professional career with the Thunderbirds, who made him their fifth overall pick out of Cornell University, where he enjoyed a spectacular Ivy League career with the Big Red. Four years later, Petterson has dominated the NLL, and that did not change in 2024. He has led the team in points, while eclipsing the 100-point total for the first time in his career. Simultaneously, Petterson became the first Thunderbird in franchise history to reach the century mark. At 5 ’10”, Petterson is not the biggest forward on the team, but he plays with a versatility that keeps the opposing team guessing; he can unleash a missile from distance or even crash the net, throwing himself across the front of goal with reckless abandon.
Ageless wonder Ryan Benesch added another incredible chapter to his illustrious NLL career in 2024, scoring 42 goals in 18 games for the Thunderbirds. At 39 years of age, Benesch has been a model of consistency during his NLL career, sitting at fourth all-time in goals with 553. A pinpoint sharpshooter who can score from anywhere in the offensive zone, what Benesch lacks in speed he more than makes up for it with ample playoff experience. With the Thunderbirds traveling to Albany in a winner-take-all matchup, his playoff experience will prove crucial if the Thunderbirds are to move on.
Speaking of playoff experience, Thunderbirds Captain Cody Jamieson has that in spades. The former league MVP achieved that honour in 2014 and also won a league championship with Rochester the same year (Rochester moved to Halifax in 2019). Jamieson knows what it takes to win in the playoffs and is at his best when deployed with running mate Randy Staats. The two have extensive history together, playing for the Six Nations Chiefs of Major Series Lacrosse and it is more than apparent when the two lace up together for the Thunderbirds.
Staats has battled health issues during his career, and this season was no different, limiting him to only 8 games. When healthy, Staats is one of the most dominant players on the floor. His ability to score at will while spreading the floor with no-look-behind-the-back passes adds a dangerous dynamic to an already clinical offense.
According to Ty Merrow of TyMer Lacrosse, the Thunderbirds will look to take advantage of the Firewolves’ weaknesses in Special Teams. The Firewolves have struggled in this area of the game, ranking last on the powerplay and next-to-last on the penalty kill. Naturally, during the playoffs, powerplay opportunities dry up as the game becomes more physical and the referees tend to put their whistles away. With the Thunderbirds having a league-best penalty kill and a top-5 power play, look for Halifax to dominate this crucial aspect of the game on Sunday.
To put the game into perspective, Adam Levi reported on social platform X, formally twitter, that this will be Albany’s first playoff home game in 22 years, predating the current iteration of the Firewolves when the franchise was the Albany Attack. Meanwhile, Halifax has yet to host their first playoff game in franchise history. Having lost twice on the road to the Toronto Rock, a win Sunday would see them enter a best-of-3 matchup, clinching a potential home game. With so much on the line between both teams, expect a raucous crowd on hand to take in what should be an offensive light show in the State of New York.
Credit to:
Dan Arestia – @danarestia – Sticks In podcast
Ty Merrow – @tymerLax – TyMer Lacrosse
Adam Levi – @adamleviNLL – Lacrosse matrix podcast
Bethanee Diamond – Editor