Dangle Days Weekend Recap: The Best Dunks Of The Week Came From The NLL
The NBA season is in full swing. College basketball as well. Hell, I’m sure there are even still a few random SlamBall games being played somewhere in the world. It doesn’t matter, however, because the best dunks of the weekend were in the NLL and that’s just a fact. Starting off with Mark Matthews going airborn from behind the cage to stuff one on the Toronto Rock.
I know that everybody here might not be the biggest lacrosse fan in the world and maybe you’ve never watched box lacrosse before. But there’s such a small chance of this play actually resulting in a good goal. Not only did Mark Matthews barely have any room to tuck the ball past Nick Rose’s shoulder there, but he also had to make sure he got enough hang time where the ball could hit the back of the net before his feet touch the ground in the crease. I’d say 95% of the league ends up with a crease violation on this play. But not Mark Matthews because the dude is a freak of nature. And speaking of freakishly athletic goals in the NLL from the weekend, let’s check in with Calgary Roughnecks rookie Zach Currier.
Oh.
My.
God.
The speed. The balls to go airborn there knowing that you’re going to eat shit and come up with some gnarly turf burn. And then the skill to tuck that one in the back of the net from behind the net on the backhand. I don’t care who you are or what your thoughts are on lacrosse. You can’t watch this highlight and tell me with a straight face that this wasn’t one of the more impressive displays of athleticism you’ve seen in a while. Pure filth.
Off the carpet and on to the ice, let’s get ourselves going with the London Knights going full Globetrotters on the Sarnia Sting.
Cliff Pu, Buffalo Sabres 2016 3rd round pick, with the no-look drop pass to the slot and then it’s Sam Miletic, Pittsburgh Penguins undrafted free agent, going between the legs like only a true beauty knows how for the goal. Now I don’t want to give Pu any shit here (pun intended) for handcuffing Miletic with that pass, but it wasn’t right on the tape. So most people in this situation just try to get a stick on the puck, hope to put it on net and pray somebody comes crashing down for a rebound. Not Sam Miletic. He makes the body adjustment, lets the puck go between his legs and one-touches it like it’s nothing.
To the NHL…. Will Butcher should start calling Alexander Radulov “Uber” because he just took him for a ride.
So much strength and power on this take to the net from Radulov that it’s almost like he has non-human abilities. We can all rest assured that he’s clean though considering it’s not like he’s from a country that employs state-mandated doping regimens for their athletes. Sidenote: Imagine if Montreal’s management didn’t despise Russians? They’d still have Radulov, they’d still have Sergachev. Instead, they’re currently sitting at 12th place in the Eastern Conference with a goal differential of -16.
Bare Knuckle Dance Of The Week
We had a line brawl between the Hershey Bears and Providence Bruins that ended with a goalie tilt. If you’re wondering why the goalie fight was a little… well… soft, it’s because Jordan Binnington and Phoenix Copley used to be teammates with the Chicago Wolves for the past 2 seasons. So they’re boys. They’ve shared a locker room together and I doubt either one of them is looking to give the other a concussion or anything. But hats off to the boys for still dropping the mitts anyway. It’s a line brawl in the AHL. If that doesn’t end with a goalie fight then neither tendy is truly Ferda Boys. They put their friendship aside for a minute and made sure they gave the fans what they wanted to see.
Hockey Tough Son Of A Bitch Of The Week
Brock Boeser took a Mark Giordano shot to the inside of the foot. He can’t put any weight on it and is clearly in a fuck ton of pain. But he’s hockey tough. He’s not going to just lay there on the ice and stop play while the trainers come out to help him off the ice. So he still manages to crawl over 100 feet to his bench and get off on his own. What a savage. Unfortunately, it sounds like the injury might be a little serious and Boeser had to use crutches to leave the rink.
Angry Ginger Of The Week
You do NOT leave Claude Giroux hanging on his post-win business handshakes. The Flyers have managed to win 6-games in a row after a horrific 10-game losing skid. After each win, Captain Claude gives everybody a very formal handshake on their way off the ice. The Flyers are a team who can use all the luck in the world right now and that means they’ve been getting extremely superstitious over the last couple of weeks. This is one of those superstitions. As much as Claude loves Wayne Simmonds, he loves winning more.
Gender Reveal of the Week
Erik Karlsson has scored 118 goals in his NHL career so far. This was his best celebration of all. Congrats on the sex and I’d start keeping tabs on his son now if I were an NHL scout.
And that’s gonna do it for this week’s recap. Thanks for stopping by and don’t forget to stay saucy, my friends.