Philadelphia Wings Snider Brothers tandem of Geoff and Bob Snider, hailing from Calgary, AL, will have an opportunity to return home to play in front of family and friends when the Wings travel to Calgary to face the Roughnecks at the Pengrowth Saddledome on Saturday, March 6 at 9:30 p.m.  Calgary is riding a three-game winning streak into this Saturday’s match-up.

“It’s great being back in Calgary,” said Geoff.  “The city has a huge lacrosse following that has grown exponentially from the Roughnecks contributions in the community, and I am so excited to play in the Saddledome in front of my family and friends.  Being able to suit up in Calgary with Bobby is a dream come true.”

“Getting to play side by side with my older brother has been pretty incredible,” said Bob.  “Having our friends and family cheering us on is going to be a great experience and we are both really looking forward to stepping out on the floor.”

Upon returning from Calgary, the Wings will then travel to Orlando to face the Titans on Friday, March 12 before returning home to Wachovia Center on Saturday, March 13 at 7 p.m. to take on the Minnesota Swarm.

Series Notes:

Overall:  Wings lead 2-0

At Philadelphia: Wings lead 1-0
At Calgary: Wings lead 1-0
Last Meeting: February 10, 2007; Wings won at the Pengrowth Saddledome 10-7

About the Roughnecks:
The Roughnecks are currently third in the NLL's West Division and have won their last three games. They are fourth in the League on the power play, converting on 48% of their opportunities, and seventh in the League in killing power plays 53% of the time. The Bandits are 3-1 at home this season.

Josh Sanderson leads the Bandits with 48 points (17G, 31A), which is seventh overall in the NLL.  Dane Dobbie (15G, 18A) and Tracey Kelusky (13G, 20A) are tied for second on the team in scoring with 33 points.  Matt King has played the majority of the minutes in net for Calgary posting a 11.24 goals against average and a .74 save percentage.

About the Wings:

The Wings, are currently fifth in the East Division.  Philadelphia is ninth in the League on the power play, converting on 34% of their chances.  The Wings, formerly last in power play, were 5/7 versus Buffalo which allowed them to move up two spots in this category.  They rank 11th in the NLL in penalty killing with a 46% kill percentage. The Wings are 1-3 on the road this season.

Kyle Wailes leads the Wings with 35 points (13G, 22A) which is 16^th overall in the league.  Drew Westervelt with 30 points (14G, 16A) and Mat Giles with 29 points (12G, 17A) are second and third on the team in scoring.  Wings goalie Brandon Miller continues to be the busiest in the NLL having faced 398 shots in his eight games played.  

Coaches Corner:

Wings General Manager and Head Coach David Huntley on the team’s unwillingness to give up on executing team strategy and playing with a faster line-up:

“Well, I think we played two games that we weren’t real proud of, and again credit to Orlando and Toronto because I think they had just as much to do with outcome as us.  In the other six games we played, we played well enough to win and you know we’ve only got two wins out of that so hopefully we’ll continue to play well.  We weren’t re-energized or re-focused I think that’s what I’m proudest about our guys this year.  They never quit on each other and they continue to go out there and continue to believe in their process and execute that to the best of their ability. Unfortunately we only have two wins to show for that right now but I think if we keep playing that way we’ll continue to get many more as the year goes on.”

“I think we had some success playing with a faster line-up.  It’s not broken so we won’t fix it.  You look at a team like Calgary who plays very aggressive and a trapping style defense with some terrific athletes back there. We better be able to move our feet or the balls going to end up pretty quickly in the back of our nets.  We need to be at our best athletically and through the middle zones of the field because they’ve got some terrific guys up in the back who can hurt you real quick.”

Calgary Rougnecks’ Owner and General Manager Brad Banister on his team’s performance in the first half of the season and this week’s matchup with the Wings :

“Well I think, the team chemistry this season is a big factor. We came out a little flat, which I think they call the championship hangover, and it took a little while with the new coaches in place and for the guys to kind of get to their comfort zone.  We lost a couple of real good coaches last year, obviously with Troy and Terry.  It took a little while for these guys to group together and they have as of late and we’re certain to win some games now so it’s looking a lot better.”

“I don’t believe their record is indicative to how they’re playing. I think they’re a great team and it’s always fun to have Philadelphia and all the US cities come into Calgary.  You know it’s just one of those games that doesn’t happen very often, you know we’ve only seen Philly a couple times in the last 9 years so we’re excited about the matchup and its good to see Geoff Snider and Taylor Wray back you know, Geoff’s a Calgary kid and Taylor is from Edmonton and we know both those guys real well and they’re both quality people and it’ll be exciting to see them play against us.”