Damon Edwards has been one of the great leaders in the National Lacrosse League.
Recently, the former captain and 13-season NLL veteran decided it was time for him to retire from pro box lacrosse. This is his first extended interview since announcing his retirement from the NLL.
Damon and I talked about family, friendship, championship games, being resilient, and much more. Enjoy this latest edition of TLMP!
Dillon Ward is one of the best goalies of his generation, and arguably of all time. Whether he's playing in the PLL, NLL, or on the international stage, Ward shines on any stage.
In this episode of the Lacrosse Matrix, Ward and I talk PLL action with the Philadelphia Waterdogs, NLL action with the Colorado Mammoth, and so much more in this jam-packed episode of the pod.
The rust is coming off after a prolonged hiatus, but TLMP is back in business. Enjoy this episode!
It’s been 3+ years in the making, and now episode #100 of TLMP is officially here!
Over the years, I’ve spoken with some of the greatest athletes and smartest minds around the National Lacrosse League, talking to them about their careers and breaking down some of their most impressive statistical achievements.
Graeme Perrow’s site NLLStats.com has allowed me to dive into these guys' numbers like never before. Without Graeme’s website, this show wouldn’t be what it is today. That got me thinking: How can I thank Graeme for how much he’s helped me become who I am in the lacrosse world? Sure, I’ll buy him a beer (or two) when I see him next, but is there is a better way to honor the man who has complied all of the data when want to see than making him the featured guest on the 100th episode? I don’t think there is.
In this episode, Graeme tells his story about how he got involved in the NLL and all the different projects he’s been involved with over the years. We also go over some of the best features on NLLStats.com, and he gives me his thoughts on what we can expect in Week 21, the final weekend of the NLL regular season.
Cody Jamieson is one of the greatest lacrosse players of this generation, and many might say one of the best they’ve seen.
Since signing an NLL record-setting 10-year deal with the original Rochester Knighthawks back in 2010, Cody Jamieson has shined with the Knighthawks-turned-Halifax Thunderbirds.
He’s an excellent scorer and masterful facilitator, but he’s equally as great of a leader and teammate. Jamieson is one of the best ambassadors the NLL has ever had.
In this conversation, Jamieson and I spoke about a record he’s recently broken, records that he’ll soon be breaking, why he loves lacrosse, playing in front of the passionate Thunderbirds fans, and much more. Enjoy Ep. 99 of TLMP!
Shawn Williams is a National Lacrosse League Hall of Famer, a GM, and Head Coach. He was one of the greatest facilitators the NLL has ever seen. More importantly, though, he is a father and a husband.
Coach Williams is one of the most respected men in the NLL. He and his family have had to find their way through unimaginable grief after losing their youngest son, Tucker, to Burkett’s Lymphoma when he was still a young boy.
Over the last few years, Coach Williams has been the GM/Head Coach of the Las Vegas Desert Dogs. This season has not gone to plan (the team is 3-12 as of the release of this episode), but they plan to compete for a win for the rest of the 3 games remaining in their schedule.
Enjoy this conversation as Coach Williams and I chatted about so many of his players and what makes them valuable to the team. We discussed the passionate Desert Dogs fan base and much more.
Ed Comeau has coached a lot of National Lacrosse League regular season games - most of them with the Georgia Swarm. He has coached so many games in the NLL, in fact, that only Derek Keenan has coached more games.
Coach Comeau had the honor and privilege to learn from one of the greatest coaches in NLL history, Les Bartley. Since, Coach Comeau has gone on to achieve impressive feats and continues to be one of the leading and most respected coaches in the sport.
Enjoy this conversation as Coach Comeau and I chatted about his extended time in the NLL, including a very cool, yet brief stint with the New York Titans, some of the players that he’s coached in the NLL (and what they’re up to now) and much more.
The Albany FireWolves' Will Johansen is having a National Lacrosse League rookie season to remember. He’s been playing so well, in fact, that he may end up winning the NLL’s Rookie of the Year.
Johansen is a Victoria, British Columbia native but spent his collegiate years playing at Robert Morris University alongside a handful of Canadians who are playing in the NLL.
As of this episode, Johansen’s FireWolves are on a 3-game win streak and sit 11th in the standings. They are still very much in the playoff hunt, which is great for them as the team is heating up at the right time.
Check out this conversation with Will Johansen as we talk about injuries, RMU, Canadians playing field lacrosse, March Madness, the FireWolves season, and so much more.
The Buffalo Bandits Kyle Buchanan brings a veteran presence and unwavering skill to the floor every week.
Buchanan was picked in the last round (6th) in the 2012 NLL Entry Draft. He has proved a lot of doubters wrong throughout his pro career, and this season, 12 years in at 37 years old, he’s on pace to set a new single-season-high in goals.
Originally from Ottawa, Buchanan thought, for a moment, and maybe playing for the Ottawa Black Bears this season, but realistically, he was not going to leave a great situation in Buffalo.
In this conversation, you’ll hear all about his thought process about coming back to play for the Bandits this season, the emotional roller coaster ride of the past few weeks for the Bandits, how the Bandits play team ball, and much more.
Make sure to check out this episode featuring a player who could go on to be part of an extremely rare NLL three-peat.
Connor Robinson is an NLL champion and a staple on the Colorado Mammoth offense.
It’s great for the league that he has been able to blossom into the player that many expected to be in Colorado because in Saskatchewan (when he was with the Saskatchewan Rush for the earliest parts of his NLL career), it wasn’t clear what was going to become of Robinson.
He’s been a top scorer for the Mammoth, and this season he is one of the team’s best playmakers. He’s a versatile talent that play an important role on a team with a deep offensive.
In this conversation, we spoke about the Mammoth’s success this season and compared it to the low points of last season. We also talked about the team’s mentality without the likes of Zed Williams and Eli McLaughlin. We also spoke a lot about his time at High Point University, the growth of lacrosse in the Carolinas, and his Jr. A ball with the New Westminster Salmonbellies.
The Calgary Roughnecks have surprised a lot of lacrosse fans during the 2024-25 NLL Season. Heading into Week 16 action, the Roughneck are 7-6 and sitting in 6th place in the standings.
Justin Inacio has played an integral role in the team’s success this season. He’s been very reliable at the face-off dot and making sure his offense gets ample opportunities with the ball.
The fact that he’s been as good as he has been this year despite missing much of last season due to a hamstring injury and other lower body injuries prior to that makes what he’s doing even more impressive.
In this episode, Justin and I talked about his injuries, his success this season, what it was like to beat the Buffalo Bandits in Banditland, the remainder of the Roughnecks' season coming up, and we chatted a lot about The Ohio State University.
Josh Sanderson is a legend of the National Lacrosse League. He is one of the rare NLL Hall of Fame players for a reason.
His playing career (1998-2016) was one of the greatest spectacles the lacrosse world has ever seen. Now as the Head Coach of the Calgary Roughnecks, he’s hoping to find tremendous success on the bench.
Coach Sanderson touched on a bevy of interesting topics in our conversation, from his early days in the NLL to what made him such a great facilitator to his introduction to being a head coach in the NLL and much more.
Corey Small has been one of the most consistent excellent goal scorers in NLL history.
He’s scored over 400+ goals in his NLL regular season career over 14 seasons. He’s a 7-time 30+ goal scorer, and has also tallied over 900 points.
A St. Catharines, Ontario native, Small has grown up watching some great lacrosse players. He’s watched a lot of Buffalo Bandits’ games in his life, but since joining the Toronto Rock ahead of the 2022-23 season, he’s grown to hate them (at least during the season).
Small and I chatted about his greatness as a goal scorer, his dominance in Vancouver, his connections with Rhys Duch, John Lintz, and Brett Mydske and much more.
This was a fun, candid conversation you won’t want to miss.
Thomas McConvey is one of the brightest young stars in the National Lacrosse League.
At only 24-years-old he’s made his mark in NLL and Rochester Knighthawks history. I guess, we shouldn’t have expected much less from the #1 overall draft pick in the 2022 NLL Entry Draft.
While McConvey had a great rookie year, he’s on pace to set new career-highs in multiple categories in his sophomore season. He’s really panning out to be what many of us expected him to be.
Enjoy this conversation with the rising Knighthawks star. We talked about his big game performances so far in his NLL career, his time at the University of Vermont, the gruelling schedule the Knighthawks faced in their first 12 games, and much more!
Paul Dawson embodies what it means to be a gritty warrior when he steps onto NLL floors.
He is tough, he is fearless, and he’ll do whatever he has to do to help his team win games. He has played a pivotal role in the Bandits' success over the last year, including helping them win the NLL Cup in 2024.
Dawson is one of the best at blocking shots in the NLL and we talked all about how he has the guts to step in front of a hard rubber ball that’s going around 80mph.
In this conversation, Paul and I talk about the Bandits' hot start to their season, his experience of being traded last season, his golf experience in San Diego, his side gig as a podcast co-host, and more.
You won’t want to miss this candid conversation with one of the NLL’s most battle-tested veterans.
San Diego Seals Captain Wes Berg knows how to help his team win.
In Week 12 NLL action, Berg led his Seals into Banditland to face the Buffalo Bandits and helped his side to a dramatic 14-13 OT win. Berg not only scored 5 goals in that game, but he also scored the game-winner in OT.
Despite the Seals’ 3-5 start, they have now won 2 massive road games against the Toronto Rock and Bandits, respectively, to move to 5-5 on the season. They are now right back in the thick of the playoff race, currently sitting in 9th, only behind the Vancouver Warriors for that final playoff spot because of tie-breaks.
But this conversation involved much more than chatting about the Seals’ most recent game. Berg and I talked about fishing, great brunch spots in San Diego, and much more. Make sure you give this one a listen to stay up-to-date on everything Seals’ lacrosse and Wes Berg.
Tyrell Hamer-Jackson is back in the National Lacrosse League.
The face-off man/defenseman has signed a 1-year deal with the Las Vegas Desert Dogs, a team that has been looking for their long-term reliable guy at the dot since their inaugural season in 2022.
Hamer-Jackson had a couple of great years, winning draws in Vancouver with the Vancouver Warriors in 2022 and 2023. Now with the Desert Dogs, he’s focused on taking things one draw a time.
We also chatted about Hamer-Jackson’s Loading Lacrosse and his very unique and exciting day job.
Give this a listen. If you’re a Desert Dogs fan, you’ll want to learn all about your newest guy at the dot.
Connor Kirst is the captain of the Las Vegas Desert Dogs. He has been a leader in every sense of the world, both on and off the floor.
He is one of the rare Americans who has ever been a captain of an American National Lacrosse League team. What an incredible honor to have for a guy and a family that has given so much to the beautiful game of lacrosse both in the box and on the field.
Enjoy the in-depth conversation with Captain Kirst. We chatted about everything from his history playing box to being named captain of the Desert Dogs to his brother CJ Kirst of Cornell University helping to raise money for CityLax through their #GBSFORNYC initiative.
Christian Del Bianco is considered to be one of, if not the best, NLL goaltenders, and he’s not even playing in the NLL this season.
The former Calgary Roughnecks goaltender, NLL Goaltender of the Year, and NLL champion is hoping to get back into the NLL after he told the Roughnecks he wasn’t going to play for them anymore. Still, the Roughnecks have not let him go anywhere just yet.
Del Bianco has been playing in the Arena Lacrosse League for the Grizzles while he’s been out of the NLL and has been one of that league’s best goaltenders this season.
Del Bianco and I talked about everything that is going on in his life right now, from the ALL to moving into his new home and dove into his past and present in the NLL.
We don’t hear from Christian Del Bianco often when it comes to all of these issues (unless through a humorous tweet), so make sure to give this entire conversation a listen to get all the latest on the Christian Del Bianco saga and much more.
We can never forget about the people who paved the way to make the National Lacrosse League what it is today.
Neil Doddridge played in the NLL for 14 seasons from 1991-2005. He played in 8 different cities during his time in the league and won two NLL championships, one in 1991 with the Detroit Turbos and the other in 1996 with the Buffalo Bandits.
He was a tough, no-nonsense defender who always had his teammate's backs. Many of the guys he played with became NLL legends, including Paul Gait, Gary Gait, and John Tavares.
Neil and I dove into his long history in the NLL, what the game and the league were like in the 1990s and early 2000s, and much more.
The Toronto Rock’s Tom Schreiber, aka “Captain America,” is one of the best Americans to ever play in the National Lacrosse League.
Schreiber has recently returned to the floor for the Rock after recovering from yet another injury. In his first couple of games back, he looks locked in. He is now on the cusp of moving up the Rock’s all-time ranks in both assists and goals - he could achieve both milestones this weekend.
Enjoy this conversation as Tom and I chat about the Rock, dishing the rock, scoring for the Rock, and a little bit about the NFL playoffs.