The National Lacrosse League’s crackdown on hits to the head was put to the test in Colorado’s season opener, a 20-15 victory over Rochester on Saturday night at the Pepsi Center.
And it will be tested in the NLL office as league officials decide the fate of Knighthawks star John Grant Jr., who blindsided unsuspecting Mammoth defender John Gallant as time expired, snapping Gallant’s neck back and causing a concussion.
Grant was assessed a match penalty and expulsion and will serve a minimum one-game suspension. Upon review, he could be suspended for several games, a decision that is not expected until Thursday.
Although commissioner Jim Jennings does not weigh in on such decisions, he was in the crowd and witnessed the infraction. Jennings is a proponent of cleaning up dangerous play.
The referees termed Grant’s actions as “intent to injure,” another factor in the expectation that he could sit a fair portion of the 16-game season.
In the third quarter, Gallant was the first to be sent off for a five-minute major penalty for an illegal cross-check. Midway through the fourth quarter, the Knighthawks’ Marshall Abrams was penalized five minutes for the same offense.
Abrams’ infraction triggered a huge momentum swing, beginning with Brian Langtry’s fifth and sixth goals – scored in a 20-second span – to give Colorado the lead for good.
While Abrams was in the penalty box, Dan Carey and Mike Law scored power-play goals to push the lead to four goals, and Carey scored again for the final differential.
Mammoth coach Gary Gait singled out his team’s late-game composure as the difference in a game that was tied nine times.
“I thought it was mental discipline,” he said. “These games have a way of going back and forth. The team that has the composure usually comes out on top. Our players got mentally tough and said, ‘We’re not going to make stupid mistakes or take penalties.”‘
As for Langtry’s six-goal sock trick and four assists, Gait said: “He just had an outstanding game. We had 20 goals and he led the way. We moved the ball. We have room for improvement, but I’m certainly happy with the way the offense played and the way the defense stepped up.”
Langtry, a local school teacher, was so fatigued by his efforts that he was barely aware of the hundreds of socks tossed by fans onto the floor to celebrate his sock trick, the third in Colorado’s five-year history.
“I was so tired, just sitting on the bench,” he said. “It’s really special the way these fans treat us every day. It is a reason to live.”
Langtry, who scored 10 goals in three postseason games last spring, including the NLL championship, dedicated his efforts to his wife’s mother, who recently passed away.
