Jamie Hanford and Brian Langtry are part of a gamble Colorado Mammoth general manager Steve Govett is taking today in the National Lacrosse League expansion draft.
Hanford, the team’s faceoff specialist, and Langtry, its third-leading scorer, were exposed, along with veteran defenders Pat Coyle and Dave Stilley, backup goaltender Chris Levis, former University of Denver players Mike Law and Scott Davidson and 24-year-old forward Jordan Cornfield.
Boston, the newest NLL expansion team, will be allowed to choose one player from the Mammoth and each of the other 12 returning teams.
In recent seasons, the Mammoth lost productive players – including Del Halladay, Chris Gill and Dan Stroup – to expansion drafts.
The inclusion of the 31-year-old Hanford appears surprising because he led the league in faceoffs (275-of-416), and he lives and works in New York, a short commute from Boston.
“I understand that they have to protect the younger kids, but with me living on the East Coast, I might be vulnerable,” Hanford said. “I’m pretty much the only one on the East Coast.”
Govett said: “Well, you always run that risk. We’ve put ourselves in a pretty good position. Scott Davidson can take faceoffs and Jamie’s an unrestricted free agent, so Boston would have to make him a franchise player.”
Davidson, 25, a 2005 Mammoth draft pick, was on the practice squad for all but one game last season. In his debut, he won 19-of-29 faceoffs.
Franchise players are required to make 15 percent more than the veteran maximum salary, which was $20,280 in 2006, the most recent figures available from the NLL. League rookies made $6,552 in 2006, and the league average was $14,000.
Govett said Levis has made it known he will not change teams. That may or may not dissuade Boston coach Tom Ryan.
Several players have weekday jobs that prevent them from commuting to the East Coast.
Langtry, a teacher who lives in Parker, also is resistant to changing NLL teams because he cannot leave his job early on Fridays to catch flights for practices and games. With a career-high 67 points, including 31 goals, Langtry is the highest scorer exposed in the expansion draft.
The best scenario for keeping Colorado’s roster intact is if Boston selects Sean Morris, a Boston resident whose rights are owned by the Mammoth.
Morris, a 2006 All-American from the University of Massachusetts, did not play for Colorado last season.
Footnote
Syracuse University has not made an official announcement about the hiring of Mammoth coach Gary Gait as its women’s lacrosse coach. Gait has not returned phone messages.
