April 9, 2022 – National Lacrosse League (NLL) – Panther City Lacrosse Club News Release
Calgary, Alberta – The Panther City Lacrosse Club held a shootaround prior to tonight’s game against the Calgary Roughnecks at 8:00 p.m. CT at the Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary.
Panther City had a week off for the first time since going undefeated in the month of March and building the NLL’s longest current winning streak to five, the third longest win streak for an expansion team in league history. Tonight will be the third and final matchup versus the Roughnecks this season, and the winner will hold the tiebreaker for a playoff spot should the team’s finish with an identical record. So far this season, the road team has won both games, as the Roughnecks defeated Panther City, 13 – 12, at Dickies Arena in February, while Panther City shut out Calgary in the third quarter on the club’s way to a 14 – 11 victory at the Saddledome.
See below for quotes from Panther City Head Coach Tracey Kelusky and forward Cam Milligan prior to tonight’s matchup with Calgary.
HEAD COACH TRACEY KELUSKY QUOTES
On shootaround after a week off…
“It was good. The bye is refreshing. We said the break was to recharge, reset and refocus. By all accounts, the guys seemed to come in fresh, they were excited to be here, they were crisp and it was a great practice.”
On the message to the team for a playoff push…
“What’s changed? We have said it since day one: we want to get wins over losses, and we want to make the playoffs, but everything is a process based. What has changed in our mind? The championship has been looming since day one, the playoffs have been looming since day one. It is game 15 and nothing has changed. You want to go out and play for your teammate and to continue to build that culture. Culture is something you always want to work on, regardless of want point in the season. At some point, as a coach you gotta hand the reigns over to the guys and let them police themselves. But at the same time, nothing has changed from my perspective. Yes, we are chasing playoffs, but we are also chasing more important things, which is chemistry in the locker room which is conducive to success.”
On what you want to change since the last time you faced Calgary…
“The big thing for us is we have to be more efficient in what we are doing and that’s been since day one. We are certainly going to prepare for our opposition and the scout. They got an exceptional coach, maybe the best coach in the league with Curt Malawsky, who is a tactical wizard. He will be scouting us no different then we have been scouting them. It boils down to execution and how we prepare, but more than anything it boils down to us being efficient in everything we are doing and building on our systems.”
On what forward Cam Milligan has done to drive the power play…
“I have said it before and I will say it again, Milli’s IQ is one of the best in the game. He has been a quarterback for power plays for a long time. Kudos to him, taking the opportunity when he was on the outside looking in on this league. I know Cam well; he has been a friend since he lived just five houses down from me when he was a kid. Cam is a great person, and I am really excited for the success that he is having and making the most of his opportunity.”
FORWARD CAM MILLIGAN QUOTES
On how everything has come together after a week off…
“It is going well so far. Coming off a bye week, it is good to get the stick out there and get sweating again. I thought we had some hard work out there and TK put us through the paces last night and this morning and I think we are ready to go for a big matchup tonight.”
On the biggest keys to success tonight…
“Working hard on the offense, picking up the loose balls and keeping the ball out of the back of our net. Our defense is doing a great job, so it is making it easy for our offense. We are just going out there, playing our game, and having lots of success with that.”
On playing for Coach Kelusky, who lived down the street when he was growing up…
“It is great. I grew up watching TK my whole life. He coached me in junior, he has coached my travel team all the way up. We have played together and had a lot of success together with the junior an travel team and during the summer with the [Peterborough] Lakers, we won the Mann Cup together. I idolized TK, so it is a full circle moment getting to play with and for TK here in Panther City.”
On playing for Head Coach Tracey Kelusky in Calgary where his jersey is retired…
“It is awesome to look up and see TK in the rafters. All the stuff he accomplished here with Calgary, it’s just great to play for him and in his spot in Calgary.”
On the improved power play since he joined the team…
“Our power play has been working really well. During the month of March, we had 75% there and we have lots of threats on our power play so it makes it really tough to stop. You can’t just isolate one guy, as everyone is scoring now and that makes it tough.”
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