The PLL Heads To Denver This Weekend And The Playoff Push Clearly Has Some Teams Sweating Their Wolf Athletic Balls Off
The PLL just unveiled their new throwback uniforms for this weekend, so luckily every team in the league is heading to Denver with some new jerseys anyway. That way it won't be any extra work for the equipment managers to slap a few new nameplates on the back of a few of these jerseys after some deals that went on this week.
It was just a few months ago that Romar Dennis was pretty much the face of the Atlas down at the Championship Series sixes tournament. But he's had a tough time finding the back of the net so far this summer, and maybe he just needs a new locker room to get himself going. We'll see if that does the trick after he was traded to the Redwoods this week in exchange for Myles Jones.
On the surface level, this seems like a massive nothing burger. Two guys who have both had some unproductive summers so far. Myles Jones has been in and out of the lineup with the Redwoods, and Romar Dennis just couldn't get himself going. It's just a player swap so it's not like there are any future draft picks on the line here. But sometimes all you need is a change of scenery. So one of these teams can come out as a clear winner of this trade if that's all it takes for their new guy to find their game again.
Speaking of guys looking to get their game going with a new team, Dylan Molloy signed with the Atlas this week after getting released by the Chrome.
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He won't be in the lineup this week for Atlas, and he only played two weeks so far this summer with Chrome. But this is a guy who has all the talent in the world, but for whatever reason he just hasn't been able to make himself irreplaceable with the Chrome. Granted, the Chrome are awful so far this summer and are sitting in last place at 1-6. But they have their guys and Molloy clearly wasn't one of them. So now he gets a new chance with the Atlas as they try to get themselves into the playoffs. If we're talking about guys who desperately needed a change of scenery, Dylan Molloy is at the top of the list. So this move should definitely give his game a massive boost whenever he gets into that Atlas lineup, but we won't see it yet.
Either way, it's pretty obvious that some teams are starting to sweat this final push for the playoffs more than others. And that's going to lead to a few more moves like the ones we saw this week. So on this week's episode of the podcast, we breakdown all these moves plus everything else you'll see coming up this weekend in Denver.
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PLL Week 8 Schedule // Denver, CO
Friday, 8pm // Chaos (4-3) vs Whipsnakes (3-4) // ESPN+
These teams played against each other just 2 weeks ago, and it was a 1-goal win for the Whipsnakes. The biggest difference heading into this week is that Josh Byrne will be out for the Chaos, so things definitely aren't going to be getting any easier for them. The Whips are playing hot lately, so I don't hate the Whipsnakes -1.5. But you're definitely playing with fire. Safe play here is just Whips ML.
Friday, 10:30pm // Chrome (1-6) vs Archers (6-1) // ESPN+
The Chrome are 1-6. The Archers are 6-1. You have nothing left to lose vs nothing left to gain. This seems like the ultimate trap game for the Archers. Not enough that I'd be willing to lock in Chrome ML. But give me the Chrome making this a game and forcing the Archers to have to score a shit ton of goals to beat them. Chrome +2.5 and Over 23.5.
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Saturday, 7pm // Atlas (2-5) vs Waterdogs (4-3) // ESPN2
I'd argue the most disappointing team in the league this summer has been the Atlas. They're not sitting in dead last, and luckily for them they are still in a playoff spot since 7 out of 8 teams in the league make the playoffs. But this team has too much potential to be this bad.
Combine that with the fact that the boys are playing in Denver this weekend and that's the house that Trevor Baptiste built? I think we're in for a big Atlas win on a nationally televised broadcast. Give me Atlas ML.
Saturday, 9:30pm // Cannons (5-2) vs Redwoods (3-4) // ESPN+
The Cannons are the hottest team in the league right now. They've won 5 straight, and they have one of the greatest offenses in the past decade of pro lacrosse. That's not hyperbole. That's backed by data.
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Meanwhile, this Redwoods team has one of the least efficient offenses in the past 8 years.
Call me crazy but I think one of those things is good, while the other is bad. So I'm gonna go ahead and just follow the numbers on this one. Cannons -1.5 and lock it in.
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