April 30, 2008
by Tom Borrelli, Special to Lacrosse Magazine Online
Appearing in the postseason was almost a foregone conclusion during Ryan Powell's four All-American seasons at Syracuse University.
The Orange won the NCAA tournament during Powell's senior campaign of 2000, beating Princeton, 13-7, in the championship game in College Park, Md. That was Powell's 11th postseason game at Syracuse, which reached the final four in all of his four years.
But since entering the National Lacrosse League in 2001, Powell has played in a grand total of one playoff game. That will change Sunday afternoon when Powell and the Portland LumberJax face the San Jose Stealth in a West Division semifinal at HP Pavilion.
"We feel as though we have just as good a shot as anybody to win the championship," said the 30-year-old Powell, who finished second on the team in scoring with 21 goals, 43 assists and 64 points. "We don't want the past experiences to influence us one way or the other."
Powell's only taste of NLL playoff action was a bummer. His LumberJax went a division-best 11-5 in 2006 during the franchise's first season in Portland. But the journey was short-lived, courtesy of the fourth-seeded Arizona Sting, who pulled a 14-11 upset in the Rose Garden to begin their march to the Champion's Cup final.
Portland fell into the West Division cellar at 4-12 last season, but rebounded to finish 6-10 this year, good enough for the fourth spot in the West.
Even though his lone playoff appearance was two years ago, Powell feels he'll still be able to draw positively from the experience.
"You have to look at the NBA playoffs, where the Atlanta Hawks are playing against the Boston Celtics," said the 6-foot-1, 205-pounder, who is tied for second with older brother Casey on SU's career scoring list. "Any experience you can have in the postseason is obviously going to help you. We know about the speed and energy, and how all of that picks up, so we know what to expect.
"We have a lot of new faces, and for a lot of guys, it will be the first time going to the playoffs. But as long as our core leadership group kind of shares those experiences in the playoffs, it will be very helpful."
Casey Powell and his second-year New York Titans also made it to the playoff party, and will face the Minnesota Swarm in the Xcel Energy Center Saturday night in the East Division semifinals.
The Titans began their second season in the NLL with a 14-11 victory over the Jax in the Rose Garden on Jan. 12. Casey won that brotherly battle with four goals and four assists, compared to two goals and three assists for Ryan.
"It's great that we'll both be in it," said Ryan, who lives in Portland. "It would be awesome to have an opportunity to play against each other. We thought about how special it was that we were both out there [on opening night] and that Casey had come to my hometown. We took away a pretty special feeling that night."
Just as Casey had to learn the box game, so too did Ryan. He was the second overall pick in the 2000 draft and spent three seasons with the Buffalo Bandits, where he became an instant fan favorite at HSBC Arena. He scored 30 goals with 32 assists in 25 career games with the Bandits. But in 2004, he left the NLL to work on the coaching staff at his alma mater.
A year later, after moving to the West Coast, he resurfaced with the Anaheim Storm under coach Derek Keenan. And they've been together ever since.
"When I first got him in Anaheim four years ago, he was pretty green with the indoor game," said Keenan, who is the only coach the LumberJax have ever had. "He's a tremendous outdoor player, but [back then], he didn't understand a lot of the concepts."
That's where working with Keenan, who helped the Bandits win championships in 1992 and '93, really paid dividends.
"He just continues to get better at the indoor game every year," said Keenan. "He wants to get better. He constantly works on his shooting, because it's so different with the smaller nets. He works hard on the two-man [game] and all the little things. He still has a way to go, but he gets better every year. He's proven it with the numbers he's put up. He's pretty consistent."
The numbers bear out Keenan's assessment. With the Bandits, Powell averaged 1.2 goals and 2.48 points per game as one of the secondary options on a team loaded with experienced offensive players.
Since he resumed his NLL career in 2005, Powell has 71 goals, 131 assists and 202 points in 59 games. That translates to 1.2 goals per game, just like during his Buffalo days, but his 3.42 points per game are a marked improvement.
Powell has become a better passer. But that's not all.
"He's a lot wiser out there and a lot more poised," said Jax teammate Derek Malawsky. "He really understands the pick-and-roll and Canadian box style. He gets to spots really well. Not that he didn't before, but I can really see it now that I'm playing with him. He fits right in. He's a leader on and off the floor."
Whether playing field lacrosse or indoors, Powell has always been his own harshest critic.
"I still feel like I could get better at this game, but I feel pretty confident that I am there," said Powell. "I started to feel that way early last year. I had to be 'the guy' on our team, and at that point I felt I did know the game good enough and I was starting to feel comfortable that I was contributing every single time I stepped on the floor.
"I don't really have to think so much anymore. I still try to learn and pick up things from other people's games. But I'm comfortable in my game. My head was spinning my first couple years in this league, and I was thinking about staying out of guys' ways and trying to learn the pick-and-roll game."
On the field, Powell is a natural leader, much like his brothers Casey and Mike.
Some of that comes from the fact that he was a highly recruited quarterback during his days at Carthage High School in upstate New York. Syracuse wanted him to back up future All-Pro Donovan McNabb, and Rutgers offered him a football scholarship.
"I did consider it, but it just didn't pan out," Powell said of the chance to back up the Philadelphia Eagles' icon while at SU. "I got a full scholarship for lacrosse, and I didn't want to be worried about the conflicts between lacrosse and football practices. Lacrosse has been great for me, so now I'm happy to just be an armchair quarterback. I love the sport of football, and I do think once in a while what would have come of it had I gone the football route. Where would I be now?"
Where Powell is now is some place that his early-career critics might never have imagined. He's been selected for the NLL All-Star Game each of the last two seasons and is now a guy opposing coaches must game plan against.
"He's always been a good outside shooter, but he's really developed a knack that when he gets near the net, he can score that shot," said Bandits coach Darris Kilgour. "Early in his career, he could get to the net, but he wouldn't have much success scoring. So I think he's really worked on his touch.
"He's made the full transition to the box game. He's a good leader and a great one-on-one player. I think he can have success in this league for a long time."
But before he worries about the future, there's the matter of Sunday's playoff game, for which Powell has waited two years.
"He'll be a leader for us in the playoffs," Keenan said. "We'll be counting on him. It seems like when we've played really well, he's been a big part of it. When we haven't played well, he's been sort of quiet. So he needs to play well for us to be successful. There's no doubt about that."
Tom Borrelli is a sports writer for The Buffalo News
and a regular contributor to Lacrosse Magazine
and Lacrosse Magazine Online
. In 2007, Borrelli became the first media member honored by the National Lacrosse League Hall of Fame. He has covered the NLL for 16 years.
For more on the NLL and from Borrelli, check back to LMO each Wednesday throughout the 2008 season, or contact Borrelli at tbwrite@aol.com.
