The Boston Blazers made the final cuts headed into the 2010 season today, with second round pick Matt Abbott and free agent Ryan Hotaling the only rookies to make the final 23-man active roster.
Abbott, captain of last year's NCAA Division I champion Syracuse Orange, will play as a left defenseman for the Blazers. Hotaling, whose role will either be on defense or as a transition player, was signed out of Nazareth College (N.Y.) after an open tryout with the team in September.
Wellesley, Mass. native Mike Stone, the team's sixth round pick out of Middlebury College, will stay with the team on the practice squad. Rookie free agent Matt Smalley, of Cumberland, R.I. and Hobart College, will also join the practice squad. Chris Ajermian and Ethan Vedder, the other two roster casualties, may yet stay on with the team in practice player roles - that has yet to be determined.
The Blazers will benefit from continuity on offense this year, as all seven forwards were with the team last year, including NLL MVP Dan Dawson and last year's rookie standout, Daryl Veltman.
There are a few new faces on the roster this year. One is very new - Dave Cutten, who will play in the transition role, was acquired from the Toronto Rock for the Blazers' 2010 sixth round pick on Monday, Dec. 21. Cutten played last season for the Edmonton Rush.
Veteran defenseman Mike Kirk also made the final roster; Kirk was acquired from the Washington Stealth for Jason Bloom in July.
The team went just about as local as possible to find its primary face off specialist. The Blazers signed defenseman John Ortolani, who played at Billerica High School, Endicott College, and this season with the Boston Cannons. Ortolani is known especially for his contributions inside the face off circle.
Forward Brett Queener will start the season on the Physically Unable to Perform list, with lingering issues with his right hand.
Here is the rest of the roster:
Right forward - Dawson, Matt Lyons, Brenden Thenhaus
Left forward - Gary Bining, Nick Cotter, Sean Morris, Veltman
Transition - Cutten, Greg Downing, Hotaling, Kyle Ross
Right defense - Mitch Belisle, Paul Dawson, Jon "Bubba" Durno, Kirk, Ortolani
Left defense - Abbott, Jon Harnett, Hotaling, Jack Reid
Goalie - Anthony Cosmo, Mike Poulin, Nick Rose
For a frequently updated list of National Lacrosse League transactions, visit http://www.nll.com/transactions.php.
For an excellent article about Billerica native John Ortolani, visit http://www.laxjournal.com/news/2009/06/03_ortolani.php
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