Thunderbirds defenseman Colton Armstrong said on Jan. 18 after a loss to the Rochester Knighthawks that the Thunderbirds 2-4 start, while not ideal, was what they needed to build team chemistry. The Thunderbirds are now 7-4.
At the time, this didn’t sound too convincing. Jake Withers, dubbed MVP of the NLL last season by his teammates, was struggling. Both Warren Hill and Aidan Hutchison looked shaky between the pipes, Captain Cody Jamieson missed multiple games due to a family matter, and Tyson Bell got suspended for seven games after a violent incident with Colorado fans…
Still, Armstrong seemed much more focused on the team’s “goals against” improvement from their previous game against Rochester, allowing only 10 goals (18 the week before). He credited the defense’s film session as what allowed the Knighthawks’ eight less goals.
The Thunderbirds have won five of their last six games.
In that five-game win streak, the Thunderbirds averaged 8.6 goals against. In their first six games, they averaged 11.3 goals against. After their match against the Philadelphia Wings on Feb. 15, Hill said “we’re a family back there. We don’t get down on each other.”
Two-way game, two-way solution
The defense had the Wings locked down for most of the game. But without a seven-goal surge in the fourth quarter against Nick Damude (first in total saves), the Thunderbirds would’ve come up short. Cody Jamieson was also interviewed after Halifax dropped to 2-4, and said the offense needed to get back to the drawing board to make sure their fourth quarters became their strongest quarter.
Like the defense, they’re now working as a cohesive unit — against the Desert Dogs (3-9) on Mar. 1, the Thunderbirds had eight different goal scorers.
Two-seed Saskatchewan up next
With six games left in the NLL season, all is calm in the nest — in the Thunderbirds’ locker room at least. The Scotiabank Centre is, of course, the rowdiest pre-game on the east coast.
Halifax lost 15-12 to the Rock last Friday, a team that’s been struggling all season and currently sits at 3-8. Also, on Feb. 25 they traded Nick Rose, their starting goaltender since 2013, to the Roughnecks for a 2026 first round draft pick, defenseman Robert Hudson and goalie Gowah Abrams. This shake-up was fresh, and Halifax should’ve run up the score. The Thunderbirds ran into penalty trouble with Withers alone picking up three — this is one of the team’s biggest problems, so it was a little concerning to watch.
But the Thunderbirds were due for a lapse in their stellar play after a five-game heater, and it shouldn’t speak to their ability to contend for the NLL cup this season. Their game on Mar. 14 against the second seed Saskatchewan Rush (9-3), however, should tell fans whether Halifax is in the hunt against the Rush and the Bandits.
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