The Breeze return 20 players from the 2017 roster, along with four additional AUDL veterans and 12 AUDL-rookies. The team is among quite a few across the AUDL that changed measurably this past off-season. One team that did not change too much heading into 2018, though, is the Montreal Royal.
After this eventful AUDL offseason, it is fair to say that the start of the 2018 season is going to be compelling. Numerous faces have switched allegiances, players have ‘retired’, franchises moved, and a new crop of talent has emerged as the dust settled. The 2018 DC Breeze organization fits right into these storylines.
After missing the entire 2017 season and a portion of 2016 due to a hip injury and a torn PCL, cutter Brad Scott will be back in a DC Breeze uniform for the 2018 season. Scott and 10 other key returning players have been signed so far for the upcoming season.
It is one thing to find yourself with the disc in the end zone, but equally important is the throw that got the disc to you. Unlike in soccer and hockey, each and every goal scored in the AUDL also gets an offensive assist…. well, at least 99+ percent of the time — there is that rare Callahan when the opposing team gets the dreaded defensive ‘assist.’
There are a lot of parallels between the 2017 DC Breeze squad and the one from 2016. In addition to having the same record and ending the season in a similar fashion, the team scored virtually the same number of goals. D.C. had 392 this past season and 396 in 2016, a franchise high.
The 2017 DC Breeze season finished in a very similar fashion to the previous year. With a 10-4 record, the team claimed the No. 2 seed in the East Division Playoffs. After winning their hard earned home playoff game, the Breeze moved on to play division winners Toronto Rush, and for the second straight year they lost to the Rush in the Division Final.
During a season in which consistency from week-to-week was one of the biggest issues for the DC Breeze, one player was a permanent fixture on the roster. AUDL Rookie David Bloodgood has been awarded as the Breeze’s only recipient of the AUDL’s Steel Spirit Award for the 2017 season for appearing in every regular season game.
This past weekend was a tale of the entire 2017 season for the DC Breeze. A dominant offensive unit that is nearly unstoppable at home, and a team that struggles to piece together consistency on the road. The conditions and the outcomes were polar opposites in the two playoff games over the weekend.
As in every sport, the level of play in the AUDL intensifies in the playoffs. With a trip to the Eastern Division final on the line, hostile weather conditions were simply ignored at Hotchkiss Field. The rain was unrelenting, a two and a half hour lightning delay started 27 seconds into the game(!), and it was a Friday night after many players endured either work or a 10+ hour drive. In the…
Last week the Stats Analysis for the entire 2017 DC Breeze regular season was unveiled displaying the success of the top 14-18 players on the Breeze roster. Now it is time to look to how each line compared to the rest of the AUDL East Division. It also gives us a chance to look at the top players in the division and to see which team has the biggest stars of…
