August 4, 2022
By Adam Ruffner
The 2022 AUDL regular season has concluded, and 11 teams remain:
Austin Sol
Carolina Flyers
Chicago Union
Colorado Summit
DC Breeze
Indianapolis AlleyCats
Minnesota Wind Chill
New York Empire
Philadelphia Phoenix
Salt Lake Shred
San Diego Growlers
Full playoff schedule, matchups, and information available here.
25. Detroit Mechanix (Previously 25th)
Record: 0-12
Upward trend: Andrew Sjogren has 97 goals and 7,705 receiving yards the past two seasons; Sjogren and Ben Jagt are the only players so far with 40-plus goals and over 3,000 receiving yards in each of the past two seasons
Downward trend: Season high in turnovers (40) and a season low in goals (9) in regular season finale; 62 straight losses and four consecutive winless seasons
24. Portland Nitro (Previously 23rd)
Record: 2-10
Upward trend: The Kainoa Chun-Moy to Leandro Marx combo in the first half last Saturday was pure fireworks; Chun-Moy completed four different hucks of at least 60 yards in the first half; Marx became just the sixth player in league history to have 50 assists and 50 goals in a season, and just the third since the new clock rules in 2019
Downward trend: The Nitro lost their last nine games of the season by an average margin of 8.7 goals per game; Marx and Jake Johnson were the only Portland players to start in all 12 games; Portland tied with Detroit for the worst D-line efficiency in the league this season
23. Tampa Bay Cannons (Previously 22nd)
Record: 1-11
Upward trend: Billy O'Bryan led the team in scores (37), assists (25), total yards (3,559), and pulls (61), and points played (284); O’Bryan almost exactly split his playing time between offense and defense, with 144 offensive points and 140 defensive points in 2022
Downward trend: The Cannons went 0-2 in their Week 14 Texas road trip and lost by a combined 28 goals; Tampa Bay committed 72 turnovers combined in Austin and Dallas; Cannons finish the regular season dead last in turnovers per game (25.4)
22. Dallas Legion (Previously 24th)
Record: 1-11
Upward trend: Kevin Richardson just had a career year in 2022, setting career highs in assists (23), goals (37), completions (290), and points played (275); Richardson is tenth in receiving yards (3,158) at the young age of 36; Dallas averaged 20.3 goals per game in their last four matchups
Downward trend: The most regular season losses for this franchise before this year was four; Legion finished bottom four in the AUDL in team completion percentage (90.5 percent), offensive line efficiency (58.1 percent), and red zone efficiency (74.1 percent)
21. Seattle Cascades (Previously 21st)
Record: 2-10
Upward trend: Despite a different handler core seemingly every week, the Cascades completed the seventh most hucks (102) in the league during the regular season; Seattle completed fewer than seven hucks in a game just once this season; opponents had a worse defensive line efficiency against the Cascades (41.3 percent opponent D-line efficiency) than they did against the Empire (42.9)
Downward trend: ‘Scades only had one game with fewer than 20 turnovers, and finished 22nd in turnovers per game (23.7); Seattle was 72-of-164 (43.9 percent) on offensive possessions during their five-game losing streak to close out the season
20. Ottawa Outlaws (Previously 20th)
Record: 2-10
Upward trend: Alec Arsenault and David Colic combined for 80 goals and 3236 receiving yards in 2022; Ottawa completed 18 of their 24 huck attempts in their final two games
Downward trend: The Outlaws D-line converted just 5-of-21 (23.8 percent) break opportunities in their last three games, all losses; Ottawa had the third worst D-line conversion rate (36.3 percent) in the AUDL
19. Boston Glory (Previously 19th)
Record: 4-8
Upward trend: Ray Tetreault went from five goals and 481 yards in five games as a rookie to 38 goals and 3,156 receiving yards as Boston’s WR1 in 2022; Tetreault became so good at getting open, he also increased his throwing volume from five completions per game last year to 17 per game in 2022
Downward trend: Boston is 1-11 against playoff teams the past two seasons, with that sole win coming by a single goal against Philly in Week 1; Boston allowed the third highest opponent huck completion rate (67.7 percent) in the AUDL this season
18. Montreal Royal (Previously 18th)
Record: 4-8
Upward trend: In his last three games, Quentin Bonnaud averaged six goals and 324 receiving yards; Bonnaud is third all-time in goals per game (4.6) with 42 games played, while the two players above him have each played fewer than 20 career games
Downward trend: The Royal haven’t made the AUDL postseason since Bonnaud’s rookie season in 2017; Montreal averaged over 21 turnovers per game in their final four matchups of 2022
17. Pittsburgh Thunderbirds (Previously 17th)
Record: 4-8
Upward trend: CJ Colicchio has 57 assists, 66 goals, and 8,745 total yards of offense in 22 games with the Thunderbirds; in his last 28 games with Pittsburgh, Thomas Edmonds is averaging 3.4 assists, 2.6 goals, and 49 completions per game; Thunderbirds averaged just 15 turnovers per game in their last four matchups
Downward trend: Pittsburgh surrendered the seventh most breaks per game (6.9) this season; the T-Birds averaged the fifth most huck turns per game (5.8); despite their low turnover numbers to close the season, Pittsburgh went just 1-3 to close out the regular season
16. Toronto Rush (Previously 15th)
Record: 4-8
Upward trend: In his third season, Luc Comiré finished third in the AUDL in throwing yards (5,064), fourth in completions (588), fifth in total yards (6,434), and third in huck completions (25); Comiré had six games with one or fewer throwaways
Downward trend: The Rush and the Cannons were the only two teams this season to finish with a sub-70 percent red zone efficiency rating; Toronto gave up the third most goals per game (24.2) this season, which is two goals per game higher than their previous franchise high in 2017 (22.1)
15. Los Angeles Aviators (Previously 16th)
Record: 4-8
Upward trend: 22-year-old who could be a “Most Improved” finalist, Brandon Van Deusen finished top 20 in the league in a number of throwing metrics including assists, completions, throwing yards, and hucks; despite finishing with just five goals, Van Deusen was an extremely mobile passer and averaged 242 receiving yards over his final six starts
Downward trend: All four of the Aviators wins this season came by a single goal; LA was second to last in takeaways per game (6.9), and had six games with six or fewer blocks
14. Oakland Spiders (Previously 14th)
Record: 4-8
Upward trend: The offensive throwing battery of Chris Lung and Justin Norden has as deep of a bag as any throwing duo in the league; Spiders averaged just over 16 turnovers per game in their last three matchups; Oakland led the league in completions per game (280), and were 11th in team completion percentage (92.9 percent)
Downward trend: Despite going 9-of-12 on break opportunities in Week 14, Oakland lost both games and gave up 49 goals combined; Spiders had the seventh worst red zone defense, allowing opponents to convert on 80 percent of their opportunities
13. Madison Radicals (Previously 13th)
Record: 6-6
Upward trend: Madison averaged over 10 blocks per game in their last five games, and finished the regular season seventh in goals per game allowed (19.4); Luke Marks registered a career high 14 blocks in his third season and led the team; Marks had two blocks in each of his last three starts of 2022
Downward trend: Madison hasn’t made the playoffs since winning the 2018 AUDL championship; since leading the league in offensive efficiency in 2018, the Radicals have finished in the bottom half of the league in each of the past three seasons
12. Indianapolis AlleyCats (Previously 12th)
Record: 6-6
Upward trend: Cameron Brock now has seven regular seasons with 50 or more goals; Indy finishes the regular season with the highest D-line efficiency (68.8 percent!!!) in league history; AlleyCats only had two games this season with a D-line efficiency below 60 percent
Downward trend: Indy has lost four of their last six games going into the playoffs; opponents are completing the highest percentage of their throws (94.4 percent) against the AlleyCats of any team in the league this season; Indy is fifth worst in blocks per game (8.4)
11. Atlanta Hustle (Previously 11th)
Record: 8-4
Upward trend: Atlanta set a franchise record for fewest turnovers per game (14.5), and finished fourth in the AUDL this season; Hustle have finished top five in the league in each of the past five seasons in fewest turnovers per game; Austin Taylor and Bobby Ley combined for 77 assists and 42 hucks; Atlanta had the highest huck completion rate (75.4 percent) of any team this season
Downward trend: Atlanta has missed the playoffs in four of the past five seasons; Atlanta ranked 14th in goals per game (20.8) in 2022
10. Philadelphia Phoenix (Previously 10th)
Record: 6-6
Upward trend: Sean Mott has 50 or more assists in four of his last five seasons, and will be making his first playoff start in 83 career games; Jordan Rhyne has 11 assists, 116 completions, and 1,159 throwing yards in his last two starts
Downward trend: Philly is allowing 22.6 goals per game in their last five matchups; opponents have the sixth highest offensive conversion rate (57.3 percent) against the Phoenix this season
9. Minnesota Wind Chill (Previously 9th)
Record: 9-3
Upward trend: Apt for their name, the Wind Chill forced the second most opponent turnovers per game (24.2) in the league this season; seven different Minnesota players averaged more than a block per game in 2022; Dylan DeClerck led the team for the second straight season in blocks (19)
Downward trend: After going 10-of-21 (48 percent) on offensive possessions against Detroit in Week 14, the Wind Chill rank just 11th in offensive efficiency for the season; Minnesota has the sixth worst huck completion rate (56.1 percent) in 2022
8. San Diego Growlers (Previously 8th)
Record: 9-3
Upward trend: Travis Dunn clocked his fourth straight season with at least 70 scores; with the exception of an injury-hampered Week 13 game at Seattle, Dunn is averaging over 600 yards of total offense in his last five starts; Growlers had a season-low 10 turnovers in Week 14, and are averaging just 15.4 per game in their last five matchups; San Diego has the third best red zone defense in the league
Downward trend: The Growlers are averaging the fewest break scores per game (5.1) of any playoff team in 2022
7. Salt Lake Shred (Previously 7th)
Record: 10-2
Upward trend: Shred finished second in goals per game (25) during the regular season, and had three 30-plus goal games in six matchups at home; after finishing with just two assists, 36 completions, and 149 throwing yards in 10 starts as a rookie last year with the Spiders, Salt Lake Captain Jacob Miller finished 2022 with 18 assists, 310 completions, and over 2,000 throwing yards; Salt Lake leads the league in blocks per game (12.5)
Downward trend: The Shred are averaging the most turnovers per game (19.8) of any playoff team this season; Salt Lake is just 31-of-50 (62 percent) in the red zone the past two games; Shred have the worst red zone efficiency of any playoff team
6. Austin Sol (Previously 6th)
Record: 9-3
Upward trend: Austin’s 30 goals against Tampa Bay in Week 14 is the most for the Sol franchise since May 2017; Austin’s defense converted 22 breaks against the Cannons, nearly doubling their previous season high of 12; the Sol average the fifth most break scores per game (8.1)
Downward trend: Sol committed a season-high 23 turnovers against the Cannons, playing into the slop themselves; Austin is just 38-of-69 (55 percent) on offensive possessions in their last three games
5. Chicago Union (Previously 5th)
Record: 11-1
Upward trend: Union finished with the second highest offensive efficiency rating (65.3 percent) in the league, bettering their mark from a season ago when they set a then-league record; among the top 20 scorers in the league, Ross Barker trailed only Ryan Osgar in individual player offensive efficiency; Barker is completing a career-best 93.8 percent of his throws in 2022, and has a career high 34 hockey assists
Downward trend: Pawel Janas finished with his lowest completion percentage since his rookie season in 2017, and saw his huck rate fall 16 percentage points from 2021
4. DC Breeze (Previously 4th)
Record: 10-2
Upward trend: DC finished the regular season 10-0 versus non-Empire opponents; were it not for Indy, the Breeze would set the single-season record for most efficient D-line counterattack; seven different Breeze players finished the regular season with 3,000 or more total yards, the most of any team this season
Downward trend: The Breeze are forcing the second fewest opponent turnovers per game (18.5) of any playoff team this season; DC is ranked 11th in goals allowed per game (20)
3. Colorado Summit (Previously 3rd)
Record: 11-1
Upward trend: Summit were 17-of-21 on D-line possessions last Saturday night; opponents have the third lowest break rate (15.3 percent) against Colorado in 2022; rookie Quinn Finer finished the season with four straight games without a throwaway, including 9-of-9 on hucks; Summit were 13-of-13 on hucks as a team in Week 14 without Jonathan Nethercutt
Downward trend: After winning three AUDL titles in four seasons between 2014-2017, no West Division champion has made the AUDL championship game in the past three seasons
Note: I’m stretching here; Colorado has improved on their lone area of weakness—red zone conversion—in recent weeks
2. Carolina Flyers (Previously 2nd)
Record: 11-1
Upward trend: Among players with at least 24 games played, Matt Gouchoe-Hanas has the second highest individual offensive efficiency rating ever; Carolina’s offense scores on 65 percent of the possessions Gouchoe-Hanas is involved in; despite having just eight starts, Eric Taylor leads the team in assists with 36
Downward trend: Flyers are 0-3 against teams from Texas in the South Division Championship Game
1. New York Empire (Previously 1st)
Record: 12-0
Upward trend: Ben Jagt started his last six games of the season on defense and still finished sixth in the AUDL in scores (78) and receiving yards (3284); Empire finish the regular season with the highest offensive efficiency in league history; New York’s defense held opponents to the lowest offensive efficiency rate since Toronto in 2018
Downward trend: Nowhere to go but down? I don’t know anymore with this team
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