We're two weeks into the MLL season and that means it's the perfect time to look at who's shining and who...well isn't.

WHO'S HOT

Ben Rubeor-Use whatever adjective comes to mind: fantastic, amazing, incredible, whatever. This guy was awesome against New York last weekend. He tallied seven goals in a game that only featured 12 total. The performance earned him player of the week honors and I can't say I would disagree.

Peet Poillon-It looks like Charlotte has at least to guys that can score at will when you team Poillon up with Matt Danowski. The UMBC product managed seven points (five goals, two assists) in the Hounds' first win of the season of the season. Performances like this certainly move the team in the right direction.

Greg Gurenlian-Even though New York lost, Gurenlian turned in his second straight dominating performance at the faceoff X. The FOGO went 10-16 against Chesapeake and is now 31-44 on the season. The Lizards can score, the amount of stars out last weekend made that harder to see, but with Gurenlian winning faceoffs, they can be scary good.

WHO'S NOT

Ohio's Attack-This group was far from fantastic against Denver in the Machine's opener. They Steele Stanwick, Chaz Woodson and Jim Connolly combined for just three scores. I don't expect this to continue for Ohio, though. There's just too much talent there.

Boston's Supporting Cast-The Cannons looked sluggish for the second straight week. Outside of Paul Rabil and Ari Sussman, the rest of the team just hasn't been enough. Just like with Ohio, I'd be surprised to see this continue, but I'm sure it's not what Steve Duffy wants right now.

Rochester's Defense-For two straight games now, the Rattlers have allowed more than 15 scores. I'd blame it on the netminding, but last weekend, John Galloway saved half the shots he faced. The problem is...he faced 24 of them. The Rattlers need to force some tougher shots from opponents attacks and give their goalies some help.

Here's the first of our weekly installment of take away's during the MLL season. I'll let you know what suprise me from this past weekend of play.

3. Hamilton's Impressive Opening Win

How about this one. In Dave Huntley's first game back as head coach the Nats go into Harvard Stadium and beat Boston 15-8. Huntley's said over and over again that one of the biggest keys to Hamilton's season is Brodie Merrill and, boy, did he show it last weekend. The defenseman tallied seven groundballs and was the leader the Nats need on D. It might be too early to make any sweeping statements, but Hamilton should sure enjoy this one.

2. Ben Rubeor Score's Seven Goals

How about this. Ben Rubeor earns MLL Player of the Week honors with a seven goal performance against New York. To put that into perspective, Chesapeake scored nine total goals and there were only 12 scores in the game. Hat's off to you Ben Rubeor on a fantastic performance.

1. What's Going on With Boston?

All of a sudden the Cannons find themselves at 0-2 on the season. Once again, Paul Rabil got his team on the board early, but his team couldn't hold it. In fact, Hamilton scored the next eight goals to take control. The problem is, only a few people (Rabil, Ari Sussman, etc.) are contributing. This team needs more balance to avoid falling into a deep funk.

New York tries to start the season with two huge wins, while Chesapeake wants to keep the good times rolling.

The Lizards dominated the Cannons at the face-off X last week. Greg Gurenlian went 21-28 to suffocate Boston. He's the key for the Lizards. The team has a scary ability to score. If he can have another performace like that, the Bayhawks bettter watch out.

As for Chesapeake, it picked off right where it left off last season. The keys for the Bayhawks are the same as last week. Control the game and have a strong performance in net. Their the champs, they just have to keep playing that way.

Prediction: Chesapeake 18-New York 15

It's too much to ask for the LIzards to beat two of the leagues top teams in consecutive weeks, let alone one on the road.

The Ryan Boyle countdown is on. The Attackman has a chance to break Casey Powell's MLL point record with a strong performance for Boston. On the other side, it's back to the future for Hamilton with Dave Huntley starting his first game as head coach. Here's how it should go down.

Boyle inched within two points of the record with two last weekend in his team's lost to New York. Powell's mark stands at 399 and if history is any indication, he should get it Saturday. When these two team's met last year at Harvard Stadium, Boyle had five points (three goals, two assists). Of course, he's going to need help from the rest of his team which was a problem last week. Outside of Boyle, Paul Rabil, Ari Sussman and Mike Stone, the rest of the team combined for four points. That's not going to cut it.

As for the Nats, they're starting fresh with Huntley...kind of. The head man spent two years with the squad from 2009 to 2010 and had success with the club. The team won the Steinfeld Cup in it's inaugural season in 2012. The team returns Brodie Merrill, the six-time defensive player of the year. His job...defend Paul Rabil. Good luck, Brodie!

Prediction: Boston 16-Hamilton10

Boston's not starting 0-2 and with so many pieces still playing in the MLL for Hamilton, I don't think they'll have enough for this one.

Great start to the MLL weekend. We saw Denver and Chesapeake maintain the status quo, while New York sent a message with a big win.

Denver 21 - Rochester 16

What an offensive explosion from the Outlaws. Chris Bocklet led the charge with five goals, while Will Mangan, Jeremy Sieverts and Terry Kimener each had a hat trick. A big reason why they could score so much? Anthony Kelly dominated at the faceoff X. The FOGO went 19-29 and even added a score. 

On the Charlotte side, Matt Danowski was the star. He tallied seven points for the Hounds (5 G, 2 A). Still, though, the rest of his team couldn't pick him up. Mark Manos struggled in net. He managed to save on 15 of the 35 shots on net. 

Chesapeake 17 - Rochester 14

The champs got off on the right foot and they did it with defense down the stretch. After Rochester scored four straight at the end of the third quarter, Chesapeake came back to shut the Rattlers out in the fourth.

On the other side, the four goal run by Rochester was fantastic, yet in the fourth, the momentum died. This team needs to find a way to keep that momentum going if it wants to have success against the top teams like the Bayhawks

New York 14 - Boston 11

The Lizards started off the 2013 season with a huge win. What a game by Tommy Palasek. The second year man out of Syracuse had a hat trick (in the first half, mind you) and tacked on two assists. Another special shoutout to Greg Gurenlian. He went 20-27 at the faceoff X and completely stifled Boston.

Paul Rabil did what he could for the Cannons. He tallied four scores and Ari Sussman threw in three more, but it wasn't enough production from the resto of the team. Ryan Boyle had a chance at the MLL point record, but failed to reach the mark. He remains two points away from Casey Powell on the list. 

The time has come. The MLL season starts Saturday. Here's how I see it.

Denver (0-0) at Charlotte (0-0), Sat. April. 27th 7:00 PM EST

Charlotte's no longer the new kid on the block, but that doesn't make this matchup any easier. Faceoff's are going to be key in this one. I expect Anthony Kelly to have a big game for Denver at the X. Charlotte just doesn't have a FOGO who can matchup. Brendan Mundorf and company will take care of the rest. 

PREDICTION: Denver 15 - Charlotte 8

Chesapeake (0-0) at Rochester (0-0), Sat. April 27th 7:30 PM EST

The Bayhawks start their title defense on the road against a Rattlers team that just missed a trip to championship weekend last season. Few people were hotter than Kip Turner last season, especially at the end of the year. Rochester likes to spread out the scoring and I think that will allow them to be in this game for the most part, but in the end, Chesapeake will be too much.

PREDICTION: Chesapeake 13 - Rochester 11

Boston (0-0) at New York (0-0), Sun. April 28th 3:30 PM EST

This might be the game of the weekend. Ryan Boyle's on the verge of breaking Casey's Powell's MLL point record. He needs just four to get it. On the other side, I know New York's expecting big things this year. I think Boyle gets his point record, but the W is a different story.

PREDICTION: New York 16 - Boston 15

The champs are back. Not a whole lot of changes on this team as they look locked and loaded for a run at another title.

What's Changed?: Not much. The key pieces for this team (Kip Turner, Kyle Dixon, etc.) are all back. Dave Cottle's squad has maintained the status quo in pursuit of the that repeat title.

Biggest Area of Concern: The target that is firmly planted on their back. Everyone will be gunning for the Bayhawks this season. This team is equivalent Alabama in college football, everyone wants to knock off number-one. It's tough for a team to alway have to bring their A game so expect Chesapeake to drop a few along the way it probably shouldn't.

Biggest Strength: Boy, where to start. There are so many strong points on this team. The best one, though, is probably Kip Turner. The net-minder led the league in GAA last season and held a potent Denver offense to just 6 goals in the championship game. 

Projected Record: 10-4. All systems go for the Bayhawks. This team looks primed for another deep run.

The boys out west certainly had one of the more interesting off seasons. Mark Matthews is among the list of players no longer in the Mile High City. Those losses might make it more difficult to make it back to the championship game. 

What's Changed?: The loss of youth. This is sort of the anti-New York Lizards. The loss of Matthews is the loss of a local product who could've been the face of the franchise. Denver's style has been not to make moves based on the heart, though. The Outlaws saw an opportunity to improve other areas and took it. 

Biggest Area of Concern: The veteran attack when it counts. Guys like Brendan Mundorf had a fantastic season. Still, in the playoffs, Mundorf was no where to be found. He tallied just one point during the weekend. In fact, younger players like Matthews and Chris Bocklet were the ones having the biggest impact. The Outlaws have to get more production out of their leaders when it counts

Biggest Strength: Jesse Schwartzman and Lee Zink. Schwartzman was a beast in 2012. He was second in the MLL in GAA at 11.03 and only gave up 13 or more four times. Meanwhile, Zink was the Defensive Player of the Year. It's not going to be easy to score on the Outlaws.

Projected Record: 7-7. There's going to be one team on the outside looking in at the end of the season and for my money, it's looking lke it might be Denver this year. 

New York looked like it was on it's way to the MLL Championship last season and then Denver had a comeback for the ages in the semifinals. Can the Lizards take the next step?

What's Changed?: Mark Matthews, that's what. In that game championship weekend, Matthews tallied five points, unfortunatley for New York, it was for Denver. Now the former DU star is donning green and that mean's a big boost for the Lizards. When you combine Matthews with Tommy Palasek, 2012 Rookie of the Year Matt Gibson, veteren Grant Catalino and Rob Pannell, who's joining the team later on this summer, you create one of the most lethal attacks in the league.

Biggest Area of Concern: Inexperience. This showed up big time in the semifinal game against Denver last year. The team just couldn't hold it together enough when the Outlaws started to push back. The biggest thing holding the the Lizards back is themselves.

Biggest Strength: It has to be the attack. Catalino, Matthews, Palasek and Gibson combined for 110 points last season (Matthews with Denver, of course). Plus, Rob Pannell will be with the team. The Cornell is among the nation's leaders in PPG.

Projected Record: 10-4. The Lizards have all the pieces in place to make a run championship weekend. 

Rochester squandered away a chance at the playoffs down the stretch last season. No major changes to the roster going into 2013, either. Will that hurt the Rattlers chances at getting to championship weekend?

What's Changed?: Like I said, not much. Many of the same pieces (Striebal, Boyle, etc.) are still in tact, but the team didn't gain much outside of that. Rochester lost didn't have a first or second round draft pick this season. One big loss, however, was a youngster-Roy Lang. The Cornell product had an impressive rookie campaign, with 14 goals in 13 games. Lang's loss might be under the radar a bit, but with no first or second round draft picks last season, the loss of a young player to cultivate could be damaging.

Biggest Area of Concern: It has to be at the faceoff X. Rochester was second to last in the league last season at 44.4%. Tim Fallon and Craig Bunker took a majority of FO in 2012. The Rattlers do have young, Hobart product Bobby Datillo. If he can show promise at the postition, it'll be a big boost for his team.

Biggest Strength: It has to be their balanced scoring load. In 2012, Rochester had five players with at least 22 points and no one had more than 32. As long as the Rattlers continue to get production, having multiple options to put the ball in the net can't be a bad thing at all.

Projected Record: 5-9. Rochester's taking another step back this year. I'm just not sure about the faceoff situation and if you can't control the ball, I don't see how you can control the game.