History of the NLL

• 1980's

  3-13-86: Chris Fritz and Russ Cline incorporate the Eagle Pro Box Lacrosse League. Fritz is named President and Cline Executive Vice President. The League was to play in 1987 with four teams: Washington Wave at the Capital Centre; Baltimore Thunder at the Baltimore Arena; Philadelphia Wings at the Spectrum; and the New Jersey Saints at the Meadowlands Arena.

  1-10-87: The first game in the League features Philadelphia at New Jersey in which the Saints defeat the Wings by the score of 11-8 before a crowd of 5,976 fans.

  1-31-87: The Philadelphia Wings defeat the New Jersey Saints 17-11 at the Spectrum before a crowd of 14,189, the largest of 1987.

  3-21-87: The Baltimore Thunder, coached by Bob Griebe, defeat the Washington Wave by a score of 11-10 to capture the first League Championship. A crowd of 7,019 was on hand at the Capital Centre.

  3-22-87: The League announces a total of 124,536 fans attending Eagle Pro Box Lacrosse League games in its first year.

  5-13-87: The League announces that Darrell Russell has been named Commissioner of the League.

  3-20-88: The New Jersey Saints become the second League champions by defeating the Washington Wave, 17-16 before 8,125 fans at the Capital Centre. For the Wave, it was the second time in as many years they reached the championship game, only to come away on the short end of a one-goal game.

  5-15-88: The league becomes known as the Major Indoor Lacrosse League (MILL)

  10-18-88: The League announces that it will award expansion teams to Detroit and Boston. The teams will begin play in the 1989 season. The Detroit team will be named the Turbos and play in the Joe Louis Arena. Their team colors will be purple, silver and black. The Boston entry will be called the New England Blazers and play their home games at the Worcester Centrum. The Blazers team colors will be green, orange, and white.

  10-27-88: The League announces that the Saints will relocate to the Nassau Coliseum on Long Island beginning in the 1989 season. The team name will be changed to the New York Saints to reflect their new home.

  1-6-89: The League prepares to open its third season with six teams – Baltimore Thunder, Detroit Turbos, New England Blazers, New York Saints, Philadelphia Wings and Washington Wave. Each of the six teams will play an eight game schedule, with four home games and four road games.

  3-19-89: Regular season attendance figures for the League total 230,724 for 24 regular season games, an average of 9,614 per game.

  4-7-89: The Philadelphia Wings became the third different team to capture the League Championship. In front of a record post-season crowd of 16,042 Philadelphia fans at the Spectrum, the Wings defeat the New York Saints, 11-10, to win the title.

  4-8-89: The League announces its attendance figures for the 1989 regular and post-season games. Attendance reached 255,088 in 1989, an average of 9,811 per game.

  6-14-89: The League announces a new expansion team, the Pittsburgh Bulls. The Bulls will call the Civic Arena home and sport the traditional Pittsburgh colors of black and gold.

• 1990's

  1-4-90: The League prepares to open its fourth season with six teams – Baltimore Thunder, Detroit Turbos, New England Blazers, New York Saints, Philadelphia Wings and Pittsburgh Bulls. Each of the six teams will once again play an eight-game schedule featuring four home and away games.

  2-17-90: A crowd of 10,904 witnessed the first regular season double overtime game in League history, as the Philadelphia Wings edge the Baltimore Thunder 13-12.

  3-24-90: The New York Saints defeat the Philadelphia Wings, 8-5, before the first sellout and largest crowd in League history – 17,177 at the Spectrum in Philadelphia. The Saints victory forces a rematch the next week in the playoffs.

  3-25-90: The League announces that the 1990 regular season attendance figures reached 262,554.

  4-7-90: The Philadelphia Wings become the first team to win two League Championship Games, as they defeat the New England Blazers 17-7, in front of 11,479 fans at the Spectrum.

  4-14-90: The League announces that attendance for the 26 games were 287,585, an average of 11,060 per game.

  12-4-90: The season schedule is increased from eight games to ten, with each team playing five games at home and on the road.

  2-8-91: Rick Nichols is appointed as Vice President and General Manager of the League.

  2-10-91: The Detroit Turbos outpace the Philadelphia Wings, 14-12, at the Spectrum before 16,642 fans, the largest crowd of the season.

  4-6-91: The Detroit Turbos defeat the Baltimore Thunder, 14-12, to claim the League’s fifth title and the Turbos first. The World Championship Game was attended by 10,814 at the Baltimore Arena.

  4-20-91: The National Division All-Stars defeat the American Division All-Stars, 25-20, in the inaugural League All-Star Game. A crowd of 7,658 witnesses the All-Star gala at the Spectrum in Philadelphia.

  10-1-91: The League announces the Buffalo Bandits as an expansion team to join the league for the 1992 season. The Bandits name Bob “Buff” McCready as head coach, Johnny Mouradian as General Manager, and Peter Crawford as assistant coach.

  10-15-91: The League announces the New England Blazers will move their home games to the historic Boston Garden, and will be known as the Boston Blazers.

  2-28-92: The Buffalo Bandits defeat the Philadelphia Wings, 20-11, in their first ever sellout of 16,325 in Memorial Auditorium. It marks the second sellout in League history.

  4-11-92: For the first time since the League’s inaugural season, an expansion team wins the League’s World Championship, as the Buffalo Bandits win their final eight games and defeat the Philadelphia Wings 11-10 in overtime. The game was broadcast live in Buffalo on Empire Sports Network.

  2-6-93: Paul Gait becomes the first League player to score 100 career goals during a six-goal, two-assist night in helping his new team, the Philadelphia Wings, defeat the arch-rival New York Saints, 13-8, before 16,731 at the Spectrum.

  3-20-93: The defending champion Buffalo Bandits become the first team to sell out every regular season home game, defeating the Detroit Turbos, 20-14, before 16,325 fans.

  4-10-93: Buffalo wins their second consecutive League Championship with a 13-12 comeback victory over the Philadelphia Wings before 16,325 in a sold out Memorial Auditorium. The Bandits keep their 18-game winning streak alive, the longest in league history. Buffalo joins the Wings as the only team to win back-to-back championships.

  6-7-93: Bruce Lucker joins the League as its third owner, heading a minority investment consortium.

  11-30-93: ESPN signs a six-year agreement, making them the network of the League. Regular season games will be shown on ESPN2, as well as the playoff broadcasts on both ESPN and ESPN2.

  12-8-93: The League and the Players Association announce a three-year contract agreement.

  2-19-94: After a 22-game winning streak spanning three seasons, the Buffalo Bandits lose 14-10 at home to the Boston Blazers.

  2-26-94: The record for fewest goals in a game was broken by the Philadelphia Wings when they scored only four goals against the New York Saints, in a 13-4 loss at Nassau Coliseum.

  3-26-94: Paul Gait of the Philadelphia Wings breaks his own League record of eight goals in a game by scoring ten against the Boston Blazers at Boston Garden.

  4-16-94: The Philadelphia Wings deny the Buffalo Bandits a third consecutive World Championship by defeating the Bandits, 26-15, in front of a sellout crowd of 16,284 at Memorial Auditorium. The win gives the Wings their third League Championship, the most of any team in the league. ESPN broadcasts the game live from Buffalo, marking the first live telecast by ESPN of a League game.

  8-1-94: The League announces the Detroit Turbos will discontinue operations for future seasons.

  10-4-94: The League announces an expansion team in Rochester, NY and will be named the Knighthawks. They will wear the colors of white, teal, purple, and black and will play at the Rochester War Memorial.

  1-7-95: The expansion Rochester Knighthawks won their inaugural game, 12-8, against the New York Saints in the War Memorial.

  3-11-95: Philadelphia breaks the League’s attendance record as 17,380 fans witness the Wings defeat of the Baltimore Thunder in the regular season finale.

  4-8-95: The Philadelphia Wings win back-to-back championships by defeating the Rochester Knighthawks, 15-14, in a thrilling overtime game. The Wings have won four League titles in their nine-year history.
  
  10-3-95: The League announced the addition of the Charlotte Cobras for the 1996 season. The team will play at the Independence Arena and will wear the colors red, bronze and black.

  10-10-95: The League announced its 1996 schedule with an expanded 10-game regular season. In addition, the Boston Blazers announced they will play at the new Fleet Center in 1996.

  4-12-96: The Buffalo Bandits deny the Philadelphia Wings a third consecutive League World Championship by defeating the Wings 15-10, in front of a sold out Memorial Auditorium in Buffalo. The win gives the Bandits their third League Championship in their history. The game also marks the final League game to be played in the historical Auditorium.

  8-19-96: The League announces the Charlotte Cobras will discontinue operations for future seasons.

  4-5-97: Rochester and Buffalo post semi-final playoff victories, marking the first time since 1991 that the League’s World Championship Game will not include the Philadelphia Wings.

  4-12-97: The Rochester Knighthawks claim their first World Championship in the league’s final title game during the time it was known as the MILL. The visitors won before the third largest crowd in league history, with 18,055 in attendance at Marine Midland Arena.

  7-21-97: A new entity, combining the tradition of the Major Indoor Lacrosse League with two expansion teams and individual team ownership is announced – the National Lacrosse League. Syracuse, New York (nicknamed Smash and playing at the Onondaga County War Memorial) and Hamilton, Ontario (nicknamed Raiders and playing at Copps Coliseum) are the new professional indoor lacrosse entries.

  9-11-97: John Livsey, Jr. is named as the first Commissioner of the National Lacrosse League.

  11-8-97: A three-year collective bargaining agreement between the NLL and the Professional Lacrosse Players Association (PLPA) is announced.

  11-24-97: The 1998 regular season schedule is announced, with teams now playing 12 games (six at home and six on the road) and facing their six opponents twice each (once at home and once on the road). In addition, the playoff format will see a best-of-three Championship Series with Semifinal playoff action to still take place in a single-game elimination format.

  1-3-98: The league plays its first ever game in Canada, as the expansion Ontario Raiders make their debut at Copps Coliseum in Hamilton. In the game, Rochester defeated Ontario in overtime, 15-14.

  1-9-98: A television schedule providing game coverage over regional sports networks Comcast SportsNet, Empire Sports Network, and Home Team Sports is announced.

  3-21-98: The largest crowd of the season, 17,077, watched the host Philadelphia Wings drop a 15-14 decision to the New York Saints.

  4-28-98: The Philadelphia Wings sweep the best-of-three Championship Series with a 17-12 win over the Thunder after having won 16-12 two days earlier. Game Two marks the first title game appearance by Baltimore since 1991 and the win is Philadelphia’s fifth in franchise history. Wings goaltender Dallas Eliuk is named Championship Series MVP.

  7-7-98: Over 40 players, coaches, and staff members from NLL teams represent their countries at the World Lacrosse Championships in Baltimore.

  9-14-98: The League announces that for the first time the annual Entry Draft will be taken out of the office and held on-site, with Empire Sports Network providing coverage from the proceedings at the ESL Sports Centre in Rochester, New York.

  9-30-98: The League announces that the Board of Governors have approved the sale of the Ontario Raiders, who will be moved to Toronto where they will play their home games at Maple Leaf Gardens. The 1999 schedule is released; featuring seven teams playing 12 games each (six home, six away).

  11-12-98: Ron Wicks, a former National Hockey League referee, is hired as the League’s Director of Officials.

  12-3-98: Toronto announces that their nickname will be “Rock” and unveils their logo and uniforms.

  1-9-99: Gary Gait of Baltimore scores ten times to tie the record for most goals in one game set by his twin brother Paul almost five years earlier.

  2-20-99: The All-Star Game is played, with the Canadians defeating the Americans 25-24 in overtime after a dramatic comeback by the Canadians. A crowd of 9,070 at the Blue Cross Arena in Rochester watches the game.

  4-3-99: The largest crowd of the season, and fifth largest in the almost 13 years of pro indoor lacrosse, 17,573, watch the Philadelphia Wings edge the visiting New York Saints 10-9 at the First Union Center.

  4-9-99: Three games close out the regular season, with a total of 384,761 fans attending the 42 League games in 1998-99, an average of 9,161 per game, a figure which is 1,400 more than the previous year.

  4-16-99: A new record is set for fewest goals in a game by one team as the Philadelphia Wings beat Toronto goaltender Bob Watson just twice in a 13-2 Rock win at Maple Leaf Gardens in a Semifinal Playoff Game. The victory, coupled with Rochester’s win in Baltimore the next day, sets the stage for a Championship Game in Toronto.

  4-23-99: The Toronto Rock finish the season with a perfect home record, going a combined 8-0 (regular season and playoffs) after a 13-10 win over the Rochester Knighthawks in the Championship Game before a sellout crowd of 15,691 in Maple Leaf Gardens. The game is televised throughout Canada by CTV SportsNet, and in the United States on ESPN2

  7-1-99: A press conference is held at the Pepsi Arena to announce Albany, New York as an expansion team, the Albany Attack, to be owned by Herb Chorbajian.

  8-2-99: A press conference is held at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to announce that the Baltimore Thunder have moved there and will be re-named the Pittsburgh CrosseFire.

• 2000's

  2-12-00: The Pittsburgh CrosseFire acquired Paul Gait in a mid-season trade with the Syracuse Smash that reunites Paul with his brother Gary Gait for the first time in their pro careers since 1994.

  2-26-00: 18,911 fans pack the First Union Center in Philadelphia to watch their Philadelphia Wings defeat the Pittsburgh CrosseFire 14-8. This is the largest single-game crowd to ever see a professional indoor lacrosse game.

  5-6-00: Kaleb Toth beats Knighthawks goaltender Pat O’Toole with one second remaining in regulation time to give the Toronto Rock a 14-13 victory, and their second straight Championship. Dubbed the “Greatest Professional Indoor Lacrosse Game of All-Time”, the 2000 Final is the last sporting event to be held in the historic Maple Leaf Gardens.

  9-16-00: The city of Columbus, Ohio is granted an Expansion team.

  9-17-00: At a press conference at the ESPNZone in New York City, Jim Jennings is named the new Commissioner of the National Lacrosse League. Jennings announces that League’s Headquarters will be relocated from Buffalo,New York to Lyndhurst, New Jersey.

  9-20-00: Commissioner Jim Jennings appoints George Daniel to the position of Deputy Commissioner and General Counsel for the NLL

  1-21-00: The League holds its 2000 Entry Draft at the Air Canada Centre. The Columbus Landsharks drafted Tracey Kelusky from the University of Hartford as the first overall selection.

  10-16-00: The sale of the Syracuse Smash is complete and the franchise will be relocated to Ottawa, Ontario. The Ottawa Rebel will begin play in the Corel Center in the 2000-2001 season.

  10-25-00: The Pittsburgh CrosseFire are sold and relocated to Washington D.C., and the franchise is later re-named the Washington Power.

  1-5-01: The League expands its growth in Canada as the Ottawa Rebel play their first-ever home game at the Corel Centre in Kanata, Ontario. The Rebel loses to the Toronto Rock, 16-7 in front of 12,193 fans.

  3-17-01: Buffalo Bandits forward John Tavares collected his 86th point to break the League’s single season scoring record at the HSBC Arena against the Albany Attack.

  3-28-01: A press conference is held in Calgary, Alberta to announce the Calgary Roughnecks as the tenth League franchise. The Roughnecks are owned by Calgary businessman Brad Banister. The Roughnecks will play their home games at the Penngrowth Saddledome, starting in the 2001-2002 season.

  3-31-01: The Toronto Rock sells out the Air Canada Centre. 19,059 fans pack the ACC as the Rock defeats the Columbus Landsharks 11-8. The crowd sets a new League single-game attendance record.

  4-9-01: A press conference is held in Vancouver, British Columbia to announce the Vancouver Ravens as the eleventh League franchise. The Ravens will play their home games at General Motors Place, starting in the 2001-2002 season.

  4-27-01: In front of the League’s largest crowd in history, the Philadelphia Wings won their sixth League Championship Title with a 9-8 win over the Toronto Rock at the Air Canada Centre in front of 19,409 fans. Wings goaltender Dallas Eliuk is named Most Valuable Player.

  5-2-01: A press conference is held in East Rutherford, New Jersey to announce the New Jersey Storm as the twelfth League franchise. The Storm is owned by former New Jersey Nets All-Star Jayson Williams. The Storm will play their home games at the Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, NJ, starting in the 2001-2002 season.

  5-4-01: A press conference is held in Montreal to announce the Montreal Express as the thirteenth League franchise. Randy Gilles and Michael Holliday are the principal owners. The Express will play their home games at the Molson Centre, starting in the 2001-2002 season.

  8-13-01: The League relocates its office from Lyndhurst, NJ to New York City. The offices are located in the heart of midtown Manhattan.

  8-20-01: The League announces a two-year agreement with CNN/Sports Illustrated to be the League’s national broadcast partner in the United States for the 2001-02 and 2002-03 seasons. CNN/SI will broadcast 23 games throughout each season, including 17 “Game of the Week” broadcasts and all five playoff games, including the Championship Game in April of 2002.

  9-5-01: The League announces a second national television partner in the United States. HDNet, the world’s first all high-definition sports and entertainment network, announces it will carry 34 games during the upcoming season.

  9-11-01: The terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center claim thousands of lives, including a former member of the New York Saints. John Salerno of Port Washington, NY played for the Saints in 1993. Salerno was an employee of Cantor Fitzgerald Securities, one of the hardest hit firms on September 11th.

  9-20-01: The League announces Rogers Sportsnet to be the league’s national broadcast partner in Canada. Sportsnet will broadcast 26 games during the 2001-2002 regular season. Sportsnet will also carry the 2001-2002 Playoffs, including the Championship Game in April of 2002.

  11-24-01: The Calgary Roughnecks host the Montreal Express in the inaugural game for both clubs. History is made at the Penngrowth Saddledome in Calgary as the Express defeat the Roughnecks by a score of 32-17. The game sets new League records for most combined goals scored in one game (49), and most goals scored by one team in a single game (32). A crowd of 9,517 saw the historic game.

  11-26-01: Paul Gait announces that his twelfth season in the League will be his last, set to retire following the 2001-2002 season. The Washington Power forward comes into the season as the League’s second-leading goal scorer of all time, trailing only his brother Gary.

  12-1-01: The Vancouver Ravens play their inaugural home game at General Motors Place in Vancouver. The Ravens give the crowd of 13,772 much to cheer about, beating the Toronto Rock 13-12. The crowd makes history as the largest ever to attend the first home game of a new League franchise.

  1-26-02: The Toronto Rock fans make history again. A crowd of 18,543 fill the Air Canada Centre as the Rock defeated the Rochester Knighthawks, 14-9. The crowd is the sixth largest in League history, and gives Toronto three of the top six single-game attendance records of all-time.

  3-24-02: A new individual player record is set for assists in a single-season. Albany Attack forward Josh Sanderson tallies four assists, giving him a final total of 68 for the season. Sanderson breaks the previous record of 64, set by Buffalo Bandits forward John Tavares during the 2000-2001 season. The Tavares mark is still the highest for all seasons with fourteen regular season games or less.

  3-24-02: The 2001-2002 regular season is complete. For the first time in League history, the Champions Cup Playoffs will feature six teams. Albany is the top seed, followed by Toronto, Washington, Rochester, Vancouver and Philadelphia.

  3-28-02: The League’s Board of Governors vote unanimously to raise the price of expansion franchises to three million dollars, U.S. funds. The previous price was one million.

  4-5-02: In the first semi-final, the Toronto Rock defeat the Washington Power, 12-11 in double overtime. The loss eliminates Washington, and marks the end of Paul Gait’s twelve-year career in the League. Gait retires with 404 regular season goals (second highest of all time), 299 assists (fourth) for a total of 703 points (third). Gait was awarded with the League MVP Award for the 2001-2002 season.

  4-13-02: The Albany Attack host the Toronto Rock in the 2002 Champions Cup Final. The Rock defeat the Attack by a score of 13-12 to capture their third title, all won in the past four seasons. 9,289 fans watch the game at the Pepsi Arena in Albany. Toronto forward Colin Doyle was voted Championship Game MVP, scoring three goals and one assist.

  4-21-02: The 2002 All-Star Game is played at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. The All-Stars of the North Team, composed of players from Calgary, Montreal, Ottawa, Rochester, Toronto and Vancouver defeat the All-Stars of the South Team, composed of players from Albany, Buffalo, Columbus, New Jersey, New York, Philadelphia and Washington by a score of 14-10. Toronto Rock forward Steve Toll wins the All-Star Game MVP Award, scoring three goals and adding one assist.

  7-9-02: The League announces the sale and relocation of the Washington Power franchise to the city of Denver, Colorado. The franchise will play its home games at the Pepsi Center. The team is now owned by Kroenke Sports Enterprises, whose holdings include the Colorado Avalanche, Denver Nuggets, Pepsi Center, and the yet-to-be-named Colorado NLL team. The new team marks the League’s first United States team west of the Mississippi River.

  8-16-02: The League grants a one-year suspension of operations to the Montreal Express franchise. The Express players will be dispersed to the other twelve NLL clubs via Dispersal Draft, to be held on the day of the 2002 Entry Draft.

  10-24-02: Kroenke Sports Enterprises introduces the name and logo of the Colorado Mammoth.

  12-6-02: New Jersey Storm goaltender Ginny Capicchoni becomes the first woman to play in the NLL. Capicchoni stops ten out of fifteen shots faced in helping the Storm defeat the Buffalo Bandits 14-12 in a preseason contest at HSBC Arena in Buffalo.

  1-3-03: The Colorado Mammoth play their inaugural home game at the Pepsi Center in Denver. The Mammoth treated the home crowd of 16,121 fans to a
  thrilling 13-12 win in double overtime against the Toronto Rock. The crowd broke the previous record for an inaugural home game attendance, previously held by the Vancouver Ravens (13,772 in 2001).

  4-11-03: In front of a season high crowd of 13,869 at the Saddledome, the Calgary Roughnecks defeat the Buffalo Bandits 16-14 in their final regular season game. The win propels the Roughnecks to their first franchise playoff appearance.

  4-13-03: New Jersey Storm goaltender Ginny Capicchioni becomes the first woman to play in a regular-season NLL game, recording seven saves in relief during an 18-9 loss to the Vancouver Ravens at the Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, N.J.

  5-3-03: The Rochester Knighthawks host the Toronto Rock in the 2003 Champions Cup Final. The Rock defeated the Knighthawks by a score of 8-6 to capture their fourth title, all won in the past five seasons. 11,051 fans attend the game at the Blue Cross Arena in Rochester. Toronto goalie Bob Watson earns Championship Game MVP honors with his 40 saves.

  6-9-03: The League announces the sale and relocation of the Albany Attack franchise to the city of San Jose, California. The franchise will play its home games at the HP Pavilion. The team will be owned and operated by a partnership consisting of two entities: Silicon Valley Sports and Entertainment, the marketing and business arm of the San Jose Sharks of the National Hockey League; the second partnership is a group of investors, led by John Bergsma and Peter Wendell. The new team marks the League’s first United States team on the west coast of the United States.

  7-24-03: The League announces the sale and relocation of the New Jersey Storm to Anaheim, CA. Home games will be played at the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim. The team will be operated by the management and staff of the Arrowhead Pond. The new Anaheim team gives the league a presence in the second largest population and television market in the United States.

  7-30-03: The League grants a one-year suspension of operations to the Ottawa Rebel franchise. The Ottawa players are dispersed to the other eleven teams via Dispersal Draft.

  8-11-03: The League awards the 2004 All-Star Game to the city of Denver. The Colorado Mammoth and Pepsi Center are designated as the host team and arena for the All-Star Game, to be played on February 22nd.

  8-22-03: The League grants a one-year suspension of operations to the New York Saints franchise. The Saints players are declared free agents. The team played its games at the Nassau Coliseum on Long Island.

  8-28-03: The League announces the sale and relocation of the Columbus Landsharks to the city of Phoenix, AZ. The team will be partially owned and operated by the Phoenix Coyotes of the National Hockey League. The team will join the Coyotes in playing at the brand new Glendale Arena, located in suburban Phoenix.

  9-8-03: A new divisional format is announced for the regular season. The first ever Western Division will consist of Anaheim, Arizona, Calgary, Colorado, San Jose and Vancouver. The East will consist of Buffalo, Philadelphia, Rochester and Toronto. The top three teams in each division shall earn playoff berths, with the division champions receiving byes. The second and third place finishers shall face each other in the opening round with the winners facing their respective division champions in the semi-final round. The semi-final winners shall meet in the 2004 Champions Cup Final with the higher seed hosting.

  9-10-03: The Score network becomes the league’s new national broadcast partner in Canada. The Score will consist of fifteen live regular season game broadcasts, spread across a “Game of the Week” format. The Score will also carry the 2002-2003 All-Star Game and Playoffs, including the Champions Cup Game in April of 2003.

  9-16-03: Bay Area Lacrosse introduces the name and logo of the San Jose Stealth.

  9-17-03: Anaheim Lacrosse announces that the team will retain the same Storm logo and colors as used in their previous two seasons in New Jersey.

  11-15-03: Arizona Lacrosse introduces the name and logo of the Arizona Sting

  12-17-03: League announces a new partnership with Fox Sports Net to broadcast NLL games to over 50 million homes during the 2003-04 season.

  12-18-03: Toronto Rock forward Kevin Finneran announced his retirement from the National Lacrosse League after 13 seasons. Coined as the “Iron Man”, Finneran holds the record for most consecutive indoor lacrosse games played in league history (138). In his career, he accumulated 644 points on 262 goals and 382 assists.

  12-22-03: The National Lacrosse League announces a return to the YES Network (Yankees Entertainment and Sports Network) for the 2003-04 season. The YES Network will carry eight regular season games with an emphasis on the league’s two New York teams, the Buffalo Bandits and the Rochester Knighthawks.

  1-10-04: The Arizona Sting defeat the Anaheim Storm in triple-overtime, 19-18, in front of 6,476 fans at the Arrowhead Pond in the NLL’s first ever regular season game in Southern California. The game marked the first time an NLL game was decided in triple overtime.

  1-30-04: The Colorado Mammoth host a sellout crowd of 18,305 at Pepsi Center in a 14-13 loss to the Calgary Roughnecks. The Mammoth went on to record five sellout crowds on the season.

  2-22-04: The 2004 All-Star Game was played in front of 16,742 fans at Pepsi Center in Denver, home of the Colorado Mammoth. The crowd was the largest All-Star Game crowd in league history. The East Division All-Stars defeated the West Division All-Stars by a score of 19-15.

  3-25-04: Gary Gait became the first player in league history to reach 1,000 career points. Gait scored six goals and added two assists for eight points to reach the milestone in an 18-6 victory over the San Jose Stealth in front of a sellout crowd of 18,305 at Pepsi Center in Denver.

  5-7-04: The Calgary Roughnecks won their first ever Champions Cup by defeating the Buffalo Bandits 14-11 at Pengrowth Saddledome in Calgary. The game was played in front of 19,289 fans. The sellout crowd is the largest in Roughnecks history and the second highest single game attendance total in NLL history.

  8-10-04: The league announces the placement of a franchise in Minnesota. The new team will be owned and operated by Minnesota Sports and Entertainment, owners of the Minnesota Wild of the National Hockey League. The Minnesota team will enter the league for the 2005 season and play its home games at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.

  10-01-04: The National Lacrosse League reached a new three-year Collective Bargaining Agreement with the Professional Lacrosse Player’s Association (PLPA). The agreement covers the league’s 2005, 2006 and 2007 seasons.

  10-25-04: Minnesota Lacrosse introduces the name and logo of the Minnesota Swarm.

  12-11-04: A new pre-season attendance record is set as 14,084 fans come to the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul for the first home exhibition game of the expansion Minnesota Swarm. The game marks the first professional lacrosse game ever played in the state of Minnesota. The Swarm lose to Colorado by a score of 16-6.

  1-1-05: The Minnesota Swarm defeated the Rochester Knighthawks, 12-11, in front of 8,532 fans at the Blue Cross Arena in Rochester, to open the 2005 season. The expansion Swarm became only the third expansion team to win their inaugural game.

  1-30-05: The league announced a historic television agreement with NBC Sports that would bring the game of lacrosse to network television for the first time in history of the sport. The announcement was made by Ken Schanzer, President, NBC Sports and NLL Commissioner Jim Jennings. NBC would provide live broadcasts of the NLL All-Star Game and Champion’s Cup Final.

  2-1-05: The league announced a weekly television broadcast schedule in the United States for the remainder of the 2005 season. The league would broadcast the “NLL Game of the Week” into millions of homes each week through its new broadcast partnerships with the America One Television Network and a host of regional sports networks across the country, including Cox Sports Television and Comcast stations across the country.

  2-2-05: The league announced that the 2005 All-Star Game and Champions Cup Final would each air on the CNBC Europe and CNBC Asia networks. The two networks, members of the NBC Universal family of stations, reach a combined 50 million homes throughout Europe and Asia.

  2-11-05: Buffalo Bandits forward John Tavares tallied his 500th career assist in a 20-9 win over the Anaheim Storm as part of an eleven point performance (2G, 9A) that evening. The veteran forward was the first player to ever tally 500 career assists in league history.

  2-19-05: Buffalo Bandits forward John Tavares reached another career milestone tallying his 1,000th career point in an 11-7 win over the Rochester Knighthawks. Tavares scored seven points on the evening (3 goals, 4 assists) and became just the second ever player to reach the 1,000 career point milestone. He reached the milestone in his 154th career regular season game, three games quicker than the only other player to reach the milestone, Colorado Mammoth forward Gary Gait. Gait tallied his 1,000th point on March 26, 2004 in his 157th career regular season game.

  2-23-05: The league announced the television broadcast team for the 2005 All- Star Game, on NBC. Veteran National Hockey League announcer Mike “Doc” Emrick would handle the play-by-play, while Brian Shanahan from the Score would serve as the color analyst. NBC’s Mark Morgan would be the sideline reporter.

  2-26-05: The National Lacrosse League All-Star Game aired live on NBC at 2PM Eastern. The game became the first live broadcast of lacrosse on national U.S. network television. The game was also televised in Canada on The Score, and internationally via CNBC International, CNBC Asia and on Armed Forces Network. The East Division (Buffalo, Minnesota, Philadelphia, Rochester, Toronto) defeated the West Division (Anaheim, Arizona, Calgary, Colorado, San Jose) 11-10 in overtime in front of 11,511 fans at Pengrowth Saddledome in Calgary.

  3-11-05: Buffalo Bandits veteran forward John Tavares scored his 500th career goal and was just the second ever player to reach the milestone. Tavares netted five goals on the evening and added five assists for ten points in a 23-16 victory over the Minnesota Swarm. After reaching the 500 goals mark, Tavares became the first ever player to reach all three major career milestones – 500 goals, 500 assists, and 1,000 points.

  3-14-05: The NLL announced an agreement with Bell Express Vu, Canada’s leading direct-to-home satellite television company to broadcast games to out of-market fans on its pay-per-view channels to regions of Canada that are outside of the regional broadcast territories.

  3-24-05: Legendary lacrosse superstars and twin brothers Paul and Gary Gait were reunited when Paul ended his retirement signing with the Colorado Mammoth.

  4-11-05: The league awarded its 2006 All-Star Game to the Toronto Rock, at the Air Canada Centre on Saturday, February 25th, 2006 and the 2006 All-Star Game logo was unveiled.

  4-15-05: Veteran Philadelphia Wings forward and all-time franchise scoring leader Tom “Hollywood” Marechek played his final NLL game in a 14-12 loss to the Minnesota Swarm and had five points (3g, 2a) in the contest. He retired from the NLL after twelve seasons all with the Wings and as the league’s third all-time leading scorer with 773 career points, as the league’s fourth all-time goal scorer with 399, and as the league’s fourth all-time assists leader with 373.

  5-6-05: The league awards a franchise to the city of Edmonton, Alberta to begin play in the 2006 season. The Edmonton franchise plays its home games at Rexall Place, also the home arena of the Edmonton Oilers of the National Hockey League.

  5-11-05: The league awards a franchise to the City of Portland, Oregon to begin to play in the 2006 season. Portland will play their home games at the Global Spectrum-managed Rose Garden home of the NBA’s Trail Blazers.

  5-14-05: The 2005 Edge NLL Championship Game is played in front of an NLL record 19,432 fans at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto and in front of a national network television audience in the U.S. on NBC and in Canada on the Score. The Toronto Rock defeated the Arizona Sting 19-13 capturing their fifth title in seven seasons. Colin Doyle was named MVP of the game after leading the Rock with five goals and three assists.

  5-15-05: Legendary coach Les Bartley passes away after an 18 month battle with colon cancer. Bartley served as Head Coach and General Manager of the Toronto Rock between 1999 and 2003. He posted a 51-19 regular season record and 9-1 post-season record in five seasons. He also led the team to a 37-5 regular season home record in the same time. Bartley began his coaching career in 1991 and would go on to lead his teams to eleven Championship games, winning seven League Championships. Four of those seven were with the Rock; back-to-back titles in 1999-00 and 2002-03. Prior to coming to Toronto, Bartley coached the Bandits to titles in 1992, 1993 and 1996.

  5-23-05: The league announces that the 2005 attendance average was 10,400, a 3% increase over 2004’s average of 10,088.

  6-3-05: The NLL announces that the league will consist of eleven teams for the 2006 season. The eleven-team league will include expansion teams in Edmonton, Alberta and Portland, Oregon. The league announces that the Anaheim Storm lacrosse club has suspended operations.

  6-9-05: The expansion Edmonton team announces the team name to be the Edmonton Rush.

  6-15-05: The league announces the divisional alignments and an expanded Champions Cup Playoffs format for the 2006 season. The league continues playing with two divisions, the East (Buffalo, Minnesota, Philadelphia, Rochester, Toronto) and West (Arizona, Calgary, Colorado, Edmonton, Portland, San Jose). The divisional alignments were expanded so the top four teams in each division will advance to the playoffs.

  6-16-05: The league announces the establishment of the National Lacrosse League Hall of Fame. The Hall of Fame opens with five charter members who have made immeasurable contributions to the league and the sport of lacrosse. The five charter members are league founders Russ Cline and Chris Fritz; legendary lacrosse stars Gary Gait and Paul Gait, and the late Les Bartley, the winningest coach in league history.

  6-21-05: The Colorado Mammoth announces Hall of Fame forward Gary Gait as Head Coach.

  7-12-05: The expansion Portland team announces the team name to be the Portland LumberJax and unveils the team logo and colors.

  11-14-05: The NLL unveils a special logo commemorating the league’s 20th season.

  11-15-05: The NLL and Reebok announce a multi-year exclusive partnership in which all NLL players will use Reebok equipment and will be exclusively outfitted in the brand’s footwear and apparel. The partnership makes the brand the official equipment, uniform and footwear provider of the league. The agreement makes Reebok the exclusive licensee of official NLL apparel including authentic and replica jerseys, caps, shirts and additional clothing.

  12-30-05: The league’s 20th season begins as the Colorado Mammoth host the Philadelphia Wings at Pepsi Center in Denver, Colorado. The Wings went on to defeat the Mammoth 13-11 in the contest. The game also marked Hall of Fame player Gary Gait’s first game as a coach in the league, serving as Colorado Mammoth Head Coach. Prior to the game, the Mammoth retired Gait’s #22 jersey.

  2-5-06: Toronto Rock veteran and team captain Jim “Scoop” Veltman collected his 2,000th loose ball in a 14-10 win over the Calgary Roughnecks. Veltman is the first player in league history to reach the milestone.

  2-16-06: The NLL announces it has awarded a franchise to the city of Chicago for the 2007 season. The Chicago team becomes the league’s twelfth franchise, and it will play its home games at the Sears Centre, a brand new, state-of-theart, indoor arena in Hoffman Estates, a northwest suburb of Chicago.

  2-23-06: The Inaugural Class of the National Lacrosse League Hall of Fame was officially inducted. The ceremony was held in Toronto, Ontario as part of the 2006 Hall of Fame and All-Star Game weekend. League founders Russ Cline and Chris Fritz, legendary players Paul and Gary Gait, and the late Les Bartley, the winningest coach in league history, were all enshrined as the first members of the National Lacrosse League Hall of Fame.

  2-24-06: The Toronto Rock host the Philadelphia Wings in the inaugural Hall of Fame Game, a regular season game played in honor of the first class of the NLL Hall of Fame. The Rock defeated the Wings 12-11 in overtime in front of 16,164 fans at Air Canada Centre.

  2-25-06: The 2006 National Lacrosse League All-Star Game was held at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario, home of the Toronto Rock. The West Division (Arizona Sting, Calgary Roughnecks, Colorado Mammoth, Edmonton Rush, Portland LumberJax, San Jose Stealth) defeated the East Division (Buffalo Bandits, Minnesota Swarm, Philadelphia Wings, Rochester Knighthawks, Toronto Rock) by a score of 14-13 in front of 15,924 fans. Calgary Roughnecks forward Lewis Ratcliff scored the game winning goal with 4.4 seconds remaining. Ratcliff was named the Game MVP.

  3-4-06: Buffalo Bandits veteran forward John Tavares broke the all-time career points record passing Gary Gait (1,091 points). Tavares scored the record breaking 1,092nd point of his career on an assist to Mark Steenhuis at 11:57 into the second quarter against the Minnesota Swarm. Tavares dished a pass to Steenhuis on the power play, and Steenhuis scored a goal past Minnesota Swarm goaltender Matt Disher.

  4-15-06: The Portland LumberJax defeated the Minnesota Swarm 13-8 to complete an 11-5 regular season record and winning the West Division regular season title. The LumberJax became the first expansion team in league history to win a regular season title.

  4-28-06: The National Lacrosse League sets a new attendance record as more than 1 million fans attend NLL games during the 2006 season. The NLL reached the milestone for the first time in the league’s 20-year existence hitting the one million mark at the West Division final playoff game between the Colorado Mammoth and Arizona Sting at Pepsi Center.

  5-8-06: Portland LumberJax Managing Partner Angela Batinovich is named the NLL’s Executive of the Year for the 2006 season for successfully introducing
  the sport of professional lacrosse to Portland and the Pacific Northwest. Batinovich, 25, becomes the league’s first female recipient of the award, and the youngest ever recipient of the award.

  5-13-06: The Colorado Mammoth defeat the Buffalo Bandits 16-9 in front of 16,104 fans at HSBC Arena in Buffalo to secure the first championship in Colorado Mammoth history. Mammoth forward Gavin Prout is named game MVP scoring four goals and adding three assists for seven points in the win.

  5-13-06: The National Lacrosse League finishes its 20th season by setting an all-time single season attendance mark, reaching a total of 1,037,147 fans for the 2006 season, including 88 regular season games, six playoff games, the 2006 All-Star Game in Toronto, and the 2006 RBK NLL Championship Game presented by Edge Active Care. The league season average attendance was 10,804.

  6-12-06: The National Lacrosse League and OLN announce a historic partnership bringing the NLL to live national television every week throughout the 2007 season. The telecasts will air primarily in primetime on Saturday nights, starting in January and running through mid-April on OLN, which, as of September of 2006 will be known as VERSUS.

  7-11-06: The National Lacrosse League announces the awarding of a franchise to New York City for the 2007 season. The official announcement was made during a press conference at East River Park in Manhattan by the honorable Michael Bloomberg, Mayor of New York City and National Lacrosse League Commissioner Jim Jennings. The New York team becomes the league’s thirteenth franchise and will play its games at Madison Square Garden.

  7-18-06: The NLL awards the 2007 All-Star Game to the Portland LumberJax, who will host the contest at Rose Garden on Saturday, March 10th. The announcement was made at Portland City Hall, by NLL Commissioner Jim Jennings, LumberJax Managing Partner Angela Batinovich and Portland Mayor Tom Potter. The league also announced a live national telecast of the 2007 All-Star Game on OLN, which will be changing its name to Versus in September 2006. Versus will telecast NLL games weekly throughout the league’s 2007 regular season.

  9-13-06: The expansion New York franchise announces the team name to be the “New York Titans”. The team also unveiled its logo, website and inaugural season schedule. The team will play four home games at Madison Square Garden and four home games at Nassau Coliseum.

  1-27-07: Rochester Knighthawks veteran forward John Grant sets an NLL single game points record. Grant broke out with 15 points on nine goals and six assists in Rochester’s 22-18 win over the New York Titans.

  2-1-07: The NLL & SIRIUS Satellite Radio sign a multi-year broadcasting agreement that makes SIRIUS the exclusive Official Satellite Radio Partner of the NLL. SIRIUS also debuted a weekly one-hour show later in the 2007 season featuring highlights, news and analysis.

  2-17-07: The Buffalo Bandits defeat the Philadelphia Wings 12-8 at Wachovia Center in Philadelphia in the second ever National Lacrosse League Hall of Fame Game.

  3-10-07: The Eastern Division defeats the Western Division 20-16 in front of 12,856 fans at Rose Garden in Portland, Oregon, home of the Portland LumberJax, in the 2007 National Lacrosse League All-Star Game. Buffalo Bandits forward Mark Steenhuis was named the game’s Most Valuable Player, becoming the first player in NLL history to win two All-Star Game MVP honors. Steenhuis also won the award in 2004.

  3-12-07: The National Lacrosse League awards the 2008 All-Star Game to the Edmonton Rush, who will host the contest at Rexall Place on Sunday, March 16, 2008.

  3-31-07: The NLL reaches a milestone as the league plays its 1,000th regular season game. The Minnesota Swarm hosted the Colorado Mammoth at Xcel Energy Center in Minneapolis/St Paul in the historic game. The Mammoth beat the Swarm 11-9.

  5-9-07: The league announced it has awarded a franchise to the city of Boston. The Boston team becomes the league’s fourteenth franchise, and will play its home games at TD Banknorth Garden, the home arena of the NHL’s Boston Bruins and the NBA’s Boston Celtics. The team also announced that former Philadelphia Wings player Tom Ryan will be Head Coach. The expansion Boston team will begin play in January of 2009.

  5-12-07: The Rochester Knighthawks defeated the Arizona Sting, 13-11, in the 2007 NLL Championship presented by Edge Active Care at Jobing.com Arena. John Grant was named Championship Game MVP with a three goal, five assist performance. The victory marks the first time Rochester has won the title since 1997.

  10-5-07: The league’s new Boston team which will begin play in 2009 unveils their name — the Blazers — and logo at a press conference at TD Banknorth Garden.

  10-25-07: The NLL reaches a new seven-year agreement with the Professional Lacrosse Players’ Union.

  1-19-08: John Tavares breaks Gary Gait’s all-time goal scoring record. Tavares, who had already captured the all-time points and assists records, notched his record-breaking 597th career goal in the third quarter of Buffalo’s 17-13 victory over New York.

  4-12-08: Despite seeing his team lose 15-14 to Minnesota, Philadelphia Forward Athan Iannucci breaks Gary Gait’s single season scoring record of 61 goals. His three goals on the night increased his total to 63, and he went on to finish the season with 71 goals.

  5-17-08: The Buffalo Bandits defeated the Portland Lumberjax by the score of 14-13 in the 2008 Edge NLL Championship game at HSBC Arena. The event, which aired nationally on ESPN2, drew a sellout crowd of 18,690 fans. Mark Steenhuis captured the game’s MVP honors with five goals and one assist.

  10-14-08: All-time great Gary Gait comes out of retirement to play for the Rochester Knighthawks. Gait’s rights were acquired in a trade with the Colorado Mammoth.

  11-20-08: Tom Borrelli, the first media member recognized by the NLL Hall of Fame, passes away at the age of 51. A reporter for the Buffalo News, Borrelli died from complications suffered in an accident while covering a high school football game in Buffalo on November 8th.

  11-25-08: The league announces the addition of instant replay for officials to review disputed goals and crease violations during games.

  1-10-09: George Daniel is appointed Commissioner of the National Lacrosse League.

  2-14-09: Buffalo Bandits transition player Mark Steenhuis sets two single game records in Buffalo’s 25-10 victory over the Toronto Rock at HSBC Arena. Steenhuis recorded 13 assists to break the previous mark of 11 held by Derek Malawsky and added four goals to finish the contest with 17 points, breaking the previous single-game points record of 15 held by John Grant.

  5-15-09: Calgary wins its second championship, defeating New York 12-10 in front of 13,042 at Pengrowth Saddledome. Josh Sanderson was named Championship Game MVP, finishing with two goals and three assists.

  8-11-09: The Titans relocate from New York to Orlando. The Orlando Titans will play home games at Amway Arena.

• 2010

  3-12-10: The Buffalo Bandits defeated the Toronto Rock, 11-10, in overtime. With the win, Buffalo Bandits Head Coach Darris Kilgour passes Les Bartley for most regular season wins all-time with 94. Kilgour finished the season with 98.

  4-27-10: The first NLL video game in nearly a decade was released as “NLL Lacrosse 2010 presented by Reebok Lacrosse” became available for the Xbox 360 platform. The game would go on to be named “Best Indie Sports Game of the Year” by a leading video gaming website.

  5-15-10: The Washington Stealth defeated the Toronto Rock 15-11 in the NLL Championship game at Comcast Arena in front of a sellout crowd of 8,609. Lewis Ratcliff was awarded the Reebok Championship game MVP with five goals. Stealth forward Rhys Duch tied the records for most assists (8) and most points (11) in Championship Game history.

• 2011

  1-8-11: The league begins its 25th Anniversary season with all teams in action.

  2-19-11: John Tavares becomes the first player in league history to reach 1,500 career regular season points. The league’s all-time goals and assists leader reached the milestone with an assist on a goal scored by Brendan Thenhaus in the first quarter of a Buffalo Bandits home game against the Philadelphia Wings.

  5-15-11: The league’s 25th Anniversary Season concludes in thrilling fashion, as the Toronto Rock & Washington Stealth meet in the Championship Game for the second consecutive year. Playing his final game before retirement, Rock goaltender Bob Watson makes 46 saves and is named Championship Game MVP as Toronto holds off Washington 8-7 before a crowd of 14,488 fans at Air Canada Centre. The game airs live across North America on VERSUS & TSN.

  11-14-11: The league and CBS Sports Network announce a two-year broadcast partnership for regular season and playoff games to air live and in primetime on Saturday nights.

• 2012

  1-21-12: Colorado Mammoth forward John Grant, Jr. becomes the fifth player in NLL history to record 1,000 career points with an assist on the game-winning goal in a 13-12 overtime win over the Calgary Roughnecks.

  1-27-12: Toronto Rock captain Colin Doyle ties Steve Toll for the NLL ironman record by playing his 188th consecutive game. Doyle’s streak was snapped the following week and surpassed by Shawn Williams later in the season.

  2-25-12: The 2012 NLL All-Star Game is held in Buffalo, NY for the first time at First Niagara Center, home of the Buffalo Bandits. The West All-Stars defeated the East by a score of 20-18 in front of 13,466 fans while Calgary’s Geoff Snider was named ASG MVP.

  3-2-12: Colorado Mammoth forward John Grant, Jr. becomes just the third player in NLL history to score 500 career goals, joining Gary Gait and John Tavares.

  3-10-12: Edmonton Rush forward Shawn Williams becomes just the sixth player in league history to record 1,000 career points, joining Gary Gait, John Tavares, Colin Doyle, Josh Sanderson and John Grant, Jr.

  3-17-12: Edmonton Rush forward Shawn Williams passes Colin Doyle and Steve Toll to set the new NLL record for consecutive games played with his 189th consecutive game. Williams finished the season with an active ironman streak of 196 games.

  3-31-12: Toronto Rock forward Garrett Billings becomes the first player in NLL history to record a point on each of his team’s goals (minimum 10 goals) after recording 15 points (4+11) in Toronto’s 15-9 win over the Buffalo Bandits.

  4-7-12: The NLL makes its debut on CBS Sports Network with a live telecast of the Buffalo Bandits 17-7 win over the Philadelphia Wings in Buffalo.

  4-28-12: Two significant NLL records were broken on the same night. Colorado Mammoth forward John Grant, Jr. set the single-season scoring record with his 116th point of the season on his league-high 50th goal to surpass the 115 points recorded by John Tavares in 2001. Toronto’s Garrett Billings set the new single-season assist record with his 82nd assist of year, surpassing Philadelphia’s Dan Dawson, who finished 2012 with 78 assists. Both players broke Dawson’s previous record of 74 assists shared with Josh Sanderson, both set in 2009.

  5-19-12: The Rochester Knighthawks defeated the Edmonton Rush at home by a score of 9-6 in the 2012 NLL Championship Game at Blue Cross Arena. Knighthawks forward Cody Jamieson was named game MVP after recording four goals and four assists. The game marked the fifth different NLL team to win the championship over the last five years and the fifth consecutive year in which the home team won the title.

  11-12-12: The NLL, in partnership with The Lacrosse Network, announces that the league’s online game broadcasts will air live on YouTube during the 2013 season.

• 2013

  1-26-13: Buffalo Bandits forward Shawn Williams plays in his 200th consecutive game. The NLL’s ironman finished the 2013 season with an active streak of 212 straight games played.

  3-30-13: Colorado Mammoth forward John Grant, Jr. surpasses Gary Gait (1,165) to move into third on the league’s all-time scoring list behind John Tavares and Colin Doyle.

  4-20-13: The playoff race concludes in thrilling fashion with a record crowd of 19,070 at sold-out First Niagara Center for the regular season finale between the Buffalo Bandits and Rochester Knighthawks. Rochester goaltender Matt Vinc passes Rob Blasdell (644) to set the new NLL single-season saves record (662). The 12-11 overtime win by the Calgary Roughnecks over the Edmonton Rush in the finale marked the fifth-longest game in NLL history (70:05). One of the most competitive regular seasons in league history, 22 of the 72 games were decided by just one goal (30%).

  5-11-13: The Rochester Knighthawks defeat the Washington Stealth in the 2013 NLL Championship Game by a score of 11-10 before a sold-out crowd at Langley Events Centre in British Columbia. The contest, which aired live on CBS Sports Network, marked the 12th title game in the league’s 27-year history decided by just one goal. Knighthawks become just the sixth team to win back-to-back championships and the first team in a decade to do so. Rochester’s Cody Jamieson wins second Championship Game MVP award, becomes the sixth player to accomplish the feat and only the second to do it consecutively.

  8-2-13: NLL returns to British Columbia as the Stealth franchise relocates from its previous home in Everett, Washington to the Langley, B.C. The Vancouver Stealth will begin play at Langley Events Centre during the 2014 NLL season.

  8-23-13: First-ever Jr. NLL Tournament takes place at Toronto Rock Athletic Centre in Oakville, Ont. with six of the league’s nine teams represented by youth teams during the weekend-long event.

  10-22-13: League reaches accord with Professional Lacrosse Player’s Association for a new seven-year collective bargaining agreement through the 2020 season. Highlights of the CBA included an increase to the 18-game regular season schedule, expanded playoff format, division realignment and modifications to the free agency system.

  11-25-13: NLL announces Under Armour as the league’s new exclusive supplier of performance apparel, footwear and equipment starting with the 2014 season through 2016.

  12-5-13: The NLL announces that the league’s online game broadcasts will air live on YouTube via The Lacrosse Network during the 2014 season.

  12-28-13: The 2014 NLL season commences with three Face Off 2014 openers to begin the league’s 28th year featuring an 18-game schedule per team for the first time along with an expanded playoff format.

• 2014

  1-11-14: League officially returns to British Columbia with the Vancouver Stealth hosting the Minnesota Swarm for its home opener at Langley Events Centre. Vancouver earned an 8-5 win for the team’s first-ever victory at the LEC.

  2-1-14: Toronto Rock forward Josh Sanderson surpasses Gary Gait (1,165 points) for fourth on the NLL all-time scoring list. By the end of the season, Sanderson moved into seventh in league history in career goals (419) by passing Paul Gait (410) and Tom Marechek (399).

  2-22-14: Toronto Rock forward Colin Doyle joined John Tavares, Gary Gait and John Grant, Jr. as just the fourth player in league history to register 500 career goals by scoring against the Minnesota Swarm.

  3-1-14: Doyle joined Tavares as just the second player in NLL history to record 1,300 career points. Doyle also recorded his 800th career assist in the same game against the Calgary Roughnecks, joining Tavares as the only other player to reach that plateau as well.

  3-8-14: Edmonton Rush become the first team in NLL history to start the regular season with nine consecutive wins after a 10-9 victory over the Vancouver Stealth.

  3-20-14: League announces partnership with Universal Sports Network to broadcast seven NLL games over the remainder of the 2014 regular season. The NLL “Game of the Week” will be showcased live on UniversalSports.com in addition to airing later on Universal Sports Network. 3-21-14: Buffalo Bandits forward John Tavares, the league’s all-time leader in goals, assists, points and games played, becomes first player in league history to record 1,700 career points with assist at the 9:29 mark of the first quarter against the Edmonton Rush.

  3-23-14: League-record 185-game point streak dating back to January 2002 ends for Buffalo Bandits forward John Tavares who was held without a point in a game against the Minnesota Swarm. The Buffalo vs. Minnesota game also marked the first game with a scoreless first quarter in the history of the league.

  3-30-14: Edmonton Rush set new NLL single-season record for consecutive wins by winning their 13th-straight game, a 13-10 victory over the Toronto Rock, surpassing the 12 straight wins posted by the 2007 Rochester Knighthawks. The Rush won its next game with a 12-11 win over the Colorado Mammoth on April 5 to extend the record to 14 consecutive wins.

  4-5-14: Buffalo Bandits forward John Tavares scores league-record 800th career goal at the 13:49 mark of the third quarter against the Calgary Roughnecks, continuing historic all-time scoring run in his 23rd season.

  4-11-14: Historic 14-0 undefeated start by the Edmonton Rush comes to an end with the team’s first loss of the season, an 11-9 defeat to the Colorado Mammoth on the road.

  4-12-14: Edmonton Rush make NLL history with their league-record 15th regular season win after a 15-11 victory over the Calgary Roughnecks. Despite the new 18-game schedule, Edmonton needed only 16 games to set the record.

  4-18-14: Buffalo Bandits goaltender Anthony Cosmo breaks NLL single season saves record, surpassing the previous record of 662 saves set by Rochester Knighthawks goaltender Matt Vinc in 2013. Cosmo extended the mark by finishing the year with 752 saves.

  4-19-14: Colorado Mammoth forward John Grant, Jr. joined John Tavares and Gary Gait as just the third player in league history to score 600 goals by scoring in a game against the Minnesota Swarm.

  4-26-14: The 2014 NLL regular season and playoff race wraps up with five games in Week 18. Edmonton Rush defeat Vancouver Stealth 10-5 on April 25 to finish the season with a record of 16-2, extending the NLL single-season win record to 16 games, en route to the team’s first-ever home playoff game.

  5-31-14: Rochester Knighthawks make league history as the first team to win three-straight championships after Champion’s Cup Finals series Game 3 win at home at Blue Cross Arena over the Calgary Roughnecks. Down 1-0 in the series after a 10-7 road loss in Game 1, Rochester won Game 2 decisively 16-10 and used a last-minute comeback in the tiebreaker for a 3-2 mini-game win to capture its third-consecutive title. Knighthawks forward Dan Dawson named Cup Finals Most Valuable Player.

  8-29-14: Second-annual Jr. NLL Tournament, hosted by the Toronto Rock featuring 21 youth teams representing NLL franchises, returned to Toronto Rock Athletic Centre for the second-straight year. The Jr. Knighthawks (Bantam & Midget) and Jr. Rock (PeeWee) teams won championships in their respective age groups during the Labor Day weekend event.

  9-19-14: New England Black Wolves franchise officially introduced at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. Mohegan Sun and the Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority (MTGA) entered into a partnership with the owners of the former Philadelphia Wings franchise on August 6 with approval from the league’s Board of Governors for the team to relocate for the 2015 season and beyond.

  9-21-14: First-ever NLL Season Awards Ceremony takes place in Toronto during NLL Draft weekend. Along with NLL All-Pro and All-Rookie Teams, the league honored three finalists for the 10 awards and announced winners.

  9-22-14: The 2014 NLL Draft returns to Toronto Rock Athletic Centre with 55 players drafted during the six-round event in Oakville, Ont. which was highlighted by trades and high-profile selections. The league also announced the expansion of the Champions Cup Finals to a full best-of-three format for the championship series, effective for the 2015 postseason.

• 2015

  1-2-15: League’s 29th season opens with NLL Face Off Weekend 2015 presented by New Era Cap as New England Black Wolves defeat Buffalo Bandits 12-8 at home in first-ever regular season game at Mohegan Sun Arena. Week 1 culminates with four more home openers for the Bandits, Roughnecks, Swarm and Knighthawks the following night.

  2-28-15: Rochester Knighthawks forward Dan Dawson becomes just ninth player to score 400 career goals, passing Tom Marechek (399) on the all-time goal scoring list. Dawson finished the 2016 NLL season ranked eighth all-time with 411 career goals, one ahead of Paul Gait (410).

  3-21-15: Colorado Mammoth forward John Grant, Jr. passes Colin Doyle to move into second all-time in league history with 1,335 career points. Grant finished the 2016 NLL season with 1,366 points, trailing only John Tavares (1,749).

  4-11-15: Calgary Roughnecks forward Shawn Evans passes John Grant, Jr. (116) to set new NLL single-season points record with 117th point of the year. Evans finishes the regular season and extended his league record to 130 points, and tied the league’s assists record (83) with Josh Sanderson, all en route to the NLL MVP award in 2015, his second in three seasons. Evans became just the fourth player in NLL history to win MVP award more than once.

  4-17-15: Colorado Mammoth’s John Grant, Jr. passes Gary Gait for second on the NLL all-time goal scoring list with 636th career goal, trailing only John Tavares (815).

  5-2-15: 2015 NLL regular season concludes in thrilling fashion with five Week 18 games including winner-take-all finale for the final playoff spot in the West Division between Calgary Roughnecks and Vancouver Stealth, which Calgary won on the road to clinch a postseason berth, 14-13. Toronto Rock finishes as top overall seed and first in East with a 14-4 record with Edmonton Rush on top in West at 13-5.

  6-5-15: Edmonton Rush wins the team’s first-ever Champions Cup by defeating the Toronto Rock, 11-10, on a goal by Matthew Dinsdale with 1:02 remaining in Game 2 of best-of-three series to cap off the franchise’s 10th anniversary year. The Rush won Game 1 of the series on the road, 15-9.

  5-29-15: Swarm announces franchise’s relocation from Minnesota to Metro-Atlanta area ahead of team’s inaugural season at Infinite Energy Center in Duluth, GA. Georgia Swarm unveils team to media with an introductory press conference in Gwinnett County on July 16.

  6-20-15: Rush franchise announces relocation from Edmonton to Saskatoon with Saskatchewan Rush’s inaugural season at new home of 15,000+ seat SaskTel Centre set for 2016 as team begins title defense after first-ever championship.

  8-30-15: 3rd Annual Jr. NLL Tournament featuring 21 youth teams representing NLL franchises returns to TRAC with an event hosted by Toronto Rock for the third-straight year. Rochester Jr. Knighthawks complete the title sweep with championships in Bantam, Midget and Pee Wee levels. League hands out first-ever ‘Tucker Williams Award’ and ‘Braver Than Brave Award’ honors in memory of NLL veteran Shawn Williams’ late son who passed away in December 2014.

  9-2-15: Lacrosse legend John Tavares announces retirement after league-record 24-year career, all with Buffalo Bandits. Four-time NLL champion retired as the league’s all-time leader in games played (306), goals (815), assists (934) and points (1,749) and second in loose balls (2,169). Tavares played in a record 10 NLL All-Star games and was named to All-Pro Teams an NLL-record 19 times and won league’s Most Valuable Player award in 1994, 2000, and 2001.

  12-28-15: League announces more than 50 games during 2016 NLL season will be live streamed in partnership with FOX Sports including NLL’s own branded channel within FOX Sports GO, the app that provides streaming video of FOX Sports at home or on-the-go.

• 2016

  1-1-16: League opens 30th anniversary year with NLL Face Off Weekend 2016 presented by New Era Cap as Colorado Mammoth defeat Georgia Swarm in a 16-15 thriller at Pepsi Center in Denver. The NLL 30th Anniversary Team unveiled with John Tavares, Gary Gait, John Grant, Jr., Colin Doyle and Paul Gait rounding out the top five all-time players as voted by the media.

  1-7-16: Nick Sakiewicz appointed Commissioner of the National Lacrosse League. Sakiewicz succeeds George Daniel, who had served as Commissioner since 2009, and now shifts into a legal counsel role with the league.

  1-9-16: A crowd of 9,087 witnessed the first-ever box lacrosse game in GA as the Georgia Swarm beat the Toronto Rock, 12-7.

  2-5-16: The Saskatchewan Rush get a franchise-record seven goals by Zack Greer as they defeat the Calgary Roughnecks, 19-12.

  2-27-16: Colorado Mammoth’s Adam Jones sets the League record for goals in a quarter by scoring six in a come-from-behind 11-10 win over the Vancouver Stealth.

  3-5-16: Colorado Mammoth’s Adam Jones enters the record books again by scoring in his 56th consecutive game in a 14-13 win over the New England Black Wolves. He broke the previous mark of 55 consecutive games set by John Grant during the 2006-2011 seasons.

  3-25-16: The Saskatchewan Rush and Vancouver Stealth combine for a season high 40 goals as the Rush prevails, 24-16. The 24 goals by Saskatchewan are the most by a winning road team since Montreal scored 32 in defeating the Calgary Roughnecks on Nov. 24, 2001.

  4-23-16: Buffalo Bandits’ Dhane Smith establishes a new League record for scoring with his 131st point in a 15-13 win at Rochester; breaking the old mark set by New England Black Wolves’ Shawn Evans. Smith would finish the year with 137 points.

  4-30-16: Buffalo’s Dhane Smith found the record books for the second consecutive week as he scored his 72nd goal of the season in front of a sellout crowd of 19,070. The Bandits defeat the New England Black Wolves, 12-7, for the top overall seed.

  6-4-16: The Saskatchewan Rush win their second consecutive Champions Cup when Jeff Cornwall scores with 12 seconds left to sweep the Buffalo Bandits, 11-10.

  11-28-16: The league launched its first OTT platform announcing all games would be streamed live via NLLTV.com.

  12-17-16: The league unveiled its new logo and branding at Mohegan Sun Arena live on NLLTV.com

• 2017

  3-15-17: League announces partnership with Twitter for a Game of the Week to stream live on the platform with the first game featuring the Toronto Rock hosting the Colorado Mammoth.

  3-3-17: Buffalo Bandit’s Anthony Cosmo becomes the first NLL goalie to reach 7,000 Career Saves.

  4-1-17: Vancouver Stealth’s Rhys Duch hits the 800 Career Points mark.

  4-23-17: Shawn Evans of the New England Black Wolves reaches 1,000 Career Points in the NLL.

  4-29-17: Buffalo Bandit’s Mark Steenhuis notches his 1,000th Career Point against the Toronto Rock.

  6-10-17: The Georgia Swarm defeated the Saskatchewan Rush in a two game Champions Cup Final to win the franchise’s first Championship with the Swarm’s Lyle Thompson being named the MVP.

  7-17-17: Colorado Mammoth’s John Grant Jr. announces his retirement from the NLL. The two-time MVP and nine-time All-Pro finishes his career second in League history in goals (668) and points (1,446), and fifth in assists (778). In just six-plus seasons with Colorado, he rewrote the record books and now steps away as the team’s all-time leader in goals (235), and finishes second in both assists (317) and points (552).

  8-30-17: The League announced its expansion to have San Diego join play in the 2018-19 under the ownership of Joe Tsai. Steve Govett is appointed the team’s
  President and Josh Gross is named VP of Business Operations.

  9-15-17: The League announces its 12th expansion market, awarding Comcast-Spectacor a team in Philadelphia.

  10-24-17: The NLL’s 10th franchise San Diego reveals their team name and brand as the San Diego Seals.

  11-10-17: The League announces NLL Productions expansion, with Mia Gordon heading to be the League’s West Coast Reporter and the addition of Ashley Docking to join Tyson Geick as the League’s Lead Reporters.

  10-29-17: The NLL’s 11th franchise reveals their team name and brand as the Philadelphia Wings.

  12-5-17: The League announces a partnership with CBS Sports Digital to stream NLL Regular Season and Playoff Games.

• 2018

  1-6-18: Saskatchewan Rush Head Coach Derek Keenan becomes the League’s All-Time Leader in Coaching Victories with 122.

  6-9-18: The Saskatchewan Rush defeat the Rochester Knighthawks in a three game NLL Finals series to claim their third Championship title.

  6-18-18: The NLL approves the purchase of the Vancouver Stealth by the Aquilini family moving the team to the Rogers Arena.

  7-24-18: The NLL relocates its headquarters and expands NLL Production office to Philadelphia, PA.

  9-13-18: The NLL announces a franchise will begin play in Halifax in the 2019-20 season. Additionally, Pegula Sports and Entertainment is awarded the Rochester franchise beginning in 2019-20.

  9-21-18: The Vancouver franchise announces its rebranding as the Vancouver Warriors.

• 2019

  1-5-19: Georgia Swarm coach Ed Comeau wins his 100th career game (including playoffs) with a 10-8 win over the Vancouver Warriors.

  2-9-19: In the New England Black Wolves 16-13 win over the Rochester Knighthawks, two Black Wolves’ reach milestones. Callum Crawford recorded his 900th point of his career while Stephan Leblanc registered his 700th point of his career.

  3-2-19: In the Saskatchewan Rush’s 15-9 win over the Calgary Roughnecks, Evan Kirk became the 14th goaltender in league history to win 50 regular-season games.

  3-16-19: San Diego Seals’ Dan Dawson earns his 858th career assist in a 13-11 win over the Philadelphia Wings, moving him past Colin Doyle for third on the
  all-time assist leaderboard.

  3-16-19: Calgary Roughnecks’ Dane Dobbie becomes the 13th player in league history to score 400 goals in his career in a 11-9 loss to the Colorado Mammoth.

  4-20-19: Philadelphia Wings’ Trevor Baptiste becomes the all-time single-season faceoff wins leader with 362, breaking the previous record of 338 set in 2015 by Buffalo Bandits’ Jay Thorimbert.

  4-20-19: The Calgary Roughnecks set an attendance record for a regular-season game, drawing a sellout crowd of 19,289 during an 18-8 win over the Saskatchewan Rush.

  5-25-19: The Calgary Roughnecks’ Rhys Duch scores 1:12 into overtime to complete a two-game sweep in the finals to defeat the Buffalo Bandits, 14-13, and win their third NLL Cup.

  7-31-19: The League announces a partnership with Alterna Savings and Alterna Bank as the official and exclusive financial institution of the NLL in Canada. The partnership reveals a new competition among the five Canadian teams called The Alterna Cup, given to the Canadian team with the best win percentage against the other Canadian teams at the end of the regular season.

  8-26-19: The League names Jessica Berman Deputy Commissioner and Executive Vice President of Business Affairs, making her the highest ranking woman in men’s professional sports.

  11-29-19: The 34th NLL Season starts with the earliest regular season game held in league history. The Colorado Mammoth hosted the Saskatchewan Rush, losing 8-9.

  12-27-19: Callum Crawford records his 1,000th career point. On the night, Crawford scored five goals and tallied nine assists in a 21-11 win over the New York Riptide. He is the 11th player in NLL history to reach the 1,000 point milestone. On the same night, Curtis Dickson scored his 400th career goal, he is the 14th player in NLL history to reach the milestone.

• 2020

  1-15-20: The League and BetMGM announce the first ever U.S. gaming partnership in lacrosse.

  1-28-20: The League hosts first ever Team Business Summit in Las Vegas.

  2-1-20: The San Diego Seals host the first ever NLL game to be played in Las Vegas. The Seals would beat the Colorado Mammoth, 17-10 at Orleans Arena.

  2-22-20: Brodie Merrill tallied his 2,518 loose ball of his career, moving him past Jim Veltman for first in NLL History

  3-12-20: The League announces the postponement of play for the 2019-20 regular season due to the COVID-19 Pandemic

  4-6-20: The League decides to cancel the remainder of the 2019-20 regular season due to the COVID-19 Pandemic.

  6-4-20: The League decides to shift focus to the 2020-21 season, effectively ending the 2019-20 season without finishing play

  7-22-20: The League announces its 14th team with the expansion to Fort Worth. The team will join play in the 2021-22 season under the majority ownership of Bill Cameron and play at Dickies Arena. Gregg Bibbs is named Managing Partner.

  9-1-20: The expansion Fort Worth franchise names Bob Hamley as its first ever GM and VP of Lacrosse Operations

  9-17-20: The League hosts its first ever virtual Entry Draft. All six rounds were streamed via Bleacher Report Live. During the draft, the National Lacrosse League Hall of Fame is reintroduced with a brand new logo. A new class will be appointed in 2021.

  11-17-20: The expansion team in Fort Worth, Texas announces its team name as Panther City Lacrosse Club.

  11-19-20: The League and Fanatics announced a multiyear e-commerce deal to bring all NLL team’s merchandise and licensing together on a singular platform at NLLShop.com

• 2021

  1-25-21: Panther City announces NLL Hall of Famer, Tracey Kelusky, the first head coach in team history

  2-23-21: The League approves the sale of the New England Black Wolves to a group led by Oliver Marti who will relocate the team to Albany, NY. This will mark the return of the NLL to Albany after the Albany Attack previously played from 2000-2003. The team will play at the Times Unions Center starting in the 2021-22 season

  3-11-21: The League announces the Faceoff Weekend for the 2021-22 season will be December 3-4, 2021. The Board of Governors approves an 18 game regular season followed by Playoffs and a Championship series. The season start marks the return to first game action for the NLL in 21 months due to the COVID-19 Pandemic

  4-15-21: Albany unveils their new team name and logo as the Albany FireWolves, taking into account the history of the New England Black Wolves and the logo of the old Albany Attack.

  5-10-21: The League announced the sale of the Saskatchewan Rush to the Priestner Sports Corporation. The Rush remained in Saskatchewan under the new ownership who also own the Saskatoon Blades of the Western Hockey League.

  5-11-21: Toronto Rock owner, Jamie Dawick, announced the Rock will relocate their home games to the FirstOntario Centre located in Hamilton, Ontario starting in the 2021-22 season. The Rock played their first season as the Ontario Raiders in the same venue in 1998 before relocating to downtown Toronto.

  5-13-21: The League announced the nominees for the NLL Hall of Fame Class of 2021. This is the first class to be inducted since 2016.

  6-3-21: The League announced the elected NLL Hall of Fame Class of 2021. The elected members include John Grant Jr, Casey Powell, Colin Doyle, and the first referees to be enshrined.

  6-21-21: The League formally announced the 15^th expansion franchise awarded to Las Vegas under the ownership group of NHL legend Wayne Gretzky, NBA Hall of Famer Steve Nash, PGA athlete Dustin Johnson and Alibaba Co-Founder Joe Tsai. The team will play at Michelob Ultra Arena. Las Vegas being the 15^th franchise marks the largest the league has ever been in its 35 plus year history.

  6-29-21: Panther City Lacrosse Club participated in the expansion draft, selecting their first players in team history. Matt Hossack was the first player selected in the draft.

  7-8-21: The League announced a landmark multi-year partnership with TSN to broadcast and live stream NLL games across Canada for the first time since 2016. It is the most comprehensive Canadian broadcast partnership in the League’s 35 years.

  7-14-21: The League announced the schedule for Face Off Weekend to kick off the League’s 35^th season starting December 3-4. The League also announced a revised division format with an East and West Division, and expanded playoff format with the second round being a best-of-three series. The NLL Finals will remain a best-of-three series.

  8-28-21: The League holds the 2021 Entry Draft virtually for the second consecutive season, streaming on TSN.ca and the TSN app as well as the NLL’s Facebook and YouTube accounts. Jonathan Donville (Cornell) is selected first overall by Panther City Lacrosse Club with their first ever entry draft selection.

  10-26-21: The League announces a multiyear agreement with ESPN giving ESPN and ESPN+ exclusive rights in the U.S. and the rest of the world outside Canada for live games. This announcement was following the announcement in July of 2021 with TSN for Canadian fans, bringing the most extensive broadcast coverage of NLL games in the League’s 35-year history. ESPN linear networks will carry a minimum of 10 live games annually and ESPN+ will combine to carry up to 139 games each year.

  11-15-21: The League announces 32-year NHL referee, Don Koharski, as NLL Director of Officials.

  11-22-21: The League announces the launch of NLL Unites, the league’s umbrella social responsibility program focusing on three pillars of heritage, inclusion, and service. NLL Unites will combine the efforts of the league, teams, players and partners to promote each of those pillars through storytelling, education, activation and access.

  12-3-21: The 35th season in NLL history officially starts with the visiting Vancouver Warriors defeating the San Diego Seals, 8-7.

• 2022

  1-15-22: Toronto Rock forward, Dan Dawson, plays in his 300th career regular season game, becoming only the second player to accomplish the feat. In the same night, he records his 1,447th point to surpass John Grant Jr. for second on the all-time list. Panther City Lacrosse Club records their franchises first career win against the New York Riptide, 13-12 in overtime. Rookie Patrick Dodds scores the game winner 10:50 into the overtime period, the 5th longest game in league history.

  2-23-22: The League announces the departure of Commissioner, Nick Sakiewicz, after six transformational seasons. Under his leadership, the NLL rebranded the league narrative and logo to focus more on the indigenous roots of the game, expanded from nine to 15 teams, secured the two largest media rights deals in the history of the league, drastically improved league revenues and social engagement among other accomplishments during his tenure. 

  3-26-22: Dan Dawson surpasses John Tavares for the most regular season games played in league history with 307.

  4-9-22: Dan Dawson surpasses John Tavares for the all-time assist leader at 935 assists in his career. Bandits forward Dhane Smith breaks the single season assist record with 85 assists, set by Mark Matthews in 2018.

  4-16-22: Goaltender Matt Vinc is the first goalie to surpass the 9,000 career saves mark for his career. With their win, the Calgary Roughnecks claim the first Alterna Cup title.

  4-17-22: NLL Official, Todd Labranche, officiates his 400th career game, the most of any referee in league history.

  4-23-22: New York Riptide rookies Jeff Teat and Steven Orleman each set rookie records. Jeff Teat surpassed Randy Staats single season points record which was previously 95 and became the first rookie to surpass 100 points in a season. He also broke the single season assist record, previously set by Tom Schreiber with 61 in 2017. His teammate Steven Orleman surpassed Matt King’s 2002 single season save record at 604 saves.

  4-26-22: The NLL’s 15th franchise announces their team name as the Las Vegas Desert Dogs as well as their first Head Coach and General Manager in team history in NLL Hall of Famer, Shawn Williams.

  6-18-22: The Colorado Mammoth complete the comeback to defeat the Buffalo Bandits two games to one to win their third title in franchise history (1987 as the Baltimore Thunder and 2006). Game 3 ended in a 10-8 victory for the Mammoth in front of a sold out crowd of 19,060 fans at KeyBank Center. Goaltender Dillon Ward is named Finals MVP after saving a NLL Finals record 55 shots in Game 3.

  6-30-22: The League announces Dhane Smith as the 2021-22 MVP, the second of his career, as well as Jeff Teat as Rookie of the Year.

  7-7-22: The Las Vegas Desert Dogs select their first players in franchise history with the 2022 Expansion Draft. Jackson Nishimura is announced as the first selection.

  8-2-22: Brett Frood is appointed NLL Commissioner, taking over from Nick Sakiewicz, who held the role since 2016.

  9-10-22: The League holds the 2022 Entry Draft in person for the first time since 2019 at The Carlu in Toronto, Ontario. The first round of the draft is available to stream on TSN.ca and the TSN app as well as ESPN+, marking the most extensive coverage of the draft in league history. Thomas McConvey (Virigina) is selected first overall by the Rochester Knighthawks. Dylan Watson (Jacksonville) is selected with the second overall selection to the Las Vegas Desert Dogs with their inaugural entry draft selection.

  10-6-22: Legendary NLL player and Bandits head coach, John Tavares, becomes the first member of the NLL’s history to be receive the Order of Sport Award and being inducted into Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame.

  12-2-22: The 36th season in NLL history officially starts with the visiting Philadelphia Wings losing to the Halifax Thunderbirds, 18-8.

  12-9-22: The Las Vegas Desert Dogs play in their inaugural game at Panther City. John Wagner would score the first goal in team history 22 seconds into the game. Las Vegas would lose 13-11.

  12-16-22: The Las Vegas Desert Dogs play in their inaugural home game at Michelob ULTRA Arena with owners Steve Nash, Joe Tsai, and Wayne Gretzky in attendance. The game aired on ESPN2. Panther City would defeat the Desert Dogs 9-3 in front of 7,082 fans.

• 2023

  1-20-23: The Las Vegas Desert Dogs claim their first win in franchise history in memorable fashion. Trailing 12-4 at the half, the Desert Dogs would score eight straight to tie the game and eventually win, 15-14, over the Vancouver Warriors in front of their home fans.

  3-4-23: The San Diego Seals host the Las Vegas Desert Dogs in the first ever outdoor game in league history, called the Stadium Showdown at Snapdragon Stadium. It also marks the most extensive broadcast in league history, including a spider cam. The Seals would go on to win the contest 15-12 in front of 8,443 fans.

  4-23-23: The NLL surpasses one million fans for the 2022-23 regular season. This is the first time since the 2008 season and just the third time in the NLL’s 36 year history surpassing the milestone.

  4-29-23: With a four assist performance, Dhane Smith sets the single season record with 96 assists in a single season, breaking his record of 94 set the previous season. The NLL finishes the regular season with 1,039,418 fans in attendance across 135 games. It is the second highest total in League history, trailing the 2007 regular season.

  5-26-23: Calgary Roughneck’s goaltender, Christian Del Bianco, is announced as the Most Valuable Player for the 2022-23 season, becoming just the second goalie to win the award (Steve Dietrich, 2006). Panther City Lacrosse Club rookie, Jonathan Donville, is named Rookie of the Year.

  5-29-23: During Game 2 of the NLL Finals in Denver, Colorado, the NLL surpasses it’s all-time single attendance record (including playoffs) originally set in 2007 at 1,138,225.

  6-3-23: The Buffalo Bandits defeat the Colorado Mammoth, 13-4, to capture their fifth title in franchise history, winning the series two games to one. Forward Dhane Smith is named Finals MVP in front of a crowd of 18,296.

National Lacrosse League Hall of Fame

Class of 2006 (Founding Members)
Les Bartley
Russ Cline
Chris Fritz
Gary Gait
Paul Gait

Class of 2007
Mike French
Darris Kilgour
Tom Marechek

Class of 2008
Sal LoCascio
Johnny Mouradian
Tony Resch

Class of 2009
Dallas Eliuk
Jim Veltman

Class of 2010
Rich Kilgour
Dan Stroup
John Tucker

Class of 2011
Bob Watson

Class of 2012
Steve Dietrich

Class of 2013
Pat O’Toole

Class of 2014
Pat Coyle
Chris Hall

Class of 2015
Terry Sanderson

Class of 2016
Tracey Kelusky
Josh Sanderson
John Tavares

Class of 2021
Colin Doyle
Kevin Finneran
John Grant Jr.
Pat McCready
Casey Powell
Regy Thorpe
Steve Toll
Shawn Williams
Roy Condon
Bill Fox

Class of 2026
Sandy Chapman
Dan Dawson
Shawn Evans
Mark Steenhuis
Mike Accursi
Jake Bergey
Gavin Prout

Members of Media Recognized by Hall of Fame
Tom Borrelli (2007)
Neil Stevens (2008)
John Gurtler (2026)