National Lacrosse League Totally Explained

Everything about National Lacrosse League totally explained

The National Lacrosse League (NLL) is the league of men's indoor lacrosse in North America. It currently has 12 teams; 3 in Canada and 9 in the United States. Unlike other lacrosse leagues which play in the summer, the NLL plays its games in the winter. Each year, the playoff teams battle for the Champion's Cup.
Although there are specific areas where lacrosse is popular, primarily for historic reasons or due to high profile college programs, it's still considered a marginal sport in most of North America. Consequently, franchise relocations and foldings have been common in the NLL.
On October 15, 2007, the NLL announced the cancellation of the 2008 season due to disagreements between the league owners and the Professional Lacrosse Players' Association over a new Collective Bargaining Agreement. However, on October 25, 2007, the NLL announced they'd reached a seven year agreement with the PLPA, and that a new 2008 season schedule would soon be released.

Game

The version of lacrosse played in the NLL is indoor lacrosse. This is slightly different than box lacrosse, which is played on a hard floor, usually in the summer, and has 3 periods instead of four. The NLL plays four quarters of fifteen minutes each, with two-minute breaks between the first and second quarters and between the third and fourth quarters, and a twelve-minute break between the second and third (called half-time). The clock doesn't run when play is stopped.
   The team that has scored the most goals at the end of regulation time is declared the winner. If the game is tied after four quarters have been played, the teams begin sudden death overtime; the team that scores first wins the game. Overtime period are fifteen minutes long, with two-minute breaks between overtime periods.
   Each team dresses eighteen players, of whom two are goaltenders; the remaining sixteen are called runners, and may be either forwards or defensemen. There are also players, frequently defensemen, who specialize in the transition from defense to offense.
   The team in possession of the ball has ten seconds to move the ball over the center line, and thirty seconds to take a shot on net. If either of these time periods expires, the whistle is blown, and the opposing team is given possession. In the NLL, the shot clock runs while a team that's killing a penalty has possession of the ball; this isn't the case in all box lacrosse leagues (eg. Major Series Lacrosse, Western Lacrosse Association).

Season and playoffs

Each team in the NLL plays sixteen games during the regular season, eight at home and eight away. The teams are divided into two divisions, the Eastern division and the Western division. Each team plays at least twelve of its sixteen regular season games against division opponents.
The regular season begins in late December and ends in April. At the end the regular season, the top four teams in each division make the playoffs, which consist of three single-game elimination rounds. In the first round (the Division Semi-finals), each division winner hosts the fourth-place team in its division, and the second-place team hosts the third-place team. In the second round (the Division Finals), the two remaining teams in each division play; the higher-seeded team hosts the game. Two weeks after the Division Finals, the division winners face off for the Champion's Cup.
All NLL games are played on weekends, save for the occasional Thursday night game. Most NLL players have full-time jobs off the floor; notable examples include Toronto's Dan Ladouceur, a Durham Region police officer, and Buffalo's John Tavares, a high school teacher in Mississauga, Ontario.

History

The rebirth of major professional box lacrosse in the United States came on March 13, 1986, with the formation of the Eagle Pro Box Lacrosse League (EPBLL), which was incorporated by Russ Cline and Chris Fritz. The league began play for the 1987 season, opening with two games on January 10, 1987: the Philadelphia Wings at the New Jersey Saints and the Washington Wave hosting the Baltimore Thunder. Those four teams contested a six-game regular season before a postseason which saw all four teams qualify for a single knockout tournament, which ended with the Baltimore Thunder crowned the EPBLL's first champion. However, things took a turn in October of 2007, more than two months before the scheduled start of the 2008 season, that would delay the NLL's return to Boston.
On October 16th, 2007, the Associated Press reported that Commissioner Jim Jennings sent an email to players announcing the cancellation of the 2008 NLL season, after the NLL and The Professional Lacrosse Players' Association failed to reach a new collective bargaining agreement. The previous deal expired on July 31st, 2007. Later that day the league made its official announcement to cancel the season.

Championship History

1987 Baltimore Thunder 11 — 10 Washington Wave
1988 New Jersey Saints 17 — 16 Washington Wave
1989 Philadelphia Wings 11 — 10 New York Saints
1990 Philadelphia Wings 17 — 7 New England Blazers
1991 Detroit Turbos 14 — 12 Baltimore Thunder
1992 Buffalo Bandits 11 — 10 Philadelphia Wings (OT)
1993 Buffalo Bandits 13 — 12 Philadelphia Wings
1994 Philadelphia Wings 26 — 15 Buffalo Bandits
1995 Philadelphia Wings 15 — 14 Rochester Knighthawks (OT)
1996 Buffalo Bandits 15 — 10 Philadelphia Wings
1997 Rochester Knighthawks 15 — 12 Buffalo Bandits
1998 Philadelphia Wings 2 — 0 Baltimore Thunder (Best of 3 Games Series)
1999 Toronto Rock 13 — 10 Rochester Knighthawks
2000 Toronto Rock 14 — 13 Rochester Knighthawks
2001 Philadelphia Wings 9 — 8 Toronto Rock
2002 Toronto Rock 13 — 12 Albany Attack
2003 Toronto Rock 8 — 6 Rochester Knighthawks
2004 Calgary Roughnecks 14 — 11 Buffalo Bandits
2005 Toronto Rock 19 — 13 Arizona Sting
2006 Colorado Mammoth 16 — 9 Buffalo Bandits
2007 Rochester Knighthawks 13 — 11 Arizona Sting
2008 Buffalo Bandits 14 - 13 Portland Lumberjax

Commissioners

Darrel Russell	1987 — 1997
John Livsey Jr	1997 — 2000
Jim Jennings	2000 —

Current League Structure

The National Lacrosse League currently plays a 16 game regular season, with 4 teams from each division qualifying for postseason play. The 1st and 4th seed in each division meet in a divisional semifinal game, while the 2nd and 3rd seeds meet in the other. The next round are the Eastern Division and Western Division champions. The divisional champions then meet in the Champions Cup final for the league title.
Each year, the league holds a mid-season All Star Game between two teams representing the Eastern and Western divisions.

2008 Teams

Team	City/Area	Arena	Founded
Eastern
Buffalo Bandits	Buffalo, NY	HSBC Arena	1991
Chicago Shamrox	Hoffman Estates, IL (Chicago area)	Sears Centre	2006
Minnesota Swarm	St. Paul, MN	Xcel Energy Center	2004
New York Titans	New York City, NY	Madison Square Garden	2006
Philadelphia Wings	Philadelphia, PA	Wachovia Center	1986
Rochester Knighthawks	Rochester, NY	Blue Cross Arena	1995
Toronto Rock	Toronto, ON	Air Canada Centre	1999
Western
Calgary Roughnecks	Calgary, AB	Pengrowth Saddledome	2001
Colorado Mammoth	Denver, CO	Pepsi Center	2003
Edmonton Rush	Edmonton, AB	Rexall Place	2005
Portland Lumberjax	Portland, OR	Rose Garden Arena	2005
San Jose Stealth	San Jose, CA	HP Pavilion	2004

Expansion

NLL commissioner Jim Jennings' ambitious plan for expansion includes 24 teams and possibly a 20-game schedule by 2011. He says that Montreal, Vancouver and Winnipeg "are the front-runners for expansion in Canada."
In July 2007, the Vancouver Ravens were conditionally approved for a 2008 return; the conditions included selling at least 2,500 season tickets and finding a suitable arena lease by July 19, 2007.. On July 16, 2007, the Vancouver Ravens announced an agreement with Orca Bay Sports and Entertainment to make General Motors Place the home venue of the Ravens, if they're able to meet the season ticket sales requirement . However, just a few days later, the NLL announced that the Ravens wouldn't play in the 2008 season.
A number of cities and potential ownership groups have expressed interest in expansion franchises:

After high attendance of over 20,000 fans at the 2007 World Indoor Lacrosse Championship in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Jennings says that the league will "definitely consider expanding to Halifax, for sure."

A group of investors put down a deposit with the NLL in June 2006 for a franchise to play in Seattle, Washington in 2008. The proposed arena for this possible team is KeyArena, which is the current home of the Seattle SuperSonics of the NBA.

Ownership groups from St. Louis, Cleveland, Dallas and the Southern California area and Florida have also expressed interest in an expansion team.

The league has also considered possibly expanding into Oklahoma City's Ford Center in 2008 as well as Salt Lake City and Baltimore.

Media

At the beginning of the 1992 MILL Season, the league came out with Coors Light's Greatest Hits, with Coors Light beer as its sponsor. The video was a little over 15 minutes in length but repeated at the end. The video consisted of four 3 1/2 minute clips in between 30 second Coors Light commercials. Background music for the clips included AC/DC's Back in Black, Guns N' Roses Welcome to the Jungle and other Eighties tunes. The final clips shows each team and its logo while that team is scoring a goal as INXS' New Sensation plays in the background.
   In May 2001, Blast Lacrosse, a video game based on the NLL, was released. It was the first lacrosse video game ever and included all nine teams of their 14th season, including mascots.
   Also in 2002, Molson Sports and Entertainment released War On The Floor, a video similar to the Don Cherry Series. It was hosted by Pat Coyle.
   On February 15, 2005, the NLL announced that Activision would produce a new video game. The game was slated to be released for the 2007 season. In an online chat held on NLL.com with commissioner Jim Jennings, it was noted that the game will be out in 2009.
   In 2007, the NLL had a regularly scheduled "Game of the Week" on Versus, the network formerly known as OLN and home of the NHL, Tour de France, and PBR. For the 2008 season, due to dispute between the Professional Lacrosse Players' Association and the NLL owners in completing the collective bargaining agreement, the "Game of the Week" on Versus was cancelled. Previously, the NLL has had its All-Star Games and Championship games on National TV, with NBC in 2005 and ESPN2 in 2006. In the early 2000s, CNN Sports Illustrated aired NLL games regularly.
   Also in 2007, the NLL signed an agreement with Sirius Satellite Radio, who has been named "Official Satellite Radio Partner". The pact includes a "Game of the Week" as well as weekly highlight show.

Player origin

Although 9 of the league's 12 teams are American, about 73% of the players are Canadian. The rest are either American or Iroquois, with one Australian, and one Slovakian.
The makeup of the 12 teams is:

Percent	Country	Number of Players
73.0		214
22.2		65
4.1		12
0.3		1
0.3		1

Awards

National Lacrosse League Weekly Awards

National Lacrosse League Monthly Awards

MVP Award

Rookie of the Year Award

Les Bartley Award (coach of the year)

GM of the Year Award

Executive of the Year Award

Defensive Player of the Year Award

Transition Player of the Year Award

Goaltender of the Year Award

Sportsmanship Award

Tom Borrelli Award (writer of the year)Further Information

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