Sports season
The 2024 NLL season was the 37th season of play of the National Lacrosse League (NLL). The season began on December 1, 2023, and ended on May 18, 2024, with the Buffalo Bandits sweeping the Albany FireWolves 2–0 in the NLL Finals series to claim their sixth league title.
League business
NLL Unboxed
On November 16, 2023, the NLL announced "NLL Unboxed", a new initiative to promote lacrosse among youth via branded "lacrosse communities" in strategic markets that do not currently have NLL teams.[ 4] As part of the initiative, the NLL hosted a regular season game known as the NLL Unboxed Series in Laval, Quebec (a suburb of Unboxed market Montreal, which previously had an NLL team in 2002 in the form of the Montreal Express ) featuring the New York Riptide hosting the Toronto Rock at Place Bell .[ 5]
Team relocation
On February 21, 2024, the NLL announced that the New York Riptide would relocate to Ottawa , and will be renamed the Ottawa Black Bears .[ 6]
Teams
2024 National Lacrosse League
Team
City
Arena
Capacity
Albany FireWolves
Albany , New York
MVP Arena
14,236
Buffalo Bandits
Buffalo , New York
KeyBank Center
19,070
Calgary Roughnecks
Calgary , Alberta
Scotiabank Saddledome
19,289
Colorado Mammoth
Denver , Colorado
Ball Arena
18,000
Georgia Swarm
Duluth , Georgia
Gas South Arena
10,500
Halifax Thunderbirds
Halifax , Nova Scotia
Scotiabank Centre
10,500
Las Vegas Desert Dogs
Paradise , Nevada
Michelob Ultra Arena
12,000
New York Riptide
Uniondale , New York
Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum
13,917
Panther City Lacrosse Club
Fort Worth , Texas
Dickies Arena
12,200
Philadelphia Wings
Philadelphia , Pennsylvania
Wells Fargo Center
19,306
Rochester Knighthawks
Rochester , New York
Blue Cross Arena
10,662
San Diego Seals
San Diego , California
Pechanga Arena
12,920
Saskatchewan Rush
Saskatoon , Saskatchewan
SaskTel Centre
15,195
Toronto Rock
Toronto , Ontario
Scotiabank Arena
18,800
Vancouver Warriors
Vancouver , British Columbia
Rogers Arena
18,910
Map of teams
NLL Teams
Regular season
The 2024 season introduced a new regular season format; conferences were abolished, with all teams now playing within the same standings. Each team played each other at least once, and the schedule formula provided the opportunity for four "flex games" to showcase league rivalries and players. The top eight teams advanced to the playoffs.[ 7] Reference:[ 8]
x = clinched playoff berth | z = clinched top overall record
Scoring leaders
Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes
Leading goaltenders
Note: GP = Games played; Mins = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses: GA = Goals Allowed; SV% = Save Percentage; GAA = Goals against average
Playoffs
*Overtime
Quarterfinal
(1) Toronto Rock vs. (8) Rochester Knighthawks
Nick Rose Goalies Rylan Hartley Riley Hutchcraft Rogers (Schreiber , Weier ) – 7:081–0 Rogers (Craig ) – 7:19 2–0 Boushy (Martin , Jubenville ) – 7:423–0 Small (Matthews , Rogers) – 8:464–0 4–1 17:00 – Waters (Knight , Lanchbury ) Schreiber (Small, de Snoo ) – 18:265–1 5–2 32:58 – Smith (Fields ) (PP) 5–3 37:10 – Knight (Coates , Evans ) Schreiber (Matthews) – 39:39 6–3 Matthews (Rogers, Kri ) – 50:53 7–3 Boushy (Matthews, Rogers) – 55:34 8–3 8–4 67:23 – Fields (Rees ) Craig (Small, Boushy) – 72:25 9–4 9–5 74:42 – Smith (Fields, Biles ) 9–6 77:39 – Smith (Fields, McConvey ) (PP)
12 min Penalties 16 min 50 Shots 57
(4) Buffalo Bandits vs. (5) Georgia Swarm
(2) San Diego Seals vs. (8) Panther City Lacrosse Club
Christopher Origlieri Goalies Nick Damude Dobbie (Berg , Leclaire ) – 7:361–0 1–1 11:35 – Crawford (Knox , T. Malcom ) Holding – 14:252–1 2–2 15:11 – Sheridan (Gautier , T. Malcom) Leclaire (Staats ) – 25:28 3–2 3–3 27:28 – Caputo (Patten , Damude ) Staats (Dobbie, Berg) – 28:41 4–3 4–4 30:30 – Sheridan (W. Malcom , Gautier) 4–5 31:11 – Foley (Crawford) Staats (Berg) – 34:28 5–5 5–6 37:03 – W. Malcom (Crawford, Hutchison ) Dobbie (Berg, Dickson ) – 39:57 6–6 Staats (Logan ) – 47:24 7–6 7–7 53:10 – Gautier (W. Malcom, Crawford) 7–8 71:39 – T. Malcom Staats (Logan, Holding) – 69:35 8–8 Dobbie (Berg, Dickson) 87:49 9–8
6 min Penalties 4 min 63 Shots 45
(3) Albany FireWolves vs. (6) Halifax Thunderbirds
Semifinal (best of three)
(1) Toronto Rock vs. (4) Buffalo Bandits
Nick Rose Troy Holowchuk Goalies Matt Vinc 0–1 8:14 – MacKay 0–2 14:16 – Fraser (D. Robinson , Priolo ) 0–3 18:44 – Byrne (MacKay, Weiss ) 0–4 29:37 – Cloutier (Weiss, MacKay) 0–5 31:49 – Buchanan (Byrne) 0–6 50:01 – Smith (Byrne, Buchanan) Martin (Corbeil ) (PP) – 54:041–6 1–7 54:31 – B. Robinson (Smith, Cloutier) (PP) 1–8 59:48 – B. Robinson (Nanticoke ) Schreiber (Martin, Hostrawser ) – 67:092–8 2–9 73:02 – Buchanan (Smith) 2–10 73:47 – Buchanan (Vinc) (PP, ENG) 2–11 74:15 – Fraser (Byrne, Farrell ) Small (Boushy , Matthews ) – 74:403–11 Small (Rogers , Schreiber) (PP) – 77:56 4–11 4–12 78:59 – Cloutier (Smith)
23 min Penalties 39 min 58 Shots 50
Matt Vinc Goalies Nick Rose Smith (Nanticoke ) – 8:191–0 1–1 12:48 – Boushy (Schreiber ) 1–2 13:17 – Craig (Matthews , Schreiber) Nanticoke (Byrne , Smith) – 15:43 2–2 Buchanan (Smith, B. Robinson ) (PP) – 17:483–2 3–3 26:20 – Rogers (Matthews , Boushy) (PP) 3–4 46:04 – Matthews (Rogers, Schreiber) (PP) 3–5 37:39 – Schreiber (Small, Matthews) (PP) 3–6 38:04 – Small (Schreiber, Boushy) Smith (Nanticoke, Cloutier ) – 48:17 4–6 4–7 55:50 – Weier (Jubenville ) 4–8 66:32 – Matthews (Martin , Kri ) Fraser (Byrne, Bomberry ) – 67:055–8 Nanticoke (Byrne, MacKay ) – 68:01 6–8 Byrne (Buchanan, Smith) – 68:54 7–8 Fraser (Byrne, Smith) – 71:40 8–8 Fraser (Byrne, Priolo ) – 74:21 9–8 Byrne (Priolo, Weiss ) – 75:15 10–8
15 min Penalties 10 min 46 Shots 58
Bandits win series 2–0.
(2) San Diego Seals vs. (3) Albany FireWolves
Christopher Origlieri Goalies Doug Jamieson Dobbie (Berg ) – 5:401–0 1–1 11:15 – Simmons (Powless , Walker ) Dickson (Baptiste , Belgrave ) – 11:492–1 2–2 13:46 – Walker (Simmons) 2–3 19:59 – Firth (Simmons, Kurtz ) 2–4 26:22 – Simmons (Wagner ) 2–5 27:35 – Walker (Kurtz, Simmons) (PP) 2–6 29:32 – Kurtz (Powless, Simmons) Dobbie (Staats , Berg) (PP) – 33:28 3–6 Berg (Bradley, Shoemay ) – 39:26 4–6 Berg (Leclaire , Dickson) – 45:23 5–6 5–7 45:46 – Simmons (Walker, Longboat ) 5–8 46:20 – Grenon (Kurtz, Firth) Dickson (Berg, Dobbie) (PP) – 48:11 6–8 6–9 51:25 – Simmons (Walker) (PP) 6–10 54:32 – Simmons (Powless, Walker) 6–11 58:39 – Grenon (Kurtz, Chaykowsky ) Staats (Gobrecht , LeClair ) – 67:19 7–11 Berg (Dickson, Staats) – 68:16 8–11 8–12 69:21 – Byrne (Wagner) 8–13 74:06 – Powless (Walker, Simmons) (PP) Leclaire (Staats) – 76:28 9–13 Dickson (Berg, Staats) – 76:53 10–13 Dickson (Gobrecht ) – 78:11 11–13 Dobbie (Staats) – 78:53 12–13 12–14 79:21 – Watkinson (Kaschalk ) (ENG)
25 min Penalties 18 min 39 Shots 52
Doug Jamieson Goalies Christopher Origlieri 0–1 7:23 – Leclaire (Dickson , Gobrecht ) 0–2 7:53 – Staats (Dickson, Berg ) Simmons (Firth , Kurtz ) – 11:551–2 Firth (Walker , Kurtz) (PP) – 16:06 2–2 Longboat (Simmons) – 18:333–2 3–3 27:49 – Leclaire (Origlieri) Kurtz (Walker) – 28:31 4–3 Walker (Kurtz, Simmons) (PP) – 31:04 5–3 Simmons (Kurtz, Walker) (PP) – 34:31 6–3 6–4 38:10 – Dickson (Dobbie ) (PP) 6–5 39:36 – Staats (Dickson) 6–6 47:27 – Dobbie (Berg) Longboat (Simmons, Firth) – 48:11 7–6 Kurtz – 49:56 8–6 Longboat (Simmons, Kurtz) (PP) – 52:08 9–6 9–7 57:19 – Dickson (Leclaire, Dobbie) (PP) Simmons (Walker) (PP) – 59:20 10–7 Walker (Kurtz, Nishimura ) – 66:06 11–7 11–8 69:44 – Staats (Leclaire, Berg) (PP) Kurtz – 72:43 12–8 12–9 73:58 – Dobbie (Leclaire, Gobrecht) 12–10 74:51 – Staats (Merrill , Origlieri) Watkinson (Kaschalk ) (ENG) – 78:0513–10
14 min Penalties 63 min 46 Shots 61
FireWolves win series 2–0.
(3) Albany FireWolves vs. (4) Buffalo Bandits
NLL Final (best of three)
Doug Jamieson Goalies Matt Vinc Kurtz (Simmons , Walker ) – 5:351–0 1–1 7:44 – Nanticoke (Byrne , Smith ) 1–2 10:26 – Byrne (Smith, Cloutier ) Walker (Simmons, Powless ) – 12:13 2–2 Kurtz (Simmons, Kaschalk ) – 15:09 3–2 3–3 17:47 – Byrne (Smith, Cloutier) (PP) 3–4 18:11 – Smith (Cloutier, Byrne) (PP) Walker (Grenon , Simmons) – 19:39 4–4 4–5 27:43 – Cloutier (Smith) Longboat (Walker, Kurtz) – 35:445–5 Simmons (Kurtz, Walker) – 39:34 6–5 6–6 49:33 – Cloutier (Smith, Nanticoke) 6–7 57:57 – Fraser (Smith, Cloutier) 6–8 65:37 – MacKay (Smith, Byrne) Simmons (Walker) – 66:10 7–8 7–9 72:04 – Buchanan (Smith) 7–10 75:44 – Byrne (Smith, MacKay) 7–11 77:26 – Smith (B. Robinson , Byrne) 7–12 77:40 – D. Robinson (ENG) Firth (Powless, Walker) – 78:588–12
8 min Penalties 2 min 45 Shots 56
Matt Vinc Goalies Doug Jamieson Buchanan (Byrne , Weiss ) – 6:581–0 1–1 9:54 – Kaschalk (Chaykowsky , Nishimura ) Smith (Byrne, D. Robinson ) – 12:562–1 B. Robinson (Byrne, Fraser ) – 13:333–1 Nanticoke (Smith, Byrne) (PP) – 15:464–1 4–2 16:05 – Simmons (Firth ) 4–3 19:57 – Firth (Kurtz , Walker ) (PP) Nanticoke (Fraser, Dawson – 25:53 5–3 Fraser (Priolo ) – 29:14 6–3 Cloutier (Byrne, Smith) – 30:027–3 Fraser (Byrne, Nanticoke) – 30:32 8–3 8–4 31:27 – Simmons (Longboat ) Cloutier (Smith, Byrne) – 32:12 9–4 9–5 33:29 – Firth (Walker, Simmons) 9–6 37:49 – Firth (Simmons, Grenon ) 9–7 39:59 – Longboat (Walker) 9–8 47:32 – Longboat (Firth, Kurtz) Smith (Byrne, MacKay ) – 48:52 10–8 Fraser (Buchanan, Cloutier) – 50:30 11–8 Fraser (Cloutier, Smith) – 52:16 12–8 Byrne (Buchanan) – 53:53 13–8 Fraser (MacKay, Farrell ) – 54:19 14–8 14–9 66:03 – Firth (Simmons, Walker) B. Robinson (Smith, Cloutier) (PP) – 67:55 15–9 15–10 68:08 – Longboat (Grenon, Chaykowsky) 15–11 69:59 – Simmons (Kurtz) 15–12 77:21 – Kurtz (Powless ) 15–13 79:52 – Firth (Simmons, Walker)
14 min Penalties 12 min 51 Shots 49
Bandits win series 2–0.
Awards
Annual awards
Award
Winner
Other Finalists
Most Valuable Player
Josh Byrne , Buffalo Bandits [ 9]
Dhane Smith , Buffalo Bandits[ 10] Nick Rose , Toronto Rock
Goaltender of the Year
Nick Rose, Toronto Rock[ 11]
Doug Jamieson, Albany FireWolves [ 10] Chris Origlieri, San Diego Seals
Defensive Player of the Year
Ryan Dilks, Vancouver Warriors [ 11]
Mitch de Snoo , Toronto Rock[ 10] Brad Kri, Toronto Rock
Transition Player of the Year
Jake Withers, Halifax Thunderbirds [ 11]
Ian MacKay, Buffalo Bandits[ 10] Shane Simpson, Calgary Roughnecks
Offensive Player of the Year
Josh Byrne, Buffalo Bandits[ 11]
Dhane Smith, Buffalo Bandits[ 10] Jeff Teat , New York Riptide
Rookie of the Year
Alex Simmons, Albany FireWolves[ 12]
Owen Grant, Vancouver Warriors[ 10] Tye Kurtz, Albany FireWolves
Sportsmanship Award
Lyle Thompson , Georgia Swarm [ 13]
Keegan Bal, Vancouver Warriors[ 10] Tom Schreiber , Toronto Rock
GM of the Year
Glenn Clark , Albany FireWolves[ 14]
Jamie Dawick,[ 10] Toronto RockCurt Malawsky , Vancouver Warriors
Les Bartley Award
Glenn Clark, Albany FireWolves[ 14]
Curt Malawsky,[ 10] Vancouver Warriors Matt Sawyer, Toronto Rock
Executive of the Year Award
John Catalano, Halifax Thunderbirds[ 15]
Mike Hancock,[ 10] Toronto Rock Oliver Marti, Albany FireWolves
Teammate of the Year Award
Zach Greer, Las Vegas Desert Dogs[ 13]
not announced
Tom Borrelli Award
Adam Levi, NLL.com, NLLPA, Inside Lacrosse, "Lacrosse Matrix" podcast[ 15]
Teddy Jenner, TSN, "Off the CrosseBar" podcast[ 10] Graeme Perrow, NLL Chatter
Stadiums and locations
Attendance
Regular season
Home Team
Home Games
Average Attendance
Total Attendance[ 17]
Buffalo Bandits
9
16,974
152,767
Calgary Roughnecks
9
11,713
105,417
Colorado Mammoth
9
10,380
93,416
Halifax Thunderbirds
9
9,165
82,484
Vancouver Warriors
9
8,874
79,867
Toronto Rock
9
8,636
77,727
Philadelphia Wings
9
8,364
75,276
Saskatchewan Rush
9
8,085
72,767
Las Vegas Desert Dogs
9
6,350
57,154
Georgia Swarm
9
6,231
56,079
Rochester Knighthawks
9
5,526
48,738
New York Riptide
9
4,891
44,021
San Diego Seals
9
4,667
42,002
Albany FireWolves
9
3,963
35,665
Panther City LC
9
2,704
24,332
League
135
7,768
1,047,712
Playoffs
Home Team
Home Games
Average Attendance
Total Attendance[ 17]
Buffalo Bandits
3
17,749
53,247
Toronto Rock
2
7,032
14,064
San Diego Seals
2
4,903
9,805
Albany FireWolves
3
2,930
8,790
League
10
8,591
85,906
See also
References
^ Rigdon, Jay (October 26, 2021). "ESPN gets exclusive rights to National Lacrosse League in multiyear deal" . Awful Announcing .
^ "Full Schedule" .
^ "National Lacrosse League Heads to ESPN Under New Broadcast Deal" . 26 October 2021.
^ Genetti, Dominic. "St. Louis Rhythm could be a reality if NLL's youth initiative works" . The Edwardsville Intelligencer . Retrieved 2024-05-23 .
^ "NLL returns to Montreal area for regular season game" . TSN . 2023-11-16. Retrieved 2024-05-23 .
^ "NLL's New York team to move to Ottawa and be renamed Black Bears starting next season" . Toronto Star . The Canadian Press . February 21, 2024. Archived from the original on February 21, 2024. Retrieved February 21, 2024 .
^ "NLL ADOPTS UNIFIED STANDINGS FORMAT, UPDATED PLAYOFF STRUCTURE" . National Lacrosse League . Retrieved September 26, 2023 .
^ "Standings" . National Lacrosse League.
^ "JOSH BYRNE VOTED NATIONAL LACROSSE LEAGUE MVP" . NLL.com . May 17, 2024. Retrieved May 17, 2024 .
^ a b c d e f g h i j k "NATIONAL LACROSSE LEAGUE ANNOUNCES FINALISTS FOR 2023-24 NLL AWARDS" . NLL.com . May 8, 2024. Retrieved May 9, 2024 .
^ a b c d "BUFFALO'S BYRNE, VANCOUVER'S DILKS, HALIFAX'S WITHERS AND TORONTO'S ROSE TAKE NLL POSITIONAL PLAYER OF THE YEAR AWARDS" . NLL.com . May 16, 2024. Retrieved May 17, 2024 .
^ "ALBANY'S ALEX SIMMONS WINS 2023-24 NLL ROOKIE OF THE YEAR" . NLL.com . May 17, 2024. Retrieved May 17, 2024 .
^ a b "GEORGIA'S LYLE THOMPSON COLLECTS SIXTH STRAIGHT NLL SPORTSMANSHIP AWARD" . NLL.com . May 14, 2024. Retrieved May 17, 2024 .
^ a b "ALBANY'S GLENN CLARK SCORES DOUBLE HONOR AS NLL COACH OF THE YEAR AND NLL GENERAL MANAGER OF THE YEAR" . NLL.com . May 15, 2024. Retrieved May 17, 2024 .
^ a b "HALIFAX'S JOHN CATALANO SELECTED NLL EXECUTIVE OF THE YEAR AS NATIONAL LACROSSE LEAGUE ANNOUNCED FIRST 2023-2024 AWARDS" . NLL.com . May 13, 2024. Retrieved May 13, 2024 .
^ "NLL Announces brands and identities for its two newest teams" . NLL.com . February 17, 2019. Retrieved August 24, 2019 .
^ a b "2024 Season" . nllstats.com . Retrieved 16 June 2023 .
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