The 2006 National Lacrosse League season was the 20th season in the history of the league, which began as the Eagle Pro Box Lacrosse League in 1987. The season began on December 30, 2005, and concluded with the championship game on May 13, 2006.

The defending champion Toronto Rock were once again the favourite to win the Champions' Cup, but a slow start plus a dismal performance in the semifinal game against Rochester removed the Rock from contention. The Colorado Mammoth, under first-year head coach Gary Gait, won their first title since winning the first ever title in 1987, as the Baltimore Thunder.

Highly touted Portland rookie Brodie Merrill lived up to his hype, winning both the Defensive Player of the Year and the Rookie of the Year awards. Portland continued its domination of the post-season awards with Derek Keenan, himself a former Rookie of the Year Award winner (1992 with Buffalo), winning both the Les Bartley Award for coach of the year and the GM of the Year Award, and owner Angela Batinovich winning the Executive of the Year Award.

Team movement

The season featured the debut of two expansion teams; the Edmonton Rush and the Portland LumberJax, both in the Western Division. Portland beat the expansion team odds and won its division, finishing with an 11–5 record, while Edmonton did not fare so well. The Rush finished the season 1–15, their only win coming at the hands of their provincial rivals, the Calgary Roughnecks.

Before the 2006 season, the Anaheim Storm folded not being able to attract enough fans in their two years in Southern California moving from their original home of New Jersey after the 2003 season where, for two seasons, they were not able to attract enough fans.

Teams 2006 National Lacrosse League Division Team City Arena Capacity East Buffalo Bandits Buffalo, New York HSBC Arena 18,690 Minnesota Swarm Saint Paul, Minnesota XCEL Energy Center 18,064 Philadelphia Wings Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Wachovia Center 19,523 Rochester Knighthawks Rochester, New York Blue Cross Arena 10,662 Toronto Rock Toronto, Ontario Air Canada Centre 18,800 West Arizona Sting Glendale, Arizona Glendale Arena 17,125 Calgary Roughnecks Calgary, Alberta Pengrowth Saddledome 19,289 Colorado Mammoth Denver, Colorado Pepsi Center 18,007 Edmonton Rush Edmonton, Alberta Rexall Place 16,839 Portland Lumberjax Portland, Oregon Rose Garden 18,280 San Jose Stealth San Jose, California HP Pavilion 17,496

Map of teams

Milestones February 18: John Tavares tied Gary Gait for the all-time record in points, with 1091, as the Buffalo Bandits defeated the Minnesota Swarm 14–9. March 4: Tavares sets a new NLL record for career points, scoring his 1092nd point in an 11–8 loss to the Swarm.

Final standings

Regular season

Toronto won the 3-way tiebreaker with Minnesota and Philadelphia

Playoffs

All-Star game The 2006 All-Star Game was held at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario on February 25, 2006. The West Division defeated the East Division 14–13. The MVP of the game was Lewis Ratcliff of the Calgary Roughnecks, who scored 4 goals, including the game winner. This marked the second straight year that a Roughneck player was All-Star Game MVP, with Tracy Kelusky having won it in 2005.

All-Star teams Eastern Division starters   Western Division starters John Grant, Jr., Rochester Gavin Prout, Colorado Colin Doyle, Toronto Tracey Kelusky, Calgary John Tavares, Buffalo Craig Conn, Arizona Steve Toll, Rochester Jay Jalbert, Colorado Thomas Hajek, Philadelphia Brodie Merrill, Portland Pat O'Toole, Rochester (goalie) Anthony Cosmo, San Jose (goalie) Eastern Division Reserves Western Division Reserves Marshall Abrams, Rochester Dan Carey, Colorado Jake Bergey, Philadelphia Bruce Codd, Arizona Ryan Cousins, Minnesota Jonas Derks, Arizona Glenn Clark, Philadelphia Dallas Eliuk, Portland (goalie) Steve Dietrich, Buffalo (goalie) Peter Lough, Arizona Blaine Manning, Toronto Derek Malawsky, San Jose Dan Marohl, Philadelphia Lewis Ratcliff, Calgary Josh Sanderson, Toronto Scott Self, Arizona Phil Sanderson, Toronto Ryan Sharp, Portland Mark Steenhuis, Buffalo Kaleb Toth, Calgary Shawn Williams, Rochester Andrew Turner, Edmonton Jim Veltman, Toronto Taylor Wray, Calgary

Awards

Annual AwardWinnerTeamJet Blue MVP AwardSteve DietrichBuffaloEdge Active Care Rookie of the Year AwardBrodie MerrillPortlandLes Bartley Award (Coach of the Year)Derek KeenanPortlandGM of the Year AwardDerek KeenanPortlandExecutive of the Year AwardAngela BatinovichPortlandDefensive Player of the YearBrodie MerrillPortlandRBK Goaltender of the Year AwardSteve DietrichBuffaloBowflex Sportsmanship AwardSean GreenhalghPhiladelphiaChampionship Game MVPGavin ProutColorado

All-Pro Teams First Team Colin Doyle, Toronto John Grant, Jr., Rochester Brodie Merrill, Portland Gavin Prout, Colorado Josh Sanderson, Toronto Steve Dietrich, Buffalo

Second Team Craig Conn, Arizona Dan Dawson, Arizona Jay Jalbert, Colorado Lewis Ratcliff, Calgary John Tavares, Buffalo Nick Patterson, Minnesota

All-Rookie Team Brodie Merrill, Portland Sean Greenhalgh, Philadelphia Dan Carey, Colorado Jeff Zywicki, San Jose Shawn Evans, Rochester Luke Wiles, San Jose

Weekly awards The NLL gives out awards weekly for the best overall player, best offensive player, best defensive player, and best rookie.

Week Overall Offensive Defensive Rookie 1 Sean Greenhalgh Sean Greenhalgh Matt Roik Sean Greenhalgh 2 Jonas Derks Jonas Derks Chris Levis Jeff Zywicki 3 Mark Steenhuis Mark Steenhuis Steve Dietrich Shawn Evans 4 Nick Patterson Jake Bergey Dallas Eliuk Brodie Merrill 5 John Grant, Jr. John Grant, Jr. Pat O'Toole Brodie Merrill 6 Craig Conn Craig Conn Nick Patterson Dan Carey 7 Chad Culp Chad Culp Nick Patterson Sean Greenhalgh 8 John Tavares Brodie Merrill Pat Campbell Brodie Merrill 9 Aaron Wilson Aaron Wilson Bob Watson Sean Greenhalgh 10 Matt Disher John Grant, Jr. Matt Disher Shawn Evans 11 Sean Greenhalgh John Grant, Jr. Matt King Jeff Zywicki 12 Jay Jalbert Ryan Ward Jeff Zywicki Jay Jalbert 13 Mark Steenhuis Mark Steenhuis Matt King Roger VyseBrodie Merrill (tie) 14 Brodie Merrill Jay Jalbert Steve Dietrich Brodie Merrill 15 Colin Doyle Colin Doyle Dallas Eliuk Sean Greenhalgh 16 Dan Dawson Dan Dawson Steve Dietrich Sean Greenhalgh

Monthly awards Awards are also given out monthly for the best overall player and best rookie.

Month Overall Rookie Jan John Grant, Jr. Sean Greenhalgh Feb Nick Patterson Brodie Merrill Mar Gavin Prout Brodie Merrill

Statistics leaders Bold numbers indicate new single-season records. Italics indicate tied single-season records. StatPlayerTeamNumberGoalsJohn Grant, Jr.Rochester54AssistsJosh SandersonToronto69PointsJosh SandersonToronto98Penalty MinutesRob VanBeekPhiladelphia72Shots on GoalJohn Grant, Jr.Rochester277Loose BallsJim VeltmanToronto226Save PctSteve DietrichBuffalo80.8GAASteve DietrichBuffalo9.97

Attendance Regular season + Home team Home games Average attendance Total AttendanceColorado Mammoth 816,543132,347Toronto Rock816,538132,306Buffalo Bandits 812,11896,946Philadelphia Wings811,93695,491Calgary Roughnecks 8 11,77794,217Edmonton Rush810,36782,938Rochester Knighthawks89,98879,906Minnesota Swarm88,37266,981Portland LumberJax88,00664,055Arizona Sting86,47751,820San Jose Stealth 85,60844,868League8810,703941,875

Playoffs + Home team Home games Average attendance Total AttendanceColorado Mammoth 212,98125,963Buffalo Bandits311,70335,111Portland LumberJax110,84310,843Rochester Knighthawks17,2957,295League711,31679,212

See also 2006 in sports

References

External links Standings from pointstreak.com Scoring Leaders from pointstreak.com Goalie Leaders from pointstreak.com