The 2007 National Lacrosse League season, the 21st in the history of the NLL (including the Eagle Pro Box Lacrosse League and Major Indoor Lacrosse League years) began on December 30, 2006 and concluded with the championship game on May 12, 2007.

The Rochester Knighthawks finished the regular season with a 14–2 record, winning their last 12 games. They followed this up by beating Toronto in the first round, and then clinched the Eastern division title by defeating Buffalo in the Eastern division finals, with league MVP John Grant, Jr. scoring in overtime.

The Arizona Sting finished third in their division, but defeated the Calgary Roughnecks in the first round, and then beat the San Jose Stealth to clinch their second division title in three years. The championship game was awarded to Rochester because of their higher seed, but the Blue Cross Arena was unavailable on the day of the game, so the Championship game was held in Phoenix.

The Knighthawks continued their winning streak in the desert, defeating the Sting 13–11. John Grant, Jr., who had been named the league MVP only two days before, was named game MVP. It was Rochester's second championship overall, and first since 1997. The championship game loss was Arizona's second in three years.

The season began with a blockbuster trade just three days before the first game, as the Toronto Rock traded star forward and 2005 MVP Colin Doyle along with Darren Halls and a draft pick to the San Jose Stealth for 1st round draft selection Ryan Benesch, Kevin Fines, Chad Thompson, and two draft picks. Doyle scored nine assists in San Jose's second game of the season, a 17–16 OT win over the Calgary Roughnecks, and finished the season second in team scoring. Benesch was named 2007 Rookie of the Year.

In February, the NLL signed an agreement with Sirius Satellite Radio to air a "Game of the Week" throughout the season as well as during the playoffs. In March, the league announced that New York Titans star Casey Powell would be hosting a weekly radio show on SIRIUS, called Inside the National Lacrosse League with Casey Powell.

Teams 2007 National Lacrosse League Division Team City Arena Capacity East Buffalo Bandits Buffalo, New York HSBC Arena 18,690 Chicago Shamrox Hoffman Estates, Illinois Sears Centre Arena 9,500 Minnesota Swarm Saint Paul, Minnesota XCEL Energy Center 18,064 New York Titans New York, New York Madison Square Garden Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum 18,200 16,234 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 Jobing.com 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

Final standings

Toronto won the 3-way tiebreaker with Philadelphia and Chicago due to their 5–7 record against divisional opponents (Philadelphia was 4–8, and Chicago was 5–8). Calgary won the 3-way tiebreaker with Arizona and San Jose because of their head-to-head record (Calgary was 2–1 against Arizona and 1–1 against San Jose, while San Jose went 0–2 against Arizona).

Playoffs

The Knighthawks had the overall top seed in the playoffs, but were unable to host the Championship game due to a scheduling conflict at the Blue Cross Arena.

Team movement The 2007 season features two new expansion teams, both in the East Division: the Chicago Shamrox and the New York Titans.

Rule changes A number of rule changes were made for the 2007 season. The main changes are: Cross-checks to the head are more severely punished Cross-checking a player without the ball is now illegal Scoring from behind the net is now allowed, provided there is no contact between the ball and the goalie or his equipment (this effectively allows the "Air Gait" move invented by Gary Gait) When a penalty shot is awarded, the coach can choose any player on the team to take the shot

Milestones January 6: Chicago and New York played their first ever games Chicago recorded its first win and first home win New York's first goal was scored by Gewas Schindler Chicago's first goal was scored by Jason Clark Edmonton won its first ever home game, defeating the Philadelphia Wings 13–12 January 12: San Jose beat Calgary 17–16 in overtime in the longest game in NLL history. The game lasted 71 minutes and 42 seconds before Luke Wiles scored at 11:42 of overtime, narrowly beating the old record of 70:45 during an Arizona-Anaheim game in 2004. January 20: New York records its first win and first home win at Madison Square Garden with an 11–9 victory over the Chicago Shamrox. The game is also the first loss for the Shamrox. January 26: New York plays their first game at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, losing 16–11 to the Philadelphia Wings. The New York Titans will split their home games between the Coliseum and Madison Square Garden. January 27: Rochester Knighthawk star John Grant Jr. sets a new NLL record for points in a single game with 15 (9 goals, 6 assists) in a 22–18 defeat of the New York Titans. February 22: After a 12–9 loss to Toronto, the Calgary Roughnecks fired head coach Chris Hall, the only coach in team history. March 24: Calgary teammates Kaleb Toth and Tracey Kelusky both reach 500 career points in the same game, as Jeff Dowling wins his first game as head coach. March 31: Rochester beats Philadelphia 12–10 in Rochester, setting a new franchise record with their ninth consecutive win. The 1,000th regular-season game in league history is played at Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul, with Colorado defeating Minnesota 11–9. April 6: The Calgary Roughnecks play their 100th game in franchise history against the Edmonton Rush at the Pengrowth Saddledome in Calgary.

All Star Game The 2007 All-Star Game was held at the Rose Garden Arena in Portland, Oregon on March 10, 2007. The East won the game 20–16, on the strength of Mark Steenhuis' six goals. Steenhuis was named game MVP. Steenhuis was also named game MVP in the 2004 All-Star game, and became the first player in NLL history to be named All-Star Game MVP twice. The game was broadcast on Sirius Satellite Radio; Travis Demers and Martin Wright called the action.

All-Star teams

Eastern Division starters   Western Division starters John Grant, Jr., Rochester Dan Carey, Colorado John Tavares, Buffalo Dan Dawson, Arizona Thomas Hajek, Philadelphia Andrew Turner, Edmonton * Cam Woods, Chicago Taylor Wray, Calgary Geoff Snider, Philadelphia Brodie Merrill, Portland ** Matt Roik, Philadelphia (goalie) Rob Blasdell, Arizona (goalie) Eastern Division Reserves Western Division Reserves Casey Powell, New York Colin Doyle, San Jose Aaron Wilson, Toronto Gavin Prout, Colorado Ryan Boyle, New York Tracey Kelusky, Calgary Scott Evans, Rochester Jeff Zywicki, San Jose Josh Sanderson, Toronto Ryan Powell, Portland Ryan Ward, Minnesota Chris Gill, Edmonton *** Shawn Williams, Rochester Lewis Ratcliff, Calgary Ryan Cousins, Minnesota John Gallant, Colorado Mark Steenhuis, Buffalo Pat Jones, Portland Pat McCready, Buffalo Peter Lough, Arizona (Starting in place of Turner) Steve Toll, Rochester Josh Sims, Colorado (Starting in place of Merrill) Brandon Miller, Chicago (goalie) Gee Nash, Colorado (goalie)   Richard Morgan, Portland (replacing Merrill)   Jimmy Quinlan, Edmonton (replacing Gill)   Bruce Alexander, Portland (replacing Turner)

* Unable to play for personal reasons ** Unable to play due to injury *** Unable to play due to family commitments

Awards

Annual AwardWinnerTeamMVP AwardJohn Grant, Jr.RochesterRookie of the Year AwardRyan BeneschTorontoLes Bartley Award (Coach of the Year)Ed ComeauRochesterGM of the Year AwardMarty O'NeillMinnesotaTom Borrelli AwardTy PilsonCalgaryExecutive of the Year AwardDave ZygajBuffaloDefensive Player of the Year AwardRyan CousinsMinnesotaTransition Player of the Year AwardSteve TollRochesterGoaltender of the Year AwardAnthony CosmoSan JoseSportsmanship AwardTracy KeluskyCalgaryChampionship Game MVPJohn Grant, Jr.Rochester

All-Pro Teams First Team John Tavares, Buffalo John Grant, Jr., Rochester Dan Dawson, Arizona Steve Toll, Rochester Ryan Cousins, Minnesota Anthony Cosmo, San Jose

Second Team Gavin Prout, Colorado Colin Doyle, San Jose Casey Powell, New York Lewis Ratcliff, Calgary Shawn Williams, Rochester Nick Patterson, Minnesota

All-Rookie Team Ryan Benesch, Toronto Geoff Snider, Philadelphia Athan Iannucci, Philadelphia Bill McGlone, Chicago Nenad Gajic, Colorado Jamie Shewchuk, Colorado

Weekly awards The NLL gives out awards weekly for the best overall player, best offensive player, best transition player (new for 2007), best defensive player, and best rookie.

Month Week Overall Offensive Defensive Transition Rookie December 1 Brian Langtry Brian Langtry Dallas Eliuk Josh Sims Jed Prossner January 2 Gee Nash Chris Gill Brandon Miller Josh Sims Bill McGlone 3 Pat O'Toole Jeff Zywicki Pat O'Toole Brodie Merrill Kyle Wailes 4 Rob Blasdell John Tavares Rob Blasdell Mark Steenhuis Ryan Benesch 5 John Grant, Jr. John Grant, Jr. Brandon Miller Geoff Snider Athan Iannucci February 6 Bob Watson Dan Dawson Bob Watson Josh Sims Jamie Shewchuk 7 John Tavares John Tavares Curtis Palidwor Mark Steenhuis Ian Llord 8 Steve Dietrich Dan Dawson Steve Dietrich Nenad Gajic Kyle Wailes 9 John Grant, Jr. John Grant, Jr. Gee Nash Pat McCready Cody Jacobs March 10 John Tavares John Tavares Peter Lough Steve Toll Brendan Mundorf 11 No awards given due to All-Star Game 12 Gary Rosyski Gary Rosyski Curtis Palidwor Mark Steenhuis Ryan Benesch 13 John Tavares John Tavares Bob Watson Mark Steenhuis Ryan Benesch April 14 Dan Dawson Dan Dawson Bob Watson Brett Bucktooth Mike McLellan 15 Steve Dietrich John Grant, Jr. Steve Dietrich Mark Steenhuis Athan Iannucci 16 Luke Wiles Luke Wiles Nick Patterson Steve Toll Matt Zash

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

Month Overall Rookie January Rob Blasdell Geoff Snider February Gee Nash Nenad Gajic March John Tavares Ryan Benesch

Statistics leaders Bold numbers indicate new single-season records. Italics indicate tied single-season records. StatPlayerTeamNumberGoalsJohn Grant, Jr.Rochester51AssistsJohn TavaresBuffalo61PointsJohn Grant, Jr.Rochester111Penalty MinutesScott DitzellRochester68Shots on GoalLewis RatcliffCalgary203Loose BallsBrodie MerrillPortland196Save PctAnthony CosmoSan Jose79.2GAAAnthony CosmoSan Jose10.22

Attendance Regular season + Home team Home games Average attendance Total AttendanceColorado Mammoth 816,794134,359Toronto Rock815,851126,815Buffalo Bandits 815,040120,324Calgary Roughnecks 8 12,707101,659Philadelphia Wings811,31890,547Edmonton Rush810,81586,521Rochester Knighthawks89,95179,612Minnesota Swarm89,40575,244New York Titans87,65761,262Portland LumberJax87,52760,218Arizona Sting86,04948,398Chicago Shamrox 8 6,02548,202San Jose Stealth 84,67637,414League10410,2931,070,575

Playoffs + Home team Home games Average attendance Total AttendanceColorado Mammoth 116,30916,309Calgary Roughnecks310,05710,057Buffalo Bandits19,0039,003Arizona Sting28,36016,720Rochester Knighthawks27,78015,561League79,66467,650

See also 2007 in sports

References

External links 2007 NLL schedule 2007 NLL standings