The 2002 National Lacrosse League season is the 16th season in the NLL. The season began on November 16, 2001 and concluded with the championship game on April 13, 2002, so, during that season, it was known as the 2001-2002 season as can be seen in the Albany Attack's 2001-2002 Central Division Championship banner.
The Toronto Rock defeated the Albany Attack 13–12 to win their third championship in four seasons. Colin Doyle was named championship game MVP for the second time.
Only one year after the season was lengthened to 14 games, 2002 saw it extended again, this time to 16 games.
Team movement 2002 was a year of expansion for the NLL, particularly north of the border. The league added four teams, three of which were Canadian: the New Jersey Storm, Montreal Express, Vancouver Ravens, and Calgary Roughnecks all made their NLL debuts. The expansion caused the NLL to return to a divisional format for the first time since 1994. The teams were split into the Eastern, Central, and Northern divisions; the winners of each division would make the playoffs, as well as the top three ranked non-division-winners. The Eastern division consisted of Washington, Philadelphia, New York, and New Jersey, the Central division had Albany, Rochester, Montreal, Buffalo, and Columbus, while the remaining Canadian teams (Toronto, Ottawa, Vancouver, and Calgary) were in the Northern division.
Early in the morning of February 14, limousine driver Costas Christofi was found shot to death at the home of New Jersey Storm owner Jayson Williams. Williams was later arrested and charged with manslaughter. Williams was acquitted of most charges, but was to be retried for reckless manslaughter. However, the case was delayed several times. On Monday, January 11, 2010, Williams pleaded guilty to aggravated assault in the case, and was sentenced on February 23, 2010. Williams would remain owner of the Storm until the franchise folded after the 2005 season.
For the first time in league history, a team changed arenas midseason, as the Ottawa Rebel left the Corel Centre for the smaller Ottawa Civic Centre. There were two home games left in the season at the time of the move.
Teams 2002 National Lacrosse League Division Team City Arena Capacity Central Albany Attack Albany, New York Pepsi Arena 14,236 Buffalo Bandits Buffalo, New York HSBC Arena 18,690 Columbus Landsharks Columbus, Ohio Nationwide Arena 18,136 Montreal Express Montreal, Quebec Molson Centre 21,273 Rochester Knighthawks Rochester, New York Blue Cross Arena 10,662 East New Jersey Storm East Rutherford, New Jersey Izod Center 19,040 New York Saints Uniondale, New York Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum 16,234 Philadelphia Wings Philadelphia, Pennsylvania First Union Center 19,519 Washington Power Landover, Maryland Capital Centre 18,130 North Calgary Roughnecks Calgary, Alberta Pengrowth Saddledome 19,289 Ottawa Rebel Ottawa, Ontario Corel Centre Ottawa Civic Centre 18,500 10,550 Toronto Rock Toronto, Ontario Air Canada Centre 18,800 Vancouver Ravens Vancouver, British Columbia General Motors Place 18,514
Map of teams
Milestones November 23, 2001: The first ever game for both the Montreal Express and Calgary Roughnecks was a record-setting affair. Montreal set an NLL record for goals by one team in a game by defeating the Roughnecks 32–17 in Calgary. The records for most goals by in a game by both teams (49) and most penalty minutes in a game by both teams (155) were also broken in this game. January 4, 2002: Derek Malawsky of the Rochester Knighthawks sets a new NLL record with 11 assists in a 22–11 win over the Buffalo Bandits
Final standings Regular season
Playoffs
Washington was the higher seed but surrendered the location of the game to Philadelphia for financial reasons.
All Star Game The 2002 All-Star Game was held on April 21 at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut, where the North team (all of the Canadian teams plus Rochester) beat the South 14–10. The MVP was Toronto's Steve Toll, who scored three goals. At the time, this also marked Paul Gait's final professional lacrosse game, as he retired after this season. However, Gait was convinced by his brother Gary to come out of retirement during the 2005 season, and played four games for the Colorado Mammoth before retiring once again.
All-Star teams North Team starters South Team starters John Grant, Jr., Rochester Paul Gait, Washington Colin Doyle, Toronto Gary Gait, Washington Chris Gill, Vancouver Josh Sanderson, Albany Pat Coyle, Toronto Cam Woods, Albany Jim Veltman, Toronto Paul Cantabene, Philadelphia Bob Watson, Toronto (goalie) Rob Blasdell, Albany (goalie) North Team Reserves South Team Reserves Tracey Kelusky, Montreal Gary Rosyski, Albany Ryan Painter, Ottawa Roy Colsey, Buffalo Peter Morgan, Vancouver John Tavares, Buffalo Steve Toll, Toronto Gewas Schindler, Columbus Kaleb Toth, Calgary Gavin Prout, New York Shawn Williams, Rochester Kevin Finneran, Philadelphia Derek Malawsky, Rochester Tom Marechek, Philadelphia Bruce Codd, Montreal Jim Moss, Albany Darren Reisig, Vancouver Jamie Hanford, New Jersey Mike Hasen, Rochester Pat McCabe, New York Dwight Maetche, Vancouver Steve Dietrich, Buffalo (goalie) Pat O'Toole, Rochester Dallas Eliuk, Philadelphia (goalie)
Awards
AwardWinnerTeamMVP AwardPaul GaitWashingtonRookie of the Year AwardBlaine ManningTorontoCoach of the YearBob McMahonAlbanyGM of the Year AwardDave EvansVancouverExecutive of the Year AwardTom MayenknechtVancouverDefensive Player of the Year AwardPat CoyleTorontoGoaltender of the Year AwardRob BlasdellAlbanySportsmanship AwardJim VeltmanTorontoChampionship Game MVPColin DoyleToronto
Weekly awards In 2002, the NLL expanded its weekly player awards from one to four. There are now awards for the best overall player, best offensive player, best defensive player, and best rookie.
Week Overall Offensive Defensive Rookie 1 Matt Disher Dan Stroup Matt Disher Blaine Manning 2 Tracey Kelusky Tracey Kelusky Bruce Codd Blaine Manning 3 Tracey Kelusky Paul Gait Dwight Maetche Peter Morgan 4 Tom Marechek Roy Colsey Dallas Eliuk Gavin Prout 5 Gary Gait Gary Gait Steve Dietrich Andrew Leyshon 6 Kyle Goundrey Kyle Goundrey Rob Blasdell Peter Morgan 7 Shawn Williams Kaleb Toth Jesse Phillips Billy LeFeuvre 8 Derek Malawsky Derek Malawsky Devin Dalep Kasey Beirnes 9 Gewas Schindler Gewas Schindler Pat Coyle Mike Miron 10 Peter Morgan John Tavares Devin Dalep Peter Morgan 11 Paul Gait Paul Gait Bob Watson Kasey Beirnes 12 Gary Gait Jake Bergey Bruce Codd Blaine Manning 13 Chris Gill Chris Gill Rob Blasdell Ryan Painter 14 Josh Sanderson Shawn Williams Matt Roik Gavin Prout 15 John Tavares John Tavares Jesse Phillips Mike Miron 16 Jeff Ratcliffe Jeff Ratcliffe Anthony Cosmo Blaine Manning 17 Paul Gait Paul Gait Curtis Palidwor Steve Penny 18 John Grant, Jr. John Grant, Jr. Chris Sanderson Blaine Manning 19 Tom Marechek John Tavares Rob Blasdell Ryan Painter
Monthly awards Awards are also given out monthly for the best overall player and best rookie.
Month Overall Rookie Nov/Dec Tracy Kelusky none selected Jan Paul Gait Kasey Beirnes Feb Chris Gill Gavin Prout Mar Paul Gait Blaine Manning
Statistics leaders Bold numbers indicate new single-season records. Italics indicate tied single-season records. StatPlayerTeamNumberGoalsPaul GaitWashington54AssistsJosh SandersonAlbany68PointsPaul GaitWashington114Penalty MinutesBrian ReeseWashington78Loose BallsJim VeltmanToronto203Save PctRob BlasdellAlbany77.5
Attendance Regular season + Home team Home games Average attendance Total attendanceToronto Rock815,689125,513Philadelphia Wings813,668109,342Vancouver Ravens810,21181,689Rochester Knighthawks88,94571,559Calgary Roughnecks 8 8,78170,249Montréal Express87,96963,755Buffalo Bandits 87,44859,582Ottawa Rebel 85,93747,498New Jersey Storm 85,67745,414New York Saints 85,25942,074Columbus Landsharks84,12933,029Albany Attack83,50828,066Washington Power83,33026,638League1047,735804,408
Playoffs + Home team Home games Average attendance Total attendanceToronto Rock 114,442 14,442 Philadelphia Wings110,041 10,041 Rochester Knighthawks18,266 8,266 Albany Attack27,18214,363League59,42247,112
See also 2002 in sports
Footnotes
References