The 2011 National Lacrosse League season, the 25th in the history of the NLL, began on January 8, 2011, and ended with the Championship game, which was won by the Toronto Rock 8-7.
Team movement The Orlando Titans announced in July 2010 that they would not participate in the 2011 season, due to financial troubles. Some players were granted free agency while others were involved in a dispersal draft.
Teams 2011 National Lacrosse League Division Team City Arena Capacity East Boston Blazers Boston, Massachusetts TD Garden 17,850 Buffalo Bandits Buffalo, New York HSBC Arena 18,690 Philadelphia Wings Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Wachovia Center 19,537 Rochester Knighthawks Rochester, New York Blue Cross Arena 10,662 Toronto Rock Toronto, Ontario Air Canada Centre 18,800 West Calgary Roughnecks Calgary, Alberta Scotiabank Saddledome 19,289 Colorado Mammoth Denver, Colorado Pepsi Center 18,007 Edmonton Rush Edmonton, Alberta Rexall Place 16,839 Minnesota Swarm Saint Paul, Minnesota XCEL Energy Center 18,064 Washington Stealth Everett, Washington Comcast Arena at Everett 8,513
Map of teams
Final standings
Scoring leaders Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes; LB = Loose Balls
Player Team GP G A Pts PIM LBRyan Benesch Minnesota Swarm 16464995479Lewis Ratcliff Washington Stealth 16415192262Dan Dawson Boston Blazers 16315990665Rhys Duch Washington Stealth 16424890674John Grant Jr. Colorado Mammoth 163647831245Casey Powell Boston Blazers 153447811059John Tavares Buffalo Bandits 163246781059Shawn Williams Rochester Knighthawks 16235477264Stephan Leblanc Toronto Rock 15334376875Blaine Manning Washington Stealth 162352751462Jeff Shattler Calgary Roughnecks 152946752093Dane Dobbie Calgary Roughnecks 153441753455Garrett Billings Toronto Rock 15314475864
Leading goaltenders Note: GP = Games played; Mins = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses: GA = Goals Allowed; SV% = Save Percentage; GAA = Goals against average
Player Team GP Mins W L GA SV% GAA Anthony Cosmo Boston Blazers 16913 8 7 1470.7679.66 Michael Thompson Buffalo Bandits 16763 10 3 1230.7859.67 Matt Vinc Rochester Knighthawks 16933 10 6 1520.7949.77 Chris Levis Colorado Mammoth 16840 5 9 1400.7849.99 Bob Watson Toronto Rock 16850 10 4 1430.78810.09
Playoffs
Division Semifinals
East Division
(E1) Buffalo Bandits vs. (E4) Boston Blazers
(E2) Toronto Rock vs. (E3) Rochester Knighthawks
West Division
(W1) Calgary Roughnecks vs. (W4) Colorado Mammoth
(W2) Minnesota Swarm vs. (W3) Washington Stealth
Milestones and events
Pre-season July 30, 2010: The league announced that the Orlando Titans would not be participating in the 2011 season.
Regular season John Tavares scores the first goal of the game against the Philadelphia Wings at the Wells Fargo Center in a 16–7 win, marking the first player in league history to reach 700 goals scored. The following week at home against the same team, Tavares would become the first person to tally 1,500 career points.
Awards
Annual AwardWinnerTeam Most Valuable Player Jeff Shattler Calgary Roughnecks Goaltender of the Year Matt Vinc Rochester Knighthawks Defensive Player of the Year Pat McCready Rochester Knighthawks Transition Player of the Year Jeff Shattler Calgary Roughnecks Rookie of the Year Curtis Dickson Calgary Roughnecks Sportsmanship Award Jordan Hall Rochester Knighthawks GM of the Year Curt Styres Rochester Knighthawks Les Bartley Award Mike Hasen Rochester Knighthawks Executive of the Year Award Curt Styres Rochester Knighthawks Tom Borrelli Award Budd Bailey
All-Pro teams First Team Jeff Shattler, Calgary Pat McCready, Rochester Matt Vinc, Rochester Ryan Benesch, Minnesota Rhys Duch, Washington Dan Dawson, Boston
Second Team Lewis Ratcliff, Washington John Tavares, Buffalo Stephan Leblanc, Toronto Brodie Merrill, Edmonton Mike Carnegie, Calgary Anthony Cosmo, Boston
All-Rookie team Curtis Dickson, Calgary Cody Jamieson, Rochester Kyle Rubisch, Boston Aaron Pascas, Toronto Andrew Suitor, Minnesota Tyler Hass, Minnesota
Weekly awards The NLL gives out awards weekly for the best overall player, best offensive player, best transition player, best defensive player, and best rookie.
Month Week Overall Offensive Defensive Transition Rookie January 1 Bob Watson Scott Ranger Mike Poulin Paul Rabil Aaron Pascas 2 Ryan Benesch Ryan Benesch Nick Patterson Mark Steenhuis Cody Jamieson 3 Stephan Leblanc Luke Wiles Nick Patterson Brodie Merrill Cody Jamieson 4 Brandon Miller Dane Dobbie Bob Watson Jeff Shattler Curtis Dickson February 5 Shawn Evans Dan Dawson Tyler Richards Jordan Hall Cody Jamieson 6 John Tavares John Tavares Anthony Cosmo Paul Rabil Aaron Pascas 7 Bob Watson Garrett Billings Jeff Moleski Ryan Hotaling Curtis Dickson 8 Colin Doyle Colin Doyle Sandy Chapman Jordan Hall Cody Jamieson March 9 Mike Thompson Lewis Ratcliff Mike Grimes Jordan Hall Rob Hellyer 10 Jeff Shattler John Tavares Chris Corbeil Jeff Shattler Curtis Dickson 11 Dane Dobbie Dane Dobbie Nolan Heavenor Jeff Shattler Curtis Dickson 12 Zack Greer Zack Greer Scott Campbell Jeff Shattler Curtis Dickson April 13 John Grant Shawn Williams Matt Roik Jordan Hall Andrew Suitor 14 Rhys Duch Dan Dawson Mike Thompson Tom Montour Cody Jamieson 15 Kevin Buchanan Kevin Buchanan Chris Levis Brodie Merrill Kyle Rubisch 16 Ryan Benesch Ryan Benesch Nick Patterson Jordan Hall Cody Jamieson
Monthly awards Awards are also given out monthly for the best overall player and best rookie.
Month Overall Rookie January Bob Watson Curtis Dickson February Garrett Billings Kyle Rubisch March Jeff Shattler Curtis Dickson April Ryan Benesch Cody Jamieson
Attendance Regular season + Home team Home games Average attendance Total attendanceBuffalo Bandits 817,095136,765Colorado Mammoth 815,865126,927Calgary Roughnecks 8 10,38483,074Boston Blazers 8 8,71269,696Philadelphia Wings88,66169,294Toronto Rock88,51368,108Minnesota Swarm88,28766,302Edmonton Rush87,15157,214Rochester Knighthawks85,33142,648Washington Stealth 83,22625,808League809,322745,836
Playoffs + Home team Home games Average attendance Total attendanceToronto Rock 212,35824,716Buffalo Bandits211,81123,622Calgary Roughnecks210,10820,217Minnesota Swarm15,8785,878League710,63374,433
See also 2011 in sports
References