The 2019 National Lacrosse League season, formally known as the 2018–2019 season, is the 33rd in the history of the NLL. It was originally scheduled to begin on December 1, 2018 and ending with the NLL final in late spring of 2019. This season is the inaugural season for the expansion teams San Diego Seals and Philadelphia Wings. This is also the final season for the Rochester Knighthawks under owner Curt Styres, as the team's operations are being relocated to Halifax for the 2019–20 season while Pegula Sports and Entertainment takes over the Knighthawks moniker with a new expansion team.
The Professional Lacrosse Players Association, who represents the NLL players, opted out of their seven-year collective bargaining agreement after the fifth season (2017–18) seeking a new deal. On November 15, 2018 the league announced that a counter-proposal submitted by the Professional Lacrosse Players Association was rejected. This came after the league suspended their Wednesday November 14 deadline to review the counter-proposal after the PLPA rejected the league's offer; the PLPA advised its members not to attend training camp and thus effectively went on strike. Subsequent to this the league announced that all games to be played in the first two weeks of the season (encompassing December 1 and 8 weekends) were cancelled. On November 24 the NLL and the PLPA came to an agreement on the CBA for 5 years, ending the labor dispute.
Teams 2019 National Lacrosse League Division Team City Arena Capacity East Buffalo Bandits Buffalo, New York KeyBank Center 19,070 Georgia Swarm Duluth, Georgia Infinite Energy Arena 10,500 New England Black Wolves Uncasville, Connecticut Mohegan Sun Arena 7,074 Philadelphia Wings Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Wells Fargo Center 19,306 Rochester Knighthawks Rochester, New York Blue Cross Arena 10,662 Toronto Rock Toronto, Ontario Scotiabank Arena 18,800 West Calgary Roughnecks Calgary, Alberta Scotiabank Saddledome 19,289 Colorado Mammoth Denver, Colorado Pepsi Center 18,007 San Diego Seals San Diego, California Pechanga Arena 12,920 Saskatchewan Rush Saskatoon, Saskatchewan SaskTel Centre 15,195 Vancouver Warriors Vancouver, British Columbia Rogers Arena 18,910
Map of teams
Regular season
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 LBDane Dobbie Calgary Roughnecks 1847681151269Callum Crawford New England Black Wolves 1648611093378Mark Matthews Saskatchewan Rush 184164105870Lyle Thompson Georgia Swarm 184362105694Dhane Smith Buffalo Bandits 163270102872Randy Staats Georgia Swarm 173759961245Shawn Evans Buffalo Bandits 172866941769Tom Schreiber Toronto Rock 18296594261Stephan Leblanc New England Black Wolves 182766931358Dan Dawson San Diego Seals 18295988849
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 Matt Vinc Buffalo Bandits 181036 14 2 1730.80210.02 Adam Shute Saskatchewan Rush 18483 5 3 830.77210.30 Dillon Ward Colorado Mammoth 18963 5 11 1740.77510.84 Mike Poulin Georgia Swarm 17899 11 4 1640.79110.94 Christian Del Bianco Calgary Roughnecks 181074 10 8 2000.78111.17
Playoffs
*Overtime
Conference Semifinal
Eastern Division
(E1) Buffalo Bandits vs. (E4) New England Black Wolves
(E2) Georgia Swarm vs. (E3) Toronto Rock
Western Division
(W1) Saskatchewan Rush vs. (W4) Colorado Mammoth
(W2) San Diego Seals vs. (W3) Calgary Roughnecks
Divisional Final
Eastern Division
(E1) Buffalo Bandits vs. (E3) Toronto Rock
Western Division
(W3) Calgary Roughnecks vs. (W4) Colorado Mammoth
NLL Final (best of three)
(E1) Buffalo Bandits vs. (W3) Calgary Roughnecks
Roughnecks win series 2–0.
Awards Annual awards
References: Nominees and Winners
AwardWinnerOther Finalists Most Valuable Player Dane Dobbie, Calgary Roughnecks Lyle Thompson, Georgia SwarmMatt Vinc, Buffalo Bandits Goaltender of the Year Matt Vinc, Buffalo Bandits Christian Del Bianco, Calgary RoughnecksDillon Ward, Colorado Mammoth Defensive Player of the Year Graeme Hossack, Rochester Knighthawks Steve Priolo, Buffalo BanditsKyle Rubisch, Saskatchewan Rush Transition Player of the Year Challen Rogers, Toronto Rock Zach Currier, Calgary RoughnecksKiel Matisz, Philadelphia Wings Rookie of the Year Austin Staats, San Diego Seals Ian MacKay, Buffalo BanditsMatt Rambo, Philadelphia Wings Sportsmanship Award Lyle Thompson, Georgia Swarm Dan Dawson, San Diego SealsTom Schreiber, Toronto Rock GM of the Year Steve Dietrich, Buffalo Bandits Mike Board, Calgary RoughnecksPatrick Merrill, San Diego Seals Les Bartley Award John Tavares/Rich Kilgour, Buffalo Bandits Curt Malawsky, Calgary RoughnecksMatt Sawyer, Toronto Rock Executive of the Year Award Terri Giberson, Toronto Rock Lindsey Masciangelo, Philadelphia WingsDave Zygaj, Buffalo Bandits Teammate of the Year Award John Ranagan, Georgia Swarm Kyle Buchanan, San Diego SealsChad Cummings, Calgary Roughnecks Tom Borrelli Award Tyson Geick, Lacrosse Flash Bob Chavez, IL IndoorBarstool Jordie, Barstool Sports
Stadiums and locations
Buffalo Bandits Georgia Swarm New England Black Wolves Philadelphia Wings Rochester Knighthawks Toronto Rock KeyBank Center Infinite Energy Arena Mohegan Sun Arena Wells Fargo Center Blue Cross Arena Scotiabank Arena Capacity: 19,070 Capacity: 11,355 Capacity: 7,700 Capacity: 19,543 Capacity: 11,200 Capacity: 18,819
Calgary Roughnecks Colorado Mammoth San Diego Seals Saskatchewan Rush Vancouver Warriors Scotiabank Saddledome Pepsi Center Valley View Casino Center SaskTel Centre Rogers Arena Capacity: 19,289 Capacity: 18,007 Capacity: 12,920 Capacity: 15,190 Capacity: 18,910
Attendance Regular season + Home team Home games Average attendance Total attendanceSaskatchewan Rush913,459121,131Buffalo Bandits 913,046117,415Colorado Mammoth 912,815115,342Calgary Roughnecks 9 12,593113,345Philadelphia Wings 910,90598,147Toronto Rock99,47685,289San Diego Seals 97,76969,921Vancouver Warriors 96,83361,501Georgia Swarm96,69860,287Rochester Knighthawks96,44057,964New England Black Wolves95,52649,741League999,596950,083
Playoffs + Home team Home games Average attendance Total attendanceBuffalo Bandits313,05239,158Calgary Roughnecks 212,96925,938Saskatchewan Rush 111,65811,658Georgia Swarm18,8628,862San Diego Seals1 5,0055,005League1210,509126,110
See also 2019 in sports
References 5. http://pointstreak.com/prostats/attendance.html?leagueid=230&seasonid=18464