John Tavares (lacrosse)

John Tavares (born September 4, 1968, in Toronto, Ontario) is a Canadian retired professional box lacrosse player and now is the current head coach of the Buffalo Bandits of the National Lacrosse League (NLL) and Six Nations Chiefs of the Major Series Lacrosse League. As a player, he spent his entire 24-year career in Buffalo. He is widely considered the greatest box lacrosse player of all time and is the NLL's all time point leader.

Starting with the Bandits in their inaugural season in 1992, he was acquired from the Detroit Turbos in exchange for Brian Nikula in October 1991. Tavares was also the Professional Lacrosse Players' Association representative for the Bandits.

Tavares is the NLL's all-time leader in games played (306), goals (815), assists (934), and points (1,749). His 2,191 loose balls recovered is the second most all-time.

Tavares is the uncle of John Tavares, the alternate captain and star forward of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Tavares is currently the head coach of the MSL's Six Nations Chiefs, winning the 2023 MANN cup.

John Tavares was awarded the Order of Sport, marking his induction into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame on May 12, 2022.

National Lacrosse League On February 18, 2006, the Buffalo Bandits defeated the Minnesota Swarm by a score of 14–9 in front of 12,458 fans at HSBC Arena in Buffalo, New York. In that game, John Tavares tied the NLL Career Points (goals + assists) record at 1,091 points held by Gary Gait, who had retired after the 2005 season.

On March 4, 2006, 10,961 fans witnessed history. On that night, the Buffalo Bandits played their 7th regular season game again hosting the Minnesota Swarm, and Tavares scored two points in an 11–8 loss. The first was his 1,092nd career point, the record-breaker, which was an assist to Mark Steenhuis who scored a power-play goal at 11:57 in the second period. (The second point, Point 1,093, was also an assist to Steenhuis in the third period.) Play was stopped, and Tavares was given the game ball.

On January 20, 2008, Tavares scored his 597th career goal (against goalie Matt Vinc) in a win over the New York Titans, passing Gary Gait and becoming the NLL's all-time leader in goals scored. On May 17, 2008, Tavares won his fourth championship and first since 1996. The Bandits beat the Portland Lumberjax in the championship game with the help of two Tavares goals.

During the 2009 NLL season, he was named to the All-Star Game.

Following the end of his playing career after the 2015 season, Tavares remained with the Bandits as an assistant coach, before being elevated to co-head coach of the Bandits in 2019. In his first season in that position, he won the Les Bartley Award for the NLL's top head coach for the season, an award he shared with Rich Kilgour. Tavares became Buffalo's full-time head coach for the 2020 season after Kilgour's contract was not renewed by the team.

Tavares won his first NLL championship as a head coach with Buffalo in 2023, his fifth championship overall. The Bandits repeated as league champions in 2024 and 2025, marking his sixth and seventh NLL titles for his career as a player and a coach.

Career totals including playoffs Games Played: 344 Career Goals: 899 Career Assists: 1,050 Career Points: 1,949 Loose Balls: 2,464 Tavares was the first player in NLL history to have 500 goals and 500 assists.

Points milestones No. 1: Jan. 4, 1992, assist to Rich Kilgour vs. New York in first game. 100: March 20, 1993, goal vs. Detroit's Paul Mootz in 16th game. 200: Jan. 20, 1996, goal vs. Baltimore's J.J. Pearl in 34th game. 300: Feb. 7, 1997, assist to Darris Kilgour vs. Baltimore in 47th game. 400: Jan. 8, 1999, goal vs. Philadelphia's Dallas Eliuk in 62nd game. 500: Feb. 18, 2000, goal vs. Rochester's Pat O'Toole in 78th game. 600: Feb. 10, 2001, goal vs. Washington's Devin Dalep in 91st game. 700: Feb. 1, 2002, assist to Chris Driscoll vs. Montreal in 107th game. 800: Feb. 8, 2003, assist to Mike Accursi vs. Toronto in 122nd game. 900: Feb. 14, 2004, goal vs. Anaheim's Matt Disher in 139th game. 1,000: Feb. 19, 2005, assist to Delby Powless vs. Rochester in 154th game. 1,091: Feb. 18, 2006, assist to Cory Bomberry vs. Minnesota in 169th game. (Ties Gary Gait's then-existing NLL Career Points Record) 1,092: March 4, 2006, assist to Mark Steenhuis vs. Minnesota in 170th game. (New NLL Career Points Record) 1,600: March 17, 2012, goal vs. Minnesota in 259th game. 1,949: May 8, 2015, assist to Dhane Smith vs. Rochester in (Division Semifinal) game 349. (final tally)

Career statistics Reference:

Coaching statistics TeamSeasonRegular seasonPlayoffsPlayoff resultGCWLW%GCWLW%Buffalo Bandits2019*18144.778422.500Lost NLL Finals (CGY)Buffalo Bandits20201174.636––––Season suspended due to COVID-19 pandemicBuffalo Bandits202218144.778642.667Lost NLL Finals (COL)Buffalo Bandits202318144.778651.833Won NLL Finals (COL)Buffalo Bandits202418117.6115501.000Won NLL Finals (ALB)Buffalo Bandits202518135.722651.833Won NLL Finals (SSK)Buffalo Bandits202618117.611101.000Lost Quarterfinals (GA)Totals:71198435.70628217.750

* - shared head coaching duties with Rich Kilgour

Canadian Lacrosse Association

Tavares' teams have won seven Mann Cups, 1992 and 1993 with the Brampton Excelsiors, 1994 through 1996 with the Six Nations Chiefs, 2002 with the Victoria Shamrocks, and 2012 with the Peterborough Lakers. In 1992, 1993, and 1996, Tavares won the Mike Kelley Memorial Trophy as most valuable player in the Mann Cup competition. Tavares also won the Major Series Lacrosse scoring title eight times, and the MSL's Most Valuable Player award three times. Tavares played Ontario Junior A lacrosse for the Mississauga Tomahawks.

Statistics

Regular Season Playoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM1983Mississauga TomahawksOLA Jr B14040200041984Mississauga TomahawksOLA Jr B-----2741101985Mississauga TomahawksOLA Jr B472991017153241986Mississauga TomahawksOLA Jr B17132441761415712899161987Mississauga TomahawksOLA Jr B23128561842511422365121987Bay Area BengalsOLA Jr A13250-----1988Mississauga TomahawksOLA Jr A23777214936-----1989Mississauga TomahawksOLA Jr A24706113135-----1989Orangeville NorthmenMSL12240-----1990Vancouver BurrardsWLA163228603015202343351991Vancouver BurrardsWLA244648948045611141992Brampton Excelsiors MSL164446904713302656251993Brampton Excelsiors MSL165340933913342963221994Six Nations Chiefs MSL134445894218424688321995Six Nations Chiefs MSL2055531085014313667201996Six Nations Chiefs MSL2469711404514392463381997Six Nations Chiefs MSL204657103274951481998Akwesasne ThunderMSL1633488127-----1999Akwesasne ThunderMSL183643792516262955282000Akwesasne ThunderMSL16456611145-----2001Akwesasne ThunderMSL1426527810-----2001Victoria ShamrocksWLA8203252611252752132002Victoria ShamrocksWLA792332151734397362003Victoria ShamrocksWLA81422361114272653212004Akwesasne ThunderMSL183851897354902005Akwesasne ThunderMSL173155868370742006St. Regis IndiansMSL1316405611327902007St. Regis IndiansMSL101025352107212892008St. Regis IndiansMSL173459936917244142009St. Regis IndiansMSL121629452914223672010Peterborough LakersMSL1120204041824305442011Peterborough LakersMSL182041612117202742012Peterborough LakersMSL121222342171738554Junior B 4527110237348401277019736Junior A Totals 4815013528571-----Senior A Totals 36577110181789543236422482904301

International play

John Tavares represented Canada internationally. He played for his home country in the 2003 and in the 2007 World Championships, winning the gold medal in both.

John Tavares (lacrosse)

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