The 2004 National Lacrosse League season is the 18th season in the NLL that began on December 26, 2003, with the Arizona Sting hosting the Vancouver Ravens. That game was the Sting's first-ever game and the first event held in the new Glendale Arena (now Gila River Arena) in Glendale, Arizona. The season concluded with the championship game on May 7, 2004. Over 19,000 fans, the second largest crowd ever at an NLL game, packed the Pengrowth Saddledome (now Scotiabank Saddledome) to watch the Calgary Roughnecks defeat the Buffalo Bandits 14–11. This game was the first NLL championship game since 1998 that did not feature the Toronto Rock.

The collective bargaining agreement (CBA) between the league and the Professional Lacrosse Players' Association expired before the 2004 season, and the lack of a new agreement caused a 12-day players strike in December 2003. On December 17, the NLL and PLPA announced that the previous CBA had been extended by one year, guaranteeing that the 2004 season would be played without strikes or lockouts.

Team movement 2004 was a season of turmoil for the NLL – two franchises disappeared while three others moved cross-country, causing a division realignment. Gone was the three-division format that had been used in the preceding two seasons; the league was now split into East and West divisions. The Ottawa Rebel and New York Saints franchises both folded, and the following teams moved: the Columbus Landsharks moved to Glendale, Arizona, becoming the Arizona Sting the New Jersey Storm moved to Anaheim, California, becoming the Anaheim Storm the Albany Attack moved to San Jose, California, becoming the San Jose Stealth

These three joined Colorado, Calgary, and Vancouver in the West division, while perennial rivals Toronto, Buffalo, Rochester, and Philadelphia were left to fight over three playoff spots in the East.

Teams 2004 National Lacrosse League Division Team City Arena Capacity East Buffalo Bandits Buffalo, New York HSBC Arena 18,690 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 Anaheim Storm Anaheim, California Arrowhead Pond 17,174 Arizona Sting Glendale, Arizona Glendale Arena 17,125 Calgary Roughnecks Calgary, Alberta Pengrowth Saddledome 19,289 Colorado Mammoth Denver, Colorado Pepsi Center 18,007 San Jose Stealth San Jose, California HP Pavilion 17,496 Vancouver Ravens Vancouver, British Columbia General Motors Place 18,514

Map of teams

Milestones January 9: The Anaheim Storm play their first ever home game, losing to the Arizona Sting 19–18 in the first triple overtime game in NLL history. Mark Shepherd scored the teams first regulation goal. This is a record not likely to ever be broken – before the 2005 season, the NLL changed overtime periods to 15 minutes from five. Since then, no games have even seen double overtime. April 3: Colorado Mammoth fans threw socks at the game floor after Gary Gait scored 6 goals against the Anaheim Storm. Creating the tradition of the "Sock Trick". It also resulted in a delay of game penalty being called on Gary Gait

Final standings Regular season

Playoffs

All Star Game The 2004 All-Star Game was held at Pepsi Center in Denver on February 22, 2004. The East division defeated the West 19–15, and Buffalo's Mark Steenhuis was named game MVP.

All-Star teams Eastern Division starters   Western Division starters Colin Doyle, Toronto Gary Gait, Colorado Blaine Manning, Toronto Tracey Kelusky, Calgary John Tavares, Buffalo Gavin Prout, Colorado Pat Coyle, Toronto Jim Moss, San Jose Mike Hasen, Rochester Andy Ogilvie, Vancouver Pat O'Toole, Rochester (goalie) Gee Nash, Colorado (goalie) Eastern Division Reserves Western Division Reserves Mike Accursi, Buffalo Ted Dowling, Calgary Jake Bergey, Philadelphia Mark Shepherd, Anaheim Paul Cantabene, Philadelphia Jay Jalbert, Colorado Glenn Clark, Toronto Rob Kirkby, Calgary Kyle Couling, Buffalo Mike Law, Anaheim Steve Dietrich, Buffalo (goalie) Pat Maddalena, Arizona Derek Malawsky, Rochester Mike Miron, Arizona (goalie) Tom Marechek, Philadelphia Casey Powell, Anaheim Jeff Ratcliffe, Philadelphia Josh Sanderson, San Jose Mark Steenhuis, Buffalo Dan Stroup, Vancouver Andrew Turner, Rochester Kaleb Toth, Calgary Jim Veltman, Toronto Cam Woods, San Jose

Awards

AwardWinnerTeamMVP AwardJim VeltmanTorontoRookie of the Year AwardTaylor WrayCalgaryLes Bartley Award (Coach of the Year)Paul DayRochesterGM of the Year AwardJohn MouradianSan JoseExecutive of the Year AwardSteve GovettColoradoDefensive Player of the Year AwardCam Woods (tie)San Jose  Taylor Wray CalgaryGoaltender of the Year AwardGord NashColoradoSportsmanship AwardGary Gait (tie)Colorado Peter LoughArizonaChampionship Game MVPCurtis PalidworCalgary

Weekly awards The NLL gives out awards weekly for the best overall player, best offensive player, best defensive player, and best rookie.

Week Overall Offensive Defensive Rookie 1 No awards given 2 Gary Gait Gary Gait Mike Miron AJ Shannon 3 Ted Dowling John Grant, Jr. Matt King Randy Daly 4 Blaine Manning Blaine Manning Andy Ogilvie Craig Conn 5 Mike Regan Mike Regan Brandon Miller Nick Patterson 6 John Tavares Shawn Williams Curtis Palidwor Steve Hoar 7 Dallas Eliuk Derek Malawsky Dallas Eliuk Taylor Wray 8 John Tavares Jeff Ratcliffe Pat O'Toole Ryan Ward 9 Dan Teat Mark Shepherd Cam Woods AJ Shannon 10 Curtis Palidwor Shawn Williams Curtis Palidwor Scott Evans 11 Mike Miron Pat Maddalena Mike Miron Cam Bergman 12 Jim Veltman Jim Veltman Dwight Maetche Scott Evans 13 Shawn Williams Shawn Williams Peter Lough Chris Cercy 14 Jim Veltman Colin Doyle Dallas Eliuk Ryan Ward 15 Shawn Williams Shawn Williams Pat O'Toole Curtis Smith 16 Shawn Williams Shawn Williams Pat O'Toole Brad MacDonald

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

Month Overall Rookie Jan Gavin Prout Craig Conn Feb John Tavares Craig Conn Mar Jim Veltman Taylor Wray

Statistics leaders Bold numbers indicate new single-season records. Italics indicate tied single-season records. StatPlayerTeamNumberGoalsGary GaitColorado55AssistsJosh SandersonSan Jose61PointsGary GaitColorado93Penalty MinutesTroy BonterreArizona73Loose BallsJim VeltmanToronto179Save PctGee NashColorado79.0

Attendance Regular season + Home team Home games Average attendance Total attendanceColorado Mammoth 817,617140,942Toronto Rock816,907135,256Philadelphia Wings813,640109,123Calgary Roughnecks 8 9,99479,950Buffalo Bandits 88,92971,435Rochester Knighthawks88,78770,293Vancouver Ravens87,12456,992Arizona Sting85,76846,147San Jose Stealth85,33242,656Anaheim Storm 84,75037,997League809,749779,946

Playoffs + Home team Home games Average attendance Total attendanceCalgary Roughnecks 119,289 19,289 Toronto Rock114,618 14,618 Colorado Mammoth114,283 14,283 Rochester Knighthawks17,029 7,029 San Jose Stealth14,874 4,874 League512,01960,093

See also 2004 in sports

References

External links