The 1997 season is the 11th season of the league and, is the last as the MILL, began on January 4, 1997, and concluded with the championship game on April 12. The league was renamed to the National Lacrosse League after this season.

Team movement The Charlotte Cobras, who debuted in the 1996 Major Indoor Lacrosse League season, folded after only a single winless season.

Teams 1997 Major Indoor Lacrosse League Team City Arena Capacity Baltimore Thunder Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore Arena 10,582 Boston Blazers Boston, Massachusetts FleetCenter 17,850 Buffalo Bandits Buffalo, New York Marine Midland Arena 18,595 New York Saints Uniondale, New York Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum 16,297 Philadelphia Wings Philadelphia, Pennsylvania CoreStates Center 19,463 Rochester Knighthawks Rochester, New York Rochester Community War Memorial 10,662

Map of teams

Regular season

All Star Game No All-Star Game was played in 1997.

Playoffs

Awards

AwardWinnerTeamMVP AwardGary GaitPhiladelphiaRookie of the Year AwardJeff WilfongBostonChampionship Game MVPSteve DietrichRochester

Weekly awards Each week, a player is awarded "Player of the Week" honours.

Week Player of the Week 1 Paul Gait 2 Roy Colsey 3 Sal LoCascio 4 Paul Gait 5 Paul Gait 6 John Tavares 7 Derek Collins 8 Thomas Carmean 9 Matt Panetta 10 Tom Marechek 11 Ted Dowling 12 Dallas Eliuk

Monthly awards An award is also given out monthly for the best overall player.

Month Player of the Month Jan Paul Gait Feb Derek Collins Mar Tom Marechek

All-Pro Teams First Team: Gary Gait, Philadelphia Paul Gait, Rochester Tom Marechek, Philadelphia Mark Millon, New York John Tavares, Buffalo Dallas Eliuk, Philadelphia (goalie)

Second Team: Thomas Carmean, Boston Duane Jacobs, Rochester Darris Kilgour, Buffalo Jeff Klodzen, Baltimore Bob Martino, Baltimore Sal LoCascio, New York (goalie)

Statistics leaders Bold numbers indicate new single-season records. Italics indicate tied single-season records. StatPlayerTeamNumberGoalsGary GaitPhiladelphia40AssistsGary GaitPhiladelphia32PointsGary GaitPhiladelphia72Penalty MinutesTom PhairBuffalo58Shots on GoalPaul GaitRochester131Loose BallsJohn TavaresBuffalo104

Attendance Regular season + Home team Home games Average attendance Total attendanceBuffalo Bandits 517,53387,665Philadelphia Wings513,87569,336New York Saints 57,26836,338Rochester Knighthawks56,57032,852Boston Blazers56,14930,743Baltimore Thunder 55,01825,091League309,401282,025

Playoffs + Home team Home games Average attendance Total attendanceBuffalo Bandits 215,08530,170Philadelphia Wings19,372 9,372 League313,18139,542

See also 1997 in sports

References