The 2009 National Lacrosse League season, the 23rd in the history of the NLL, began January 3, 2009 in Buffalo, Portland, and Sunrise, Florida, and concluded with the Calgary Roughnecks defeating the New York Titans 12—10 in the Champion's Cup on May 15, 2009 in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
Team movement After the 2008 season was cancelled and then reinstated, the Boston Blazers and Arizona Sting both announced that they would not participate in the 2008 season, and would return in 2009. However, in the summer of 2008 the Arizona Sting ceased operations and its players were put in a dispersal draft. The Blazers drafted former Sting and LumberJax forward Dan Dawson first overall.
Just weeks prior to the start of the season, the Chicago Shamrox suspended operations due to financial troubles and the players were placed in another dispersal draft. Anthony Cosmo was selected 1st overall by the Boston Blazers in this draft.
Finally, while not a franchise relocation, the Minnesota Swarm were moved from the East Division to the West Division.
Teams 2009 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 New York Titans Newark, New Jersey Prudential Center 17,625 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 Calgary Roughnecks Calgary, Alberta Pengrowth 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 Portland Lumberjax Portland, Oregon Rose Garden 18,280 San Jose Stealth San Jose, California HP Pavilion 17,496
Map of teams
Final standings
Playoffs
Milestones and events
Pre-season August 19, 2008: The NLL announced that the Minnesota Swarm would be moving from the East division to the West division, giving the West six teams to the East's seven. August 22, 2008: Chicago Shamrox goalie Matt Roik was traded to the San Jose Stealth with two first round draft picks in exchange for veteran goalie Anthony Cosmo. September 2, 2008: The Rochester Knighthawks announce that Paul Suggate will be the new head coach. Freeman Bucktooth and former team captain Mike Hasen were also named assistant coaches. September 7, 2008: Just hours before the entry draft, the Toronto Rock, San Jose Stealth, and Rochester Knighthawks made a blockbuster trade. Toronto sent Aaron Wilson and a 2009 first round draft pick to Rochester, who sent Stephen Hoar back to Toronto. Toronto also received Luke Wiles from San Jose, while San Jose gets Rochester's first round pick in the 2008 entry draft. September 9, 2008: Rochester Knighthawks star John Grant, Jr. announced that he would miss the entire 2009 season after undergoing emergency surgery to remove an infection in the ACL in his left knee. September 25: The NLL announced that a regular season game will be played between the New York Titans and the Toronto Rock at BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise, Florida, a suburb of Fort Lauderdale. The game will be known as the Florida Lacrosse Cup. This will be the first pro lacrosse game ever played in the state. The event was spearheaded by former Rock and Philadelphia Wings forward Kevin Finneran. October 15, 2008: The Rochester Knighthawks acquired the rights to lacrosse legend Gary Gait from the Colorado Mammoth for forward Andrew Potter and first-round draft picks in both 2009 and 2010. Gait, whose single-season scoring record was shattered during the 2008 season by Athan Iannucci, originally retired from the NLL after the 2005 season. November 11, 2008: Legendary goaltender Dallas Eliuk announced that he will not play in 2009, taking a job as an assistant coach with the Portland LumberJax. Eliuk did not officially announce his retirement until December 9. Eliuk won four NLL championships, all with the Wings, and is the NLL's all-time leader in saves. November 25, 2008: Rochester Knighthawks GM Regy Thorpe signed a playing contract, becoming the first player-GM in NLL history. December 24, 2008: Less than four months after taking the job and without a single regular season game under his belt, Paul Suggate resigned his position as Rochester head coach. No reason was given for Suggate's resignation. Only two days later, the Knighthawks announced that lacrosse legend Paul Gait had been hired as head coach.
Regular season January 3, 2009: The Toronto Rock won the first-ever Florida Lacrosse Cup, defeating the New York Titans 15-14 to open the season. Blaine Manning scored the winner, his fourth goal of the game, with 38 seconds left in regulation time to seal the victory, and was named Overall Player of the Week. January 10, 2009: Jim Jennings announced his resignation as commissioner of the NLL, stating: "I feel that I have accomplished all the goals I set out to do at the NLL. I want to spend some time with my family before pursuing other opportunities and taking on the next challenge." NLL Deputy Commissioner and COO George Daniel was named Interim Commissioner. January 10, 2009: Gary Gait scored five goals in his return to the NLL, but Rochester lost to Philadelphia 16-13. January 16, 2009: In a 23-6 loss at Buffalo, the Rochester Knighthawks allowed the most goals in a single game in their history. The 17-point defeat was also their most lopsided loss ever. January 20, 2009: Only three games into the season, the Toronto Rock fired head coach Glenn Clark and assistant coach Terry Bullen and hired former Chicago Shamrox and Colorado Mammoth coach Jamie Batley as the new head coach. Assistant coach Jim Veltman was relieved of his coaching duties, but remained with the Rock as an advisor. February 10, 2009: The league announced that Dallas Eliuk and Jim Veltman will be inducted into the National Lacrosse League Hall of Fame in March, 2009. February 14, 2009: Mark Steenhuis of the Buffalo Bandits scored 13 assists and 17 points in a 25-10 win over Toronto breaking the league's single-game records for assists and points. The records were previously held by Derek Malawsky (11 assists in 2002) and John Grant Jr. (15 points in 2007) both of the Rochester Knighthawks. March 20, 2009: The San Jose Stealth announced that offensive coordinator Chris Hall has been named head coach, while former head coach Jeff Dowling will take over Hall's post as offensive coordinator. April 11, 2009: San Jose Stealth rookie Rhys Duch scored five goals and added three assists, giving him 86 points for the season, breaking Gavin Prout's rookie scoring record. In the same game, Stealth captain Colin Doyle tied Josh Sanderson's single-season assists record of 71. April 17, 2009: Calgary's Josh Sanderson finished the season with 74 assists, breaking his own single-season record of 71. The next night, Boston's Dan Dawson had five assists, tying him with Sanderson for the league lead and record. April 18, 2009: Rhys Duch extends his new rookie scoring record to 89, with one goal and two assists against the Toronto Rock.
Post-season April 22, 2009: After missing the playoffs for the sixth time in seven years, the Philadelphia Wings fired GM Lindsay Sanderson. The Wings were 38-42 during Sanderson's five-year tenure, and only made the playoffs once. April 29, 2009: Toronto Rock Director of Lacrosse Operations Mike Kloepfer announced his resignation. The Rock were 19-29 in three years under Kloepfer, missing the playoffs in both 2008 and 2009. May 4, 2009: The Portland LumberJax announced that they will not be playing in Portland next season. Executive vice president Brian Silcott said that the team will not fold, but they are looking at either moving or selling the franchise; the franchise did fold, however. May 9, 2009: Both division final games featured outstanding performances by the winning goaltenders. In New York, Matt Vinc stopped 41 out of 44 shots and kept the Buffalo Bandits to only three goals as the Titans defeated Buffalo 9-3. In Calgary, Matt King shut the San Jose Stealth out for the first three quarters and even scored a goal of his own - the game-winner - as Calgary destroyed the Stealth 17-5. May 15, 2009: The Calgary Roughnecks defeated the New York Titans 12-10 to capture their second Champions Cup title. May 19, 2009: The Edmonton Rush fired head coach and GM Bob Hamley after finishing last in the West for the second straight season.
All-Star game The 2009 All-Star Game was held at Pepsi Center in Denver on March 7, 2009. The East beat the West 27-21 as Buffalo's Mark Steenhuis scored seven goals and six assists on his way to his third All-Star Game MVP award.
All-Star teams
Eastern Division starters Western Division starters Dan Dawson, Boston Colin Doyle, San Jose Casey Powell, New York * Josh Sanderson, Calgary Mark Steenhuis, Buffalo Dan Teat, Edmonton Geoff Snider, Philadelphia * Brodie Merrill, Portland Chris White, Buffalo Bruce Murray, Colorado Ken Montour, Buffalo (goalie) Matt Disher, Portland (goalie) Eastern Division reserves Western Division reserves Jason Crosbie, Toronto Brian Langtry, Colorado Gary Gait, Rochester Peter Morgan, Portland Pat Maddalena, New York Gavin Prout, Colorado John Tavares, Buffalo Tracey Kelusky, Calgary Roger Vyse, Buffalo Jeff Zywicki, San Jose Shawn Williams, Rochester Nick Carlson, Colorado Jordan Hall, New York Jeff Shattler, Calgary Mitch Belisle, Boston Ryan Cousins, Minnesota Greg Peyser, New York * Ian Hawksbee, Edmonton Kyle Sweeney, Philadelphia Nick Inch, Minnesota Cam Woods, Toronto * Jeff Moleski, Calgary Anthony Cosmo, Boston (goalie) Andrew Leyshon, Colorado (goalie) Drew Westervelt, Philadelphia (injury replacement) Brendan Mundorf, New York (injury replacement) Jarett Park, New York (injury replacement) Stephen Peyser, New York (injury replacement) * Unable to play due to injury
Awards
Annual AwardWinnerTeam Most Valuable Player Dan Dawson Boston Blazers Goaltender of the Year Ken Montour Buffalo Bandits Defensive Player of the Year Billy Dee Smith Buffalo Bandits Transition Player of the Year Brodie Merrill Portland Lumberjax Rookie of the Year Rhys Duch San Jose Stealth Sportsmanship Award Dan Dawson Boston Blazers GM of the Year Ed Comeau New York Titans Les Bartley Award Troy Cordingley Calgary Roughnecks Executive of the Year Award John J. Arlotta Minnesota Swarm Tom Borrelli Award Paul Tutka
All-Pro teams First Team Dan Dawson, Boston Colin Doyle, San Jose Casey Powell, New York Brodie Merrill, Portland Billy Dee Smith, Buffalo Ken Montour, Buffalo
Second Team Josh Sanderson, Calgary John Tavares, Buffalo Jordan Hall, New York Mark Steenhuis, Buffalo Mac Allen, Rochester Anthony Cosmo, Boston
All-Rookie team Rhys Duch, San Jose Daryl Veltman, Boston Kevin Buchanan, Minnesota Stephen Peyser, New York Jon Harnett, Boston Tyler Richards, San Jose
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.