1998 NLL season

Before the 1998 season, the Major Indoor Lacrosse League was renamed to be the National Lacrosse League, in the process increasing the length of the regular season from ten to twelve games. The first season as the NLL and the 12th season overall, began on January 3, 1998, and concluded with the second championship game on April 28. The championship was decided by a best-two-of-three series, with the Philadelphia Wings defeating the Baltimore Thunder 16–12 in the first game and 17–12 in the second.

1998 NLL season
League	National Lacrosse League
Sport	Indoor lacrosse
Duration	January 3, 1998 - April 28, 1998
Number of games	12
Number of teams	7
Regular season
League champions	Philadelphia Wings
Runners-up	Baltimore Thunder
Season MVP	Gary Gait (Baltimore Thunder)
Top scorer	Gary Gait (Baltimore Thunder)
Champion's Cup
Champions	Philadelphia Wings
Runners-up	Baltimore Thunder
Finals MVP	Dallas Eliuk (Philadelphia)

Team movement

The 1998 season featured the debut of two new teams, and the removal of one. The Boston Blazers folded after nine seasons in Boston and New England, while the Ontario Raiders and Syracuse Smash began play.

Teams

Thunder

Bandits

Saints

Raiders

Wings

Knight
hawks

Smash

National Lacrosse League Teams

1998 National Lacrosse League
Team	City	Arena	Capacity
Baltimore Thunder	Baltimore, Maryland	Baltimore Arena	10,582
Buffalo Bandits	Buffalo, New York	Marine Midland Arena	18,595
New York Saints	Uniondale, New York	Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum	16,297
Ontario Raiders	Hamilton, Ontario	Copps Coliseum	17,383
Philadelphia Wings	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	CoreStates Center	19,511
Rochester Knighthawks	Rochester, New York	Rochester Community War Memorial	10,662
Syracuse Smash	Syracuse, New York	Onondaga County War Memorial	5,800

Regular season

Reference:

P	Team	GP	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	GF	GA	Diff	GF/GP	GA/GP
1	Philadelphia Wings – xyz	12	9	3	.750	0.0	3–3	6–0	166	148	+18	13.83	12.33
2	Baltimore Thunder – x	12	8	4	.667	1.0	4–2	4–2	184	160	+24	15.33	13.33
3	Rochester Knighthawks – x	12	6	6	.500	3.0	3–3	3–3	168	159	+9	14.00	13.25
4	Buffalo Bandits – x	12	6	6	.500	3.0	4–2	2–4	166	171	−5	13.83	14.25
5	Ontario Raiders	12	6	6	.500	3.0	4–2	2–4	165	157	+8	13.75	13.08
6	New York Saints	12	5	7	.417	4.0	3–3	2–4	167	165	+2	13.92	13.75
7	Syracuse Smash	12	2	10	.167	7.0	2–4	0–6	163	219	−56	13.58	18.25

x: Clinched playoff berth; c: Clinched playoff berth by crossing over to another division; y: Clinched division; z: Clinched best regular season record; GP: Games Played
W: Wins; L: Losses; GB: Games back; PCT: Win percentage; Home: Record at Home; Road: Record on the Road; GF: Goals scored; GA: Goals allowed
Differential: Difference between goals scored and allowed; GF/GP: Average number of goals scored per game; GA/GP: Average number of goals allowed per game

All Star Game

No All-Star Game was played in 1998.

Playoffs

	Semifinals					Championship (best-of-3)
	4	Buffalo	12
	1	Philadelphia	17
						2	Baltimore	0
						1	Philadelphia	2
	3	Rochester	14
	2	Baltimore	15

• Game 1: Baltimore 12 @ Philadelphia 16
  Game 2: Philadelphia 17 @ Baltimore 12

Awards

Award	Winner	Team
MVP Award	Gary Gait	Baltimore
Rookie of the Year Award	Colin Doyle	Ontario
Championship Game MVP (Series)	Dallas Eliuk	Philadelphia
Championship Game MVP (Game 1)	Dallas Eliuk	Philadelphia
Championship Game MVP (Game 2)	Bill Miller	Philadelphia

Weekly awards

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

Week	Player of the Week
1	Gary Gait
2	Andy Piazza
3	Derek Collins
4	Chris Gill
5	Eric Seremet
6	Tom Marechek
7	Gary Gait
8	Darris Kilgour
9	Derek General
10	Russ Heard
11	Colin Doyle
12	Steve Sombrotto
13	Mark Millon
14	John Tavares
15	Bob Watson

Monthly awards

Awards are also given out monthly for the best overall player and best rookie. The 1998 season was the first season that the Rookie of the Month award was given out.

Month	Overall	Rookie
Jan	Gary Gait	Curt Malawsky
Feb	Darris Kilgour	Jake Bergey
Mar	Mark Millon	Colin Doyle

Statistics leaders

Bold numbers indicate new single-season records. Italics indicate tied single-season records.

Stat	Player	Team	Number
Goals	Gary Gait	Baltimore	57
Assists	Jim Veltman	Ontario	40
Points	Gary Gait	Baltimore	85
Penalty Minutes	Pat Coyle	Ontario	48
Shots on Goal	Gary Gait	Baltimore	156
Loose Balls	Jim Veltman	Ontario	194
Save Pct	Steve Dietrich	Rochester	77.9

Attendance

Regular Season

Home Team	Home Games	Average Attendance	Total Attendance
Philadelphia Wings	6	14,197	85,182
Buffalo Bandits	6	12,256	73,534
New York Saints	6	6,725	40,349
Rochester Knighthawks	6	6,706	40,234
Baltimore Thunder	6	5,378	32,269
Ontario Thunder	6	4,810	28,862
Syracuse Smash	6	4,230	25,378
League	42	7,757	325,808

Playoffs

Home Team	Home Games	Average Attendance	Total Attendance
Philadelphia Wings	2	9,288	19,655
Baltimore Thunder	2	3,282	6,564
League	4	6,555	26,219

See also

• 1998 in sports

References

• 1998 Archive at the Outsider's Guide to the NLL (via the Internet Archive)