The 2019 National Lacrosse League season, formally known as the 2018–2019 season, is the 33rd in the history of the NLL. It was originally scheduled to begin on December 1, 2018 and ending with the NLL final in late spring of 2019. This season is the inaugural season for the expansion teams San Diego Seals and Philadelphia Wings. This is also the final season for the Rochester Knighthawks under owner Curt Styres, as the team's operations are being relocated to Halifax for the 2019–20 season while Pegula Sports and Entertainment takes over the Knighthawks moniker with a new expansion team.

2019 NLL season
LeagueNational Lacrosse League
SportIndoor lacrosse (box lacrosse)
DurationDecember 15, 2018 — May 25, 2019
Number of games18
Number of teams11
TV partner(s)B/R Live[1]
Regular Season
Top seedBuffalo Bandits
Season MVPDane Dobbie
Top scorerDane Dobbie
Playoffs
Eastern championsBuffalo Bandits
  Eastern runners-upToronto Rock
Western championsCalgary Roughnecks
  Western runners-upColorado Mammoth
Finals
ChampionsCalgary Roughnecks
  Runners-upBuffalo Bandits
Finals MVPDane Dobbie
NLL seasons

The Professional Lacrosse Players Association, who represents the NLL players, opted out of their seven-year collective bargaining agreement after the fifth season (2017–18) seeking a new deal. On November 15, 2018 the league announced that a counter-proposal submitted by the Professional Lacrosse Players Association was rejected. This came after the league suspended their Wednesday November 14 deadline to review the counter-proposal after the PLPA rejected the league's offer; the PLPA advised its members not to attend training camp and thus effectively went on strike. Subsequent to this the league announced that all games to be played in the first two weeks of the season (encompassing December 1 and 8 weekends) were cancelled.[2] On November 24 the NLL and the PLPA came to an agreement on the CBA for 5 years, ending the labor dispute.[3]

Teams

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  East Division   West Division
2019 National Lacrosse League
Division Team City Arena Capacity
East Buffalo Bandits Buffalo, New York KeyBank Center 19,070
Georgia Swarm Duluth, Georgia Infinite Energy Arena 10,500
New England Black Wolves Uncasville, Connecticut Mohegan Sun Arena 7,074
Philadelphia Wings Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Wells Fargo Center 19,306
Rochester Knighthawks Rochester, New York Blue Cross Arena 10,662
Toronto Rock Toronto, Ontario Scotiabank Arena 18,800
West Calgary Roughnecks Calgary, Alberta Scotiabank Saddledome 19,289
Colorado Mammoth Denver, Colorado Pepsi Center 18,007
San Diego Seals San Diego, California Pechanga Arena 12,920
Saskatchewan Rush Saskatoon, Saskatchewan SaskTel Centre 15,195
Vancouver Warriors Vancouver, British Columbia Rogers Arena 18,910

Regular season

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Reference: [4]

East Division
PTeamGPWLPCTGBHomeRoadGFGADiffGF/GPGA/GP

1Buffalo Banditsxyz18144.7780.07–27–2244186+5813.5610.33
2Georgia Swarmx18126.6672.07–25–4230210+2012.7811.67
3Toronto Rockx18126.6672.08–14–5213207+611.8311.50
4New England Black Wolvesx1899.5005.07–22–7213223−1011.8312.39
5Rochester Knighthawks18612.3338.04–52–7212226−1411.7812.56
6Philadelphia Wings18414.22210.03–61–8218246−2812.1113.67
West Division
PTeamGPWLPCTGBHomeRoadGFGADiffGF/GPGA/GP

1Saskatchewan Rushxy18117.6110.07–24–5222202+2012.3311.22
2San Diego Sealsx18108.5561.06–34–5208217−911.5612.06
3Calgary Roughnecksx18108.5561.05–45–4212201+1111.7811.17
4Colorado Mammothx18612.3335.03–63–6181193−1210.0610.72
5Vancouver Warriors18513.2786.03–62–7179221−429.9412.28

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; GBGames 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

[5]

Playoffs

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Divisional Semifinal Divisional Final NLL Final (best of 3)
           
E1 Buffalo 13
E4 New England 6
E1 Buffalo 12
Eastern Division
E3 Toronto 8
E2 Georgia 14
E3 Toronto 16
E1 Buffalo 7 13
W3 Calgary 10 14*
W1 Saskatchewan 10
W4 Colorado 11*
W4 Colorado 4
Western Division
W3 Calgary 8
W2 San Diego 11
W3 Calgary 12

*Overtime

Awards

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Annual awards

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References: Nominees[6] and Winners[7]

Award Winner Other Finalists
Most Valuable Player Dane Dobbie, Calgary Roughnecks Lyle Thompson, Georgia Swarm
Matt Vinc, Buffalo Bandits
Goaltender of the Year Matt Vinc, Buffalo Bandits Christian Del Bianco, Calgary Roughnecks
Dillon Ward, Colorado Mammoth
Defensive Player of the Year Graeme Hossack, Rochester Knighthawks Steve Priolo, Buffalo Bandits
Kyle Rubisch, Saskatchewan Rush
Transition Player of the Year Challen Rogers, Toronto Rock Zach Currier, Calgary Roughnecks
Kiel Matisz, Philadelphia Wings
Rookie of the Year Austin Staats, San Diego Seals Ian MacKay, Buffalo Bandits
Matt Rambo, Philadelphia Wings
Sportsmanship Award Lyle Thompson, Georgia Swarm Dan Dawson, San Diego Seals
Tom Schreiber, Toronto Rock
GM of the Year Steve Dietrich, Buffalo Bandits[8] Mike Board, Calgary Roughnecks
Patrick Merrill, San Diego Seals
Les Bartley Award John Tavares/Rich Kilgour, Buffalo Bandits[9] Curt Malawsky, Calgary Roughnecks
Matt Sawyer, Toronto Rock
Executive of the Year Award Terri Giberson, Toronto Rock Lindsey Masciangelo, Philadelphia Wings
Dave Zygaj, Buffalo Bandits
Teammate of the Year Award John Ranagan, Georgia Swarm Kyle Buchanan, San Diego Seals
Chad Cummings, Calgary Roughnecks
Tom Borrelli Award Tyson Geick, Lacrosse Flash Bob Chavez, IL Indoor
Barstool Jordie, Barstool Sports

Stadiums and locations

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Buffalo Bandits Georgia Swarm New England Black Wolves Philadelphia Wings Rochester Knighthawks Toronto Rock
KeyBank Center Infinite Energy Arena Mohegan Sun Arena Wells Fargo Center Blue Cross Arena Scotiabank Arena
Capacity: 19,070 Capacity: 11,355 Capacity: 7,700 Capacity: 19,543 Capacity: 11,200 Capacity: 18,819
           
Calgary Roughnecks Colorado Mammoth San Diego Seals Saskatchewan Rush Vancouver Warriors
Scotiabank Saddledome Pepsi Center Valley View Casino Center SaskTel Centre Rogers Arena
Capacity: 19,289 Capacity: 18,007 Capacity: 12,920 Capacity: 15,190 Capacity: 18,910
         

Attendance

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Regular Season

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Home Team Home Games Average Attendance Total Attendance[10]
Saskatchewan Rush 9 13,459 121,131
Buffalo Bandits 9 13,046 117,415
Colorado Mammoth 9 12,815 115,342
Calgary Roughnecks 9 12,593 113,345
Philadelphia Wings 9 10,905 98,147
Toronto Rock 9 9,476 85,289
San Diego Seals 9 7,769 69,921
Vancouver Warriors 9 6,833 61,501
Georgia Swarm 9 6,698 60,287
Rochester Knighthawks 9 6,440 57,964
New England Black Wolves 9 5,526 49,741
League 99 9,596 950,083

Playoffs

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Home Team Home Games Average Attendance Total Attendance[11]
Buffalo Bandits 3 13,052 39,158
Calgary Roughnecks 2 12,969 25,938
Saskatchewan Rush 1 11,658 11,658
Georgia Swarm 1 8,862 8,862
San Diego Seals 1 5,005 5,005
League 12 10,509 126,110

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "National Lacrosse League Partners with Turner Sports' New Streaming Service "Bleacher Report Live" to Stream Live and On-Demand NLL Games | National Lacrosse League". www.nll.com. 27 March 2018. Retrieved 2019-01-07.
  2. ^ "NLL scraps first two weeks of season". TSN. November 15, 2018. Retrieved November 15, 2018.
  3. ^ "NLL & PLPA reach agreement". NLL.com. November 24, 2018. Retrieved November 25, 2018.
  4. ^ "NLL Standings". NLL.com. Retrieved January 28, 2017.
  5. ^ "2019 NLL Standings".
  6. ^ "League announces nominees for the 2018-19 season awards". NLL.com. June 3, 2019. Retrieved June 3, 2019.
  7. ^ "NLL announces 2018-19 season award winners". NLL.com. July 19, 2019. Retrieved September 25, 2019.
  8. ^ "Dietrich Named 2018-19 General Manager of the Year". Bandits.com. July 15, 2019. Retrieved July 15, 2019.[permanent dead link]
  9. ^ "Kilgour and Tavares win 2018-19 Les Bartley Award". Bandits.com. July 17, 2019. Retrieved July 17, 2019.[permanent dead link]
  10. ^ "National Lacrosse League - attendance | Pointstreak Sports Technologies".
  11. ^ "National Lacrosse League - attendance | Pointstreak Sports Technologies".

5. http://pointstreak.com/prostats/attendance.html?leagueid=230&seasonid=18464