2015 NLL season
| 2015 NLL season |
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| League |
National Lacrosse League |
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| Sport |
Indoor lacrosse |
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| Duration |
January 2 – June 2015 |
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| Number of teams |
9 |
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| Regular Season |
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| Playoffs |
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| Finals |
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The 2015 National Lacrosse League season, the 29th in the history of the NLL, began on January 2, 2015,[1] and will end with the Champion's Cup Finals series in June 2015.
Milestones and events
Pre-season
- August 5, 2014: The Philadelphia Wings announced that they have been purchased and will be moving to Connecticut, to play at the Mohegan Sun arena.[2] In September, it was announced that the team would be known as the New England Black Wolves.[3]
- September 21, 2014: The league announces the winner's of 2014's annual awards. Winners include Cody Jamieson (MVP), Logan Schuss (Rookie of the Year), Matt Vinc (Goaltender of the Year), and Derek Keenan (Les Bartley Award and GM of the Year)
- September 22, 2014: The league announced that the Champion's Cup finals will expand to a best-of-three series for 2015. In 2014, a two-game series with a deciding "mini-game" was used.[4]
- September 22, 2014: The Rochester Knighthawks traded young star Johnny Powless along with Joel McCready and two 2014 draft picks to the Vancouver Stealth for two 2014 draft picks and first round picks in 2015 and 2017.[5]
- October 23, 2014: The Vancouver Stealth announced that team captain Kyle Sorensen would miss the entire 2015 season due to knee surgery.[6] Less than a week later, the Toronto Rock announced that their captain Colin Doyle would also miss the season due to a shoulder injury.[7]
- November 21, 2014: Scott Ranger announced his retirement from the NLL after eight seasons.[8]
- November 27, 2014: Toronto Rock GM Terry Sanderson died of a heart attack at age 62.[9]
- December 7, 2014: Former league commissioner Jim Jennings died of long-standing cancer at age 53.[10]
- December 11, 2014: Stealth forward Johnny Powless is announced as a finalist in the voting for the Lou Marsh Trophy, given annually to Canada's top athlete. In 2014, Powless won the NLL Championship with the Rochester Knighthawks, the Mann Cup with the Six Nations Arrows, and the Minto Cup with the Six Nations Arrows.[11]
- December 15, 2014: The Edmonton Rush announced that head coach and GM Derek Keenan would be taking an indefinite leave of absence due to personal reasons.[12] Keenan's wife Wendy had suffered from cancer for a year, and died on January 3, 2015.[13]
- December 21, 2014: Former Vancouver Stealth and Calgary Roughnecks head coach and NLL Hall of Famer Chris Hall died of cancer. Hall missed the entire 2012 season due to his illness, but returned in 2013. He retired after the 2014 season and was named to the NLL Hall of Fame in the Class of 2014.[14]
Regular season
- January 21, 2015: The Edmonton Rush announce that Derek Keenan would resume his head coaching duties beginning with their game in Calgary on January 24.[15]
- March 28, 2015: The Toronto Rock clinched a playoff berth with a 12–10 road win against the Calgary Roughnecks which gave them an 11–3 record.[16] It is the sixth straight playoff appearance for the Rock.
- March 30, 2015: The Minnesota Swarm traded captain Andrew Suitor to the New England Black Wolves in exchange for their captain Joel White as well as a 2017 second round draft pick.[17]
- April 4, 2015: With a record of 11–4, the Toronto Rock clinched no worse than home-turf advantage for the division semifinals when the Buffalo Bandits lost at home to the New England Black Wolves, 12–11.[18]
- April 4, 2015: The Edmonton Rush clinched a playoff berth and no worse than home-turf advantage for the division semifinals with a 17–10 road win over the Vancouver Stealth which gave the Rush a 9–4 record.[19] It is the fourth straight playoff appearance for the Rush.
- April 4, 2015: With a record of 8–6, the Colorado Mammoth clinched a playoff berth when the Vancouver Stealth lost at home to the Edmonton Rush, 17–10.[19] It is the fifth straight playoff appearance for the Mammoth.
- April 10, 2015: With a record of 8–6, the Colorado Mammoth clinched no worse than home-turf advantage for the division semifinals when the Vancouver Stealth lost, 14–7, on the road to the Toronto Rock.[20] It will be the first home playoff game for the Mammoth since 2012.
- April 11, 2015: The Rochester Knighthawks clinched a playoff berth with a 14–5 win at home against the Colorado Mammoth which gave the Knighthawks a 10–4 record.[21] It is the fourth straight playoff appearance for the Knighthawks.
- April 11, 2015: The Minnesota Swarm was eliminated from playoff contention when its record dropped to 5–10 with a 12–9 home loss to the Buffalo Bandits.[22] It is the second straight season the Swarm has missed the playoffs.
- April 18, 2015: The Edmonton Rush clinched the top seed in the West Division and a bye to the West Division Finals with a record of 11–5 when it beat the Colorado Mammoth at home, 13–12.[23] It is the second consecutive first-place finish for the Rush.
- April 18, 2015: The Rochester Knighthawks clinched no worse than home-turf advantage for the division semifinals when they improved their record to 11–5 with a 13–9 win on the road against the Vancouver Stealth.[24]
- April 25, 2015: The New England Black Wolves were eliminated from playoff contention with a 14–6 road loss to the Rochester Knighthawks that dropped their record to 4–11. The Black Wolves' loss clinched a playoff berth for the Buffalo Bandits with a record of 8–7.[25] Seven minutes later, the Bandits improved to 9–7 when they completed a 17–9 home victory over the Vancouver Stealth.[26]
- May 2, 2015: The Calgary Roughnecks at Vancouver Stealth game decides the final playoff berth in the West Division.
Current standings
Reference: [27]
West Division
| P |
Team |
GP |
W |
L |
PCT |
GB |
Home |
Road |
GF |
GA |
Diff |
GF/GP |
GA/GP |
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| 1 |
Edmonton Rush – xy |
17 |
12 |
5 |
0.706 |
0.0 |
6–3 |
6–2 |
228 |
167 |
+61 |
13.41 |
9.82 |
| 2 |
Colorado Mammoth – x |
17 |
9 |
8 |
0.529 |
3.0 |
6–2 |
3–6 |
202 |
205 |
-3 |
11.88 |
12.06 |
| 3 |
Calgary Roughnecks |
17 |
6 |
11 |
0.353 |
6.0 |
4–5 |
2–6 |
198 |
204 |
-6 |
11.65 |
12.00 |
| 4 |
Vancouver Stealth |
17 |
5 |
12 |
0.294 |
7.0 |
3–5 |
2–7 |
198 |
251 |
-53 |
11.65 |
14.76 |
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–LossesGB–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
Overall seeds
| Team | W | L | Pct. | Tiebreaker | Seed |
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| | | | | | 1 |
| | | | | | 2 |
| | | | | | 3 |
| Buffalo Bandits | 10 | 7 | .588 | Won only game against Colorado during the regular season | 4 |
| Colorado Mammoth | 9 | 8 | .529 | Lost only game against Buffalo during the regular season | 5 |
| | | | | | 6 |
| | | | | | 7 |
| | | | | | 8 |
| | | | | | 9 |
Playoffs
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Division semifinals |
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Division finals |
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Finals |
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East Division |
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E1 |
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E2 |
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E3 |
Buffalo Bandits |
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West Division |
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W1 |
Edmonton Rush |
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W2 |
Colorado Mammoth |
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W3 |
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Regular-season results table
Reference:[28]
Abbreviation and Color Key:
Buffalo Bandits - BUF • Calgary Roughnecks - CAL • Colorado Mammoth - COL
Edmonton Rush - EDM • Minnesota Swarm - MIN • New England Black Wolves - NE
Rochester Knighthawks - ROC • Toronto Rock - TOR • Vancouver Stealth - VAN
Win • Loss • Home |
| Club |
Match |
| 1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
11 |
12 |
13 |
14 |
15 |
16 |
17 |
18 |
| Buffalo Bandits | NE | EDM | VAN | TOR | MIN | ROC | CAL | ROC | ROC | COL | TOR | TOR | MIN | NE | MIN | VAN | NE | NE |
| 8–12 | 9–8 | 14–13 | 11–13 | 15–12 | 11–17 | 15–14 (OT) | 10–15 | 12–13 (OT) | 14–10 | 15–12 | 10–11 (OT) | 12–8 | 11–12 | 12–9 | 17–9 | 20–9 | |
| Calgary Roughnecks |
VAN | COL | EDM | TOR | BUF | VAN | VAN | ROC | EDM | ROC | NE | TOR | COL | COL | EDM | EDM | MIN | VAN |
| 14–18 | 16–17 (OT) | 8–16 | 11–12 | 14–15 (OT) | 9–13 | 16–13 | 11–12 | 12–11 (OT) | 7–13 | 20–9 | 10–12 | 8–9 (OT) | 14–9 | 9–8 | 9–11 | 10–6 | |
| Colorado Mammoth |
MIN | CAL | VAN | VAN | EDM | EDM | NE | BUF | TOR | MIN | VAN | VAN | CAL | CAL | ROC | ROC | EDM | EDM |
| 20–13 | 17–16 (OT) | 20–9 | 13–16 | 7–11 | 7–13 | 14–12 | 10–14 | 9–17 | 12–8 | 14–11 | 12–6 | 9–8 (OT) | 9–14 | 5–14 | 11–10 | 12–13 | |
| Edmonton Rush |
BUF | MIN | CAL | NE | COL | COL | TOR | CAL | VAN | TOR | ROC | VAN | VAN | CAL | CAL | COL | MIN | COL |
| 8–9 | 10–14 | 16–8 | 18–9 | 11–7 | 13–7 | 15–16 (OT) | 11–12 (OT) | 19–7 | 11–9 | 16–3 | 15–14 (OT) | 17–10 | 8–9 | 11–9 | 13–12 | 16–12 | |
| Minnesota Swarm | COL | EDM | NE | BUF | ROC | TOR | TOR | VAN | NE | COL | BUF | NE | NE | ROC | BUF | CAL | EDM | ROC |
| 13–20 | 14–10 | 19–13 | 12–15 | 7–6 (OT) | 4–16 | 9–14 | 15–21 | 9–10 | 8–12 | 8–12 | 13–9 | 12–8 | 2–10 | 9–12 | 6–10 | 12–16 | |
| New England Black Wolves |
BUF | ROC | MIN | EDM | ROC | TOR | COL | MIN | CAL | MIN | MIN | BUF | VAN | TOR | ROC | BUF | TOR | BUF |
| 12–8 | 17–7 | 13–19 | 9–18 | 10–15 | 12–13 (OT) | 12–14 | 10–9 | 9–20 | 9–13 | 8–12 | 12–11 | 9–11 | 12–15 | 6–14 | 9–20 | | |
| Rochester Knighthawks | TOR | NE | TOR | BUF | MIN | BUF | NE | BUF | CAL | CAL | EDM | TOR | MIN | COL | COL | VAN | NE | MIN |
| 12–13 | 7–17 | 8–6 | 17–11 | 6–7 (OT) | 15–10 | 15–10 | 13–12 (OT) | 12–11 | 13–7 | 3–16 | 11–7 | 10–2 | 14–5 | 10–11 | 13–9 | 14–6 | |
| Toronto Rock | ROC | VAN | BUF | ROC | CAL | MIN | MIN | NE | EDM | COL | BUF | BUF | EDM | CAL | ROC | VAN | NE | NE |
| 13–12 | 20–11 | 13–11 | 6–8 | 12–11 | 16–4 | 14–9 | 13–12 (OT) | 16–15 (OT) | 17–9 | 12–15 | 11–10 (OT) | 9–11 | 12–10 | 7–11 | 14–7 | 15–12 | |
| Vancouver Stealth | CAL | TOR | BUF | COL | COL | CAL | CAL | MIN | EDM | COL | COL | EDM | EDM | TOR | NE | ROC | BUF | CAL |
| 18–14 | 11–20 | 13–14 | 9–20 | 16–13 | 13–9 | 13–16 | 21–15 | 7–19 | 11–14 | 6–12 | 14–15 (OT) | 10–17 | 7–14 | 11–9 | 9–13 | 9–17 | |
Player statistics
Scoring leaders
The following players lead the league in regular season points at the conclusion of games played on April 26, 2015.[29]
| Player |
Team |
GP |
G |
A |
Pts |
PIM |
LB |
| Evans, ShawnShawn Evans | Calgary Roughnecks | 17 | 44 | 79 | 123 | 39 | 7 |
| Matthews, MarkMark Matthews | Edmonton Rush | 17 | 49 | 59 | 108 | 6 | 58 |
| Benesch, RyanRyan Benesch | Buffalo Bandits | 17 | 52 | 49 | 101 | 6 | 92 |
| Smith, DhaneDhane Smith | Buffalo Bandits | 17 | 37 | 61 | 98 | 6 | 73 |
| Sanderson, JoshJosh Sanderson | Toronto Rock | 17 | 17 | 79 | 96 | 10 | 87 |
| Duch, RhysRhys Duch | Vancouver Stealth | 17 | 35 | 60 | 95 | 10 | 57 |
| Church, RobertRobert Church | Edmonton Rush | 17 | 37 | 55 | 92 | 4 | 75 |
| Jones, AdamAdam Jones | Colorado Mammoth | 15 | 49 | 40 | 89 | 14 | 70 |
| Grant, Jr., JohnJohn Grant, Jr. | Colorado Mammoth | 17 | 34 | 55 | 89 | 10 | 38 |
| Dickson, CurtisCurtis Dickson | Calgary Roughnecks | 17 | 47 | 41 | 88 | 16 | 54 |
Leading goaltenders
The following goaltenders lead the league in regular season goals against average at the conclusion of games played on April 26, 2015.[30]
Awards
Monthly awards
Awards are given out monthly for the best overall player and best rookie.
| Month | Overall | Rookie |
|---|
| January[31] |
Josh Sanderson | Ben McIntosh |
| February[32] |
Rob Hellyer | Miles Thompson |
| March[33] |
Aaron Bold | Jeremy Noble |
Stadiums and locations
See also
References
- ↑ "2015 NLL schedule announced". NLL.com. August 28, 2014. Retrieved December 18, 2014.
- ↑ Fogg, Jon (August 5, 2014). "NLL's Philadelphia Wings to move to Connecticut, play at Mohegan Sun Arena". Baltimore Sun. Retrieved January 23, 2015.
- ↑ "Mohegan Sun introduces New England Black Wolves for 2015". NLL.com. September 19, 2014. Retrieved January 23, 2015.
- ↑ "League expands playoff format". NLL.com. September 22, 2014. Retrieved January 23, 2015.
- ↑ "Knighthawks trade Powless & McCready to Stealth, swap picks". NLL.com. September 22, 2014. Retrieved January 23, 2015.
- ↑ "Stealth's Sorensen out for 2015". NLL.com. October 23, 2014. Retrieved January 23, 2015.
- ↑ "Rock captain Doyle to miss entire 2015 NLL season due to injury". NLL.com. October 29, 2014. Retrieved January 23, 2015.
- ↑ "Longtime Roughneck Scott Ranger retires after decade in NL [sic]". NLL.com. November 21, 2014. Retrieved January 23, 2015.
- ↑ "League mourns passing of Rock general manager Terry Sanderson". NLL.com. November 27, 2014. Retrieved January 23, 2014.
- ↑ "Former NLL Commissioner Jim Jennings passes away at age 53". NLL.com. December 7, 2014. Retrieved January 23, 2014.
- ↑ "Stealth's Powless finishes as one of five Lou Marsh Award finalists". NLL.com. December 11, 2014. Retrieved January 23, 2014.
- ↑ "Rush announce GM & head coach Keenan to take leave of absence". NLL.com. December 15, 2014. Retrieved January 23, 2014.
- ↑ Stamp, Stephen (January 3, 2015). "Wendy Keenan succumbs to pancreatic cancer". Inside Lacrosse. Retrieved January 23, 2014.
- ↑ "League mourns loss of NLL Hall of Famer Chris Hall". NLL.com. December 21, 2014. Retrieved January 23, 2014.
- ↑ "Rush's Keenan to resume coaching duties". NLL.com. January 21, 2015. Retrieved January 24, 2015.
- ↑ "X-Factor: Rock Clinch with 12-10 Win over Roughnecks". NLL.com. March 28, 2015. Retrieved April 21, 2015.
- ↑ "Trade: Swarm sends Suitor to Black Wolves for White". NLL.com. March 30, 2015. Retrieved March 30, 2015.
- ↑ "Packed Up: Black Wolves Down Bandits on Road, 12-11". NLL.com. April 4, 2015. Retrieved April 21, 2015.
- ↑ 19.0 19.1 "Church Key: Rush Top Stealth 17-10 to Clinch Playoff Spot". NLL.com. April 4, 2015. Retrieved April 21, 2015.
- ↑ "Best of Seven: Rock Double Up Stealth, 14-7". NLL.com. April 10, 2015. Retrieved April 21, 2015.
- ↑ "Postseasoned: Knighthawks down Mammoth, 14-5". NLL.com. April 11, 2015. Retrieved April 21, 2015.
- ↑ "Buzzer Beaters: Bandits Eliminate Swarm, 12-9". NLL.com. April 11, 2015. Retrieved April 21, 2015.
- ↑ "First Division: Rush Holds Off Mammoth, 13-12". NLL.com. April 18, 2015. Retrieved April 21, 2015.
- ↑ "Flying V: Knighthawks Down Stealth, 13-9". NLL.com. April 18, 2015. Retrieved April 21, 2015.
- ↑ "Sent Packing: Knighthawks Eliminate Black Wolves, 14-6". NLL.com. April 25, 2015. Retrieved April 26, 2015.
- ↑ "Buffalo Brave: Bandits Clinch with 17-9 Win over Stealth". NLL.com. April 25, 2015. Retrieved April 26, 2015.
- ↑ "NLL Standings". NLL.com. Retrieved March 2, 2015.
- ↑ "Schedule". NLL.com. Retrieved April 30, 2015.
- ↑ "National Lacrosse League Pointstreak Stats". National Lacrosse League.
- ↑ "National Lacrosse League Pointstreak Stats". National Lacrosse League.
- ↑ "NLL announces January player awards". NLL.com. February 5, 2015. Retrieved February 5, 2015.
- ↑ "NLL announces monthly awards for February". NLL.com. March 6, 2015. Retrieved March 6, 2015.
- ↑ "Rush's Bold, Mammoth's Noble win March awards". NLL.com. April 3, 2015. Retrieved April 3, 2015.
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