John Tavares (lacrosse)

John Tavares
— Lacrosse player —
Born	(1968-09-04) September 4, 1968 Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Position	Forward
Height	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Weight	175 pounds (79 kg)
MSL team F. Teams	Peterborough Lakers Brampton Excelsiors Six Nations Chiefs Victoria Shamrocks
NLL team	Buffalo Bandits
Nationality	Canada
Pro career	1992–2015
Shoots	Both

John Tavares (born September 4, 1968 in Toronto, Ontario) is a retired professional box lacrosse player. He is the National Lacrosse League's all-time leading scorer and also a mathematics teacher at Philip Pocock Catholic Secondary School in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. He attended D'Youville College in Buffalo, New York. He is the uncle of NHL player John Tavares.

Tavares played his entire National Lacrosse League career with the Buffalo Bandits since their inaugural season in 1992. He was acquired from the Detroit Turbos in exchange for Brian Nikula in October 1991. John was also the Professional Lacrosse Players' Association Representative for the Bandits.

Tavares is the NLL's all-time leader in Goals (815), Assists (934), and Points (1,749).

Playing career

NLL career

On Saturday February 18, 2006, the Buffalo Bandits defeated the Minnesota Swarm by a score of 14–9 in front of 12,458 fans at HSBC Arena in Buffalo, New York. In that game, John Tavares tied the NLL Career Points (goals + assists) record at 1,091 points held by Gary Gait, who had retired after the 2005 season.^[1]

On Saturday March 4, 2006, 10,961 fans witnessed history. On that night, the Buffalo Bandits played their 7th regular season game again hosting the Minnesota Swarm, and Tavares scored two points in an 11–8 loss. The first was his 1,092nd career point, the record-breaker, which was an assist to Mark Steenhuis who scored a power-play goal at 11:57 in the second period. (The second point, Point 1,093, was also an assist to Steenhuis in the third period.) Play was stopped, and Tavares was given the game ball.^[2][3][4]

On Saturday January 20, 2008, Tavares scored his 597th career goal in a win over the New York Titans, passing Gary Gait and becoming the NLL's all-time leader in goals scored.^[5] May 17, 2008 Tavares won his fourth championship and first since 1996. The Bandits beat the Portland Lumberjax in the championship game with the help of two Tavares goals.

During the 2009 NLL season, he was named to the All-Star Game.^[6]

OLA/WLA

Tavares is a seven-time member of a Mann Cup champion team, winning in 1992 and 1993 with the Brampton Excelsiors (MSL), 1994 through 1996 with the Six Nations Chiefs (MSL), 2012 with the Peterborough Lakers (MSL), and in 2002 with the Victoria Shamrocks of the Western Lacrosse Association. He is a three-time winner, in 1992, 1993, and 1996, of the Mike Kelly Memorial Trophy as most valuable player in the Mann Cup competition.^[7] Tavares also won the Major Series Lacrosse scoring title eight times, and the MSL's Most Valuable Player award three times.^[8] Tavares played Ontario Junior A lacrosse for the Mississauga Tomahawks.

Retirement

On September 2, 2015, Tavares announced his retirement from the Bandits and the NLL at a press conference from First Niagara Center. This meant that the 2016 season would be the first in Bandits history without Tavares and the first for the league since 1992. Upon his retirement, he holds the team and league records in career goals, assists, and points.

NLL accomplishments

Career totals

As of 2015 season.

• Games Played, Buffalo Bandits: 252
• Career Goals, NLL: 899
• Career Assists, NLL: 1,050
• Career Points, NLL: 1,949
• Tavares is the first player in NLL history to have 500 goals and 500 assists.

NLL awards

Weekly and monthly awards, as of 2007 season.

• Player of the Week (1994–2001) 8 times
• Overall Player of the Week (2002-) 11 times
• Offensive Player of the Week (2002-) 9 times
• Player of the Month 9 times

NLL milestones – points

• No. 1: Jan. 4, 1992, assist to Rich Kilgour vs. New York in first game.
• 100: March 20, 1993, goal vs. Detroit's Paul Mootz in 16th game.
• 200: Jan. 20, 1996, goal vs. Baltimore's J.J. Pearl in 34th game.
• 300: Feb. 7, 1997, assist to Darris Kilgour vs. Baltimore in 47th game.
• 400: Jan. 8, 1999, goal vs. Philadelphia's Dallas Eliuk in 62nd game.
• 500: Feb. 18, 2000, goal vs. Rochester's Pat O'Toole in 78th game.
• 600: Feb. 10, 2001, goal vs. Washington's Devin Dalep in 91st game.
• 700: Feb. 1, 2002, assist to Chris Driscoll vs. Montreal in 107th game.
• 800: Feb. 8, 2003, assist to Mike Accursi vs. Toronto in 122nd game.
• 900: Feb. 14, 2004, goal vs. Anaheim's Matt Disher in 139th game.
• 1,000: Feb. 19, 2005, assist to Delby Powless vs. Rochester in 154th game.
• 1,091: Feb. 18, 2006, assist to Cory Bomberry vs. Minnesota in 169th game. (Ties Gary Gait's then-existing NLL Career Points Record)
• 1,092: March 4, 2006, assist to Mark Steenhuis vs. Minnesota in 170th game. (New NLL Career Points Record)
• 1,600: March 17, 2012, goal vs. Minnesota in 259th game.
• 1,949: May 8, 2015, assist to Dhane Smith vs. Rochester in (Division Semifinal) game 349. (final tally)

Statistics

NLL

Reference:^[9]

GP–Games played;G–Goals;A–Assists;Pts–Points;LB–Loose balls;PIM–Penalty minutes;Pts/GP–Points per games played;LB/GP–Loose balls per games played;PIM/GP–Penalty minutes per games played;

CLA career

References

External links

• JOHN TAVARES NAMED TO 2012 NLL ALL-PRO TEAM (from 2012)
• TAVARES LOOKS BACK ON ANOTHER SUCCESSFUL SEASON (from 2011)
• Professional Lacrosse Players Association John Tavares Interview (from 1999)

See also

• NLL records