2004 NLL season
League	National Lacrosse League
Sport	Indoor lacrosse
Duration	December 26, 2003 – May 7, 2004
Number of teams	10
Regular season
Season MVP	Jim Veltman (Toronto Rock)
Top scorer	Gary Gait (Colorado Mammoth)
Playoffs
Eastern champions	Toronto Rock
Eastern runners-up	Rochester Knighthawks
Western champions	Colorado Mammoth
Western runners-up	San Jose Stealth
Champion's Cup
Champion's Cup champions	Calgary Roughnecks
Runners-up	Buffalo Bandits
Champion's Cup MVP	Curtis Palidwor (Calgary)
NLL seasons
← 2003 season	2005 season →

The 2004 National Lacrosse League season began on December 26, 2003 and concluded with the championship game on May 7, 2004. Over 19,000 fans, the second largest crowd ever at an NLL game, packed the Pengrowth Saddledome to watch the Calgary Roughnecks defeat the Buffalo Bandits 14-11.^[1] This game was the first NLL championship game since 1998 that did not feature the Toronto Rock.

The collective bargaining agreement (CBA) between the league and the Professional Lacrosse Players' Association expired before the 2004 season, and the lack of a new agreement caused a 12-day players strike in December 2003. On December 17, the NLL and PLPA announced that the previous CBA had been extended by one year, guaranteeing that the 2004 season would be played without strikes or lockouts^[2].

Contents 1 Team Movement 2 Milestones 3 Final standings 3.1 Regular Season 3.2 Playoffs 4 All Star Game 4.1 All-Star teams 5 Awards 5.1 Weekly Awards 5.2 Monthly Awards 6 Statistics Leaders 7 References 8 See also 9 External links

[edit] Team Movement

2004 was a season of turmoil for the NLL — two franchises disappeared while three others moved cross-country, causing a division realignment. Gone was the three-division format that had been used in the preceding two seasons; the league was now split into East and West divisions. The Ottawa Rebel and New York Saints franchises both folded, and the following teams moved:

• the Columbus Landsharks moved to Arizona, becoming the Arizona Sting
• the New Jersey Storm moved to Anaheim, California, becoming the Anaheim Storm
• the Albany Attack moved to San Jose, California, becoming the San Jose Stealth

These three joined Colorado, Calgary, and Vancouver in the West division, while perennial rivals Toronto, Buffalo, Rochester, and Philadelphia were left to fight over three playoff spots in the East.

[edit] Milestones

• January 9: The Anaheim Storm play their first ever home game, losing to the Arizona Sting 19-18 in the first triple overtime game in NLL history^[3]. This is a record not likely to ever be broken — before the 2005 season, the NLL changed overtime periods to 15 minutes from five^[4]. Since then, no games have even seen double overtime.

[edit] Final standings

[edit] Regular Season

W = Wins, L = Losses, GB = Games Behind Division Leader, PCT = Winning Percentage, Home = Home record, Road = Road record, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against

Qualified for playoffs

[edit] Playoffs

	Divisional Semifinals					Divisional Finals					Championship
						3	Buffalo	19
	East Division
						1	Toronto	10
	3	Buffalo	13
	2	Rochester	9
											E3	Buffalo	11
											W3	Calgary	14
	3	Calgary	13
	2	San Jose	11
						3	Calgary	13
	West Division
						1	Colorado	11

[edit] All Star Game

The 2004 All-Star Game was held at the Pepsi Center in Denver on February 22, 2004. The East division defeated the West 19-15, and Buffalo's Mark Steenhuis was named game MVP.

[edit] All-Star teams

Eastern Division starters		Western Division starters
Colin Doyle, Toronto		Gary Gait, Colorado
Blaine Manning, Toronto		Tracey Kelusky, Calgary
John Tavares, Buffalo		Gavin Prout, Colorado
Pat Coyle, Toronto		Jim Moss, San Jose
Mike Hasen, Rochester		Andy Ogilvie, Vancouver
Pat O'Toole, Rochester (goalie)		Gee Nash, Colorado (goalie)
Eastern Division Reserves		Western Division Reserves
Mike Accursi, Buffalo		Ted Dowling, Calgary
Jake Bergey, Philadelphia		Mark Shepherd, Anaheim
Paul Cantabene, Philadelphia		Jay Jalbert, Colorado
Glenn Clark, Toronto		Rob Kirkby, Calgary
Kyle Couling, Buffalo		Mike Law, Anaheim
Steve Dietrich, Buffalo (goalie)		Pat Maddalena, Arizona
Derek Malawsky, Rochester		Mike Miron, Arizona (goalie)
Tom Marechek, Philadelphia		Casey Powell, Anaheim
Jeff Ratcliffe, Philadelphia		Josh Sanderson, San Jose
Mark Steenhuis, Buffalo		Dan Stroup, Vancouver
Andrew Turner, Rochester		Kaleb Toth, Calgary
Jim Veltman, Toronto		Cam Woods, San Jose

[edit] Awards

Award	Winner	Team
MVP Award	Jim Veltman	Toronto
Rookie of the Year Award	Taylor Wray	Calgary
Les Bartley Award (Coach of the Year)	Paul Day	Rochester
GM of the Year Award	John Mouradian	San Jose
Executive of the Year Award	Steve Govett	Colorado
Defensive Player of the Year Award	Cam Woods (tie)	San Jose
	Taylor Wray	Calgary
Goaltender of the Year Award	Gord Nash	Colorado
Sportsmanship Award	Gary Gait (tie)	Colorado
	Peter Lough	Arizona
Championship Game MVP	Curtis Palidwor	Calgary

[edit] Weekly Awards

The NLL gives out awards weekly for the best overall player, best offensive player, best defensive player, and best rookie.

Week	Overall	Offensive	Defensive	Rookie
1	No awards given
2	Gary Gait	Gary Gait	Mike Miron	AJ Shannon
3	Ted Dowling	John Grant, Jr.	Matt King	Randy Daly
4	Blaine Manning	Blaine Manning	Andy Ogilvie	Craig Conn
5	Mike Regan	Mike Regan	Brandon Miller	Nick Patterson
6	John Tavares	Shawn Williams	Curtis Palidwor	Steve Hoar
7	Dallas Eliuk	Derek Malawsky	Dallas Eliuk	Taylor Wray
8	John Tavares	Jeff Ratcliffe	Pat O'Toole	Ryan Ward
9	Dan Teat	Dan Teat	Cam Woods	AJ Shannon
10	Curtis Palidwor	Shawn Williams	Curtis Palidwor	Scott Evans
11	Mike Miron	Pat Maddalena	Mike Miron	Cam Bergman
12	Jim Veltman	Jim Veltman	Dwight Maetche	Scott Evans
13	Shawn Williams	Shawn Williams	Peter Lough	Chris Cercy
14	Jim Veltman	Colin Doyle	Dallas Eliuk	Ryan Ward
15	Shawn Williams	Shawn Williams	Pat O'Toole	Curtis Smith
16	Shawn Williams	Shawn Williams	Pat O'Toole	Brad MacDonald

[edit] Monthly Awards

Awards are also given out monthly for the best overall player and best rookie.

Month	Overall	Rookie
Jan	Gavin Prout	Craig Conn
Feb	John Tavares	Craig Conn
Mar	Jim Veltman	Taylor Wray

[edit] Statistics Leaders

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

Stat	Player	Team	Number
Goals	Gary Gait	Colorado	55
Assists	Josh Sanderson	San Jose	61
Points	Gary Gait	Colorado	93
Penalty Minutes	Troy Bonterre	Arizona	73
Loose Balls	Jim Veltman	Toronto	179
Save Pct	Gee Nash	Colorado	79.0

[edit] References

[edit] See also

• 2004 in sports

[edit] External links

• 2004 Archive at the Outsider's Guide to the NLL

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v • d • e National Lacrosse League East Division Boston Blazers · Buffalo Bandits · Orlando Titans · Philadelphia Wings · Rochester Knighthawks · Toronto Rock West Division Calgary Roughnecks · Colorado Mammoth · Edmonton Rush · Minnesota Swarm · Washington Stealth Awards Champion's Cup · MVP · Rookie of the Year · Defensive Player of the Year · Transition Player of the Year · Goaltender of the Year · Sportsmanship Award · Les Bartley Award · GM of the Year · Executive of the Year · Tom Borrelli Award · Weekly Awards · Monthly Awards Articles All-Star Game · PLPA · Family relations · Hall of Fame · Seasons · Entry drafts · Expansion drafts · Dispersal drafts · Team Capsules · Former teams · All-time Records · Rosters Related Articles: Box lacrosse · Lacrosse · Major League Lacrosse