2004 NLL season

Sports season

2004 NLL season

League| National Lacrosse League
Sport| Indoor lacrosse
Duration| December 26, 2003 – May 7, 2004
Number of games| 16
Number of teams| 10
TV partner(s)| Fox Sports Net[1]
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
Champions| Calgary Roughnecks
Runners-up| Buffalo Bandits
Finals MVP| Curtis Palidwor (Calgary)
NLL seasons

← 2003 season

2005 season →

The 2004 National Lacrosse League season is the 18th season in the NLL that began on December 26, 2003, with the Arizona Sting hosting the Vancouver Ravens. That game was the Sting's first-ever game and the first event held in the new Glendale Arena (now Gila River Arena) in Glendale, Arizona. The season 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 (now Scotiabank Saddledome) to watch the Calgary Roughnecks defeat the Buffalo Bandits 14–11.[2] 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.[3]

## Team movement[edit]

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 Glendale, 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.

## Milestones[edit]

* 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. Mark Shepherd scored the teams first regulation goal. [4] This is a record not likely to ever be broken – before the 2005 season, the NLL changed overtime periods to 15 minutes from five.[5] Since then, no games have even seen double overtime.

## Final standings[edit]

### Regular season[edit]

Reference: [6]

East DivisionP| Team| GP| W| L| PCT| GB| Home| Road| GF| GA| Diff| GF/GP| GA/GP

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1| Toronto Rock - xy| 16| 10| 6| .625| 0.0| 5-3| 5-3| 202| 176| +26| 12.62| 11.00
2| Rochester Knighthawks - x| 16| 8| 8| .500| 2.0| 6-2| 2-6| 173| 186| −13| 10.81| 11.62
3| Buffalo Bandits - x| 16| 8| 8| .500| 2.0| 4-4| 4-4| 205| 198| +7| 12.81| 12.38
4| Philadelphia Wings| 16| 7| 9| .438| 3.0| 3-5| 4-4| 192| 198| −6| 12.00| 12.38
West DivisionP| Team| GP| W| L| PCT| GB| Home| Road| GF| GA| Diff| GF/GP| GA/GP

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| | | | | | | | | | | | |
1| Colorado Mammoth - xyz| 16| 13| 3| .812| 0.0| 7-1| 6-2| 223| 173| +50| 13.94| 10.81
2| San Jose Stealth - x| 16| 11| 5| .688| 2.0| 7-1| 4-4| 204| 201| +3| 12.75| 12.56
3| Calgary Roughnecks - x| 16| 10| 6| .625| 3.0| 4-4| 6-2| 214| 187| +27| 13.38| 11.69
4| Arizona Sting| 16| 7| 9| .438| 6.0| 6-2| 1-7| 200| 208| −8| 12.50| 13.00
5| Vancouver Ravens| 16| 5| 11| .312| 8.0| 3-5| 2-6| 188| 213| −25| 11.75| 13.31
6| Anaheim Storm| 16| 1| 15| .062| 12.0| 1-7| 0-8| 171| 227| −56| 10.69| 14.19

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

### Playoffs[edit]

| | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Divisional Semifinals| | | Divisional Finals| | | Championship
| | |

East Division

| 3| Buffalo| 19
| |
| 3| Buffalo| 13| | | 1| Toronto| 10| | |
| | | |
| 2| Rochester| 9| | | | E3| Buffalo| 11
| | | | |
| | | | W3| Calgary| 14
| | |

West Division

| 3| Calgary| 13|
| |
| 3| Calgary| 15| | | 1| Colorado| 11| | |
| | | |
| 2| San Jose| 14| | | |
| |
| | | | | | |

## All Star Game[edit]

The 2004 All-Star Game was held at 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.

### All-Star teams[edit]

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

## Awards[edit]

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

### Weekly awards[edit]

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

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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 | Mark Shepherd | 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

### Monthly awards[edit]

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

Month | Overall | Rookie

|
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Jan  | Gavin Prout | Craig Conn
Feb  | John Tavares | Craig Conn
Mar  | Jim Veltman | Taylor Wray

## Statistics leaders[edit]

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

Stat | Player | Team | Number

|
|
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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

## Attendance[edit]

### Regular Season[edit]

Home Team | Home Games | Average Attendance | Total Attendance[7]

|
|
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Colorado Mammoth  | 8  | 17,617  | 140,942
Toronto Rock  | 8  | 16,907  | 135,256
Philadelphia Wings  | 8  | 13,640  | 109,123
Calgary Roughnecks  | 8  | 9,994  | 79,950
Buffalo Bandits  | 8  | 8,929  | 71,435
Rochester Knighthawks  | 8  | 8,787  | 70,293
Vancouver Ravens  | 8  | 7,124  | 56,992
Arizona Sting  | 8  | 5,768  | 46,147
San Jose Stealth  | 8  | 5,332  | 42,656
Anaheim Storm  | 8  | 4,750  | 37,997
League | 80 | 9,749 | 779,946

### Playoffs[edit]

Home Team | Home Games | Average Attendance | Total Attendance[7]

|
|
|

Calgary Roughnecks  | 1  | 19,289  | 19,289
Toronto Rock  | 1  | 14,618  | 14,618
Colorado Mammoth  | 1  | 14,283  | 14,283
Rochester Knighthawks  | 1  | 7,029  | 7,029
San Jose Stealth  | 1  | 4,874  | 4,874
League | 5 | 12,019 | 60,093

## See also[edit]

* 2004 in sports

## References[edit]

1. ^ "NLL Champion's Cup Playoffs Games on TV this weekend". Our Sports Central. April 15, 2004.
2. ^ Philly, R.A. (May 7, 2004). "Capacity crowd cheers Calgary to Cup". Outsider's Guide to the NLL. Archived from the original on August 18, 2007. Retrieved February 6, 2007.
3. ^ "Re-Lax! League Players Reach Agreement". NLL.com. December 17, 2003. Archived from the original on July 14, 2011. Retrieved February 4, 2007.
4. ^ Tucker, Seth (January 10, 2004). "Sting outlasts Storm, 19–18, in triple OT". Outsider's Guide to the NLL. Archived from the original on August 18, 2007. Retrieved February 4, 2007.
5. ^ Philly, R.A. (December 28, 2004). "League announces various rule changes". Outsider's Guide to the NLL. Archived from the original on August 18, 2007. Retrieved February 4, 2007.
6. ^ "National Lacrosse League - 2004 Regular Season - Standings". NLL.com. Retrieved May 3, 2012.
7. ^ a b "2004 Season". nllstats.com. Retrieved June 16, 2023.

## External links[edit]

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

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