2011 NLL season

The 2011 National Lacrosse League season, the 25th in the history of the NLL, began on January 8, 2011, and ended with the Championship game, which was won by the Toronto Rock 8-7.

2011 NLL season
League	National Lacrosse League
Sport	Indoor lacrosse
Duration	January 2011 – May 2011
Number of games	16
Number of teams	10
Season MVP	Jeff Shattler
Top scorer	Ryan Benesch
Eastern champions	Toronto Rock
Eastern runners-up	Buffalo Bandits
Western champions	Washington Stealth
Western runners-up	Calgary Roughnecks
Finals champions	Toronto Rock (6th title)
Runners-up	Washington Stealth
Finals MVP	Bob Watson

Team movement

The Orlando Titans announced in July 2010 that they would not participate in the 2011 season, due to financial troubles.^[1] Some players were granted free agency while others were involved in a dispersal draft.

Teams

Blazers

Bandits

Wings

Hawks

Rock

Rough
necks

Mammoth

Rush

Swarm

Stealth

East Division West Division

2011 National Lacrosse League
Division	Team	City	Arena	Capacity
East	Boston Blazers	Boston, Massachusetts	TD Garden	17,850
	Buffalo Bandits	Buffalo, New York	HSBC Arena	18,690
	Philadelphia Wings	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	Wachovia Center	19,537
	Rochester Knighthawks	Rochester, New York	Blue Cross Arena	10,662
	Toronto Rock	Toronto, Ontario	Air Canada Centre	18,800
West	Calgary Roughnecks	Calgary, Alberta	Scotiabank Saddledome	19,289
	Colorado Mammoth	Denver, Colorado	Pepsi Center	18,007
	Edmonton Rush	Edmonton, Alberta	Rexall Place	16,839
	Minnesota Swarm	Saint Paul, Minnesota	XCEL Energy Center	18,064
	Washington Stealth	Everett, Washington	Comcast Arena at Everett	8,513

Final standings

Reference: ^[2]

East Division

P	Team	GP	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	GF	GA	Diff	GF/GP	GA/GP
1	Buffalo Bandits – xy	16	10	6	.625	0.0	4–4	6–2	169	159	+10	10.56	9.94
2	Toronto Rock – x	16	10	6	.625	0.0	7–1	3–5	187	168	+19	11.69	10.50
3	Rochester Knighthawks – x	16	10	6	.625	0.0	4–4	6–2	176	159	+17	11.00	9.94
4	Boston Blazers – x	16	8	8	.500	2.0	4–4	4–4	166	155	+11	10.38	9.69
5	Philadelphia Wings	16	5	11	.312	5.0	2–6	3–5	143	179	−36	8.94	11.19

West Division

P	Team	GP	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	GF	GA	Diff	GF/GP	GA/GP
1	Calgary Roughnecks – xyz	16	11	5	.688	0.0	6–2	5–3	198	181	+17	12.38	11.31
2	Minnesota Swarm – x	16	8	8	.500	3.0	5–3	3–5	187	180	+7	11.69	11.25
3	Washington Stealth – x	16	8	8	.500	3.0	3–5	5–3	203	198	+5	12.69	12.38
4	Colorado Mammoth – x	16	5	11	.312	6.0	3–5	2–6	151	172	−21	9.44	10.75
5	Edmonton Rush	16	5	11	.312	6.0	4–4	1–7	175	204	−29	10.94	12.75

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

Divisional Semifinal

Divisional Final

Champion's Cup Final

E1

Buffalo

11

E4

Boston

10

E1

Buffalo

11

Eastern Division

E2

Toronto

12

E2

Toronto

10

E3

Rochester

8

E2

Toronto

8

W3

Washington

7

W1

Calgary

10

W4

Colorado

6

W1

Calgary

8

Western Division

W3

Washington

10

W2

Minnesota

8

W3

Washington

14

Milestones and events

Pre-season

• July 30, 2010: The league announced that the Orlando Titans would not be participating in the 2011 season.^[3]

Regular season

• John Tavares scores the first goal of the game against the Philadelphia Wings at the Wells Fargo Center in a 16–7 win, marking the first player in league history to reach 700 goals scored.
• The following week at home against the same team, Tavares would become the first person to tally 1,500 career points.

Awards

Annual

Award	Winner	Team
Most Valuable Player	Jeff Shattler[4]	Calgary Roughnecks
Goaltender of the Year	Matt Vinc[5]	Rochester Knighthawks
Defensive Player of the Year	Pat McCready[5]	Rochester Knighthawks
Transition Player of the Year	Jeff Shattler[5]	Calgary Roughnecks
Rookie of the Year	Curtis Dickson [6]	Calgary Roughnecks
Sportsmanship Award	Jordan Hall[7]	Rochester Knighthawks
GM of the Year	Curt Styres [8]	Rochester Knighthawks
Les Bartley Award	Mike Hasen [8]	Rochester Knighthawks
Executive of the Year Award	Curt Styres [9]	Rochester Knighthawks
Tom Borrelli Award	Budd Bailey [7]

All-Pro teams

First Team

• Jeff Shattler, Calgary
• Pat McCready, Rochester
• Matt Vinc, Rochester
• Ryan Benesch, Minnesota
• Rhys Duch, Washington
• Dan Dawson, Boston

Second Team

• Lewis Ratcliff, Washington
• John Tavares, Buffalo
• Stephan Leblanc, Toronto
• Brodie Merrill, Edmonton
• Mike Carnegie, Calgary
• Anthony Cosmo, Boston

All-Rookie team

• Curtis Dickson, Calgary
• Cody Jamieson, Rochester
• Kyle Rubisch, Boston
• Aaron Pascas, Toronto
• Andrew Suitor, Minnesota
• Tyler Hass, Minnesota

Weekly awards

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

Month	Week	Overall	Offensive	Defensive	Transition	Rookie
January	1	Bob Watson	Scott Ranger	Mike Poulin	Paul Rabil	Aaron Pascas
	2	Ryan Benesch	Ryan Benesch	Nick Patterson	Mark Steenhuis	Cody Jamieson
	3	Stephan Leblanc	Luke Wiles	Nick Patterson	Brodie Merrill	Cody Jamieson
	4	Brandon Miller	Dane Dobbie	Bob Watson	Jeff Shattler	Curtis Dickson
February	5	Shawn Evans	Dan Dawson	Tyler Richards	Jordan Hall	Cody Jamieson
	6	John Tavares	John Tavares	Anthony Cosmo	Paul Rabil	Aaron Pascas
	7	Bob Watson	Garrett Billings	Jeff Moleski	Ryan Hotaling	Curtis Dickson
	8	Colin Doyle	Colin Doyle	Sandy Chapman	Jordan Hall	Cody Jamieson
March	9	Mike Thompson	Lewis Ratcliff	Mike Grimes	Jordan Hall	Rob Hellyer
	10	Jeff Shattler	John Tavares	Chris Corbeil	Jeff Shattler	Curtis Dickson
	11	Dane Dobbie	Dane Dobbie	Nolan Heavenor	Jeff Shattler	Curtis Dickson
	12	Zack Greer	Zack Greer	Scott Campbell	Jeff Shattler	Curtis Dickson
April	13	John Grant	Shawn Williams	Matt Roik	Jordan Hall	Andrew Suitor
	14	Rhys Duch	Dan Dawson	Mike Thompson	Tom Montour	Cody Jamieson
	15	Kevin Buchanan	Kevin Buchanan	Chris Levis	Brodie Merrill	Kyle Rubisch
	16	Ryan Benesch	Ryan Benesch	Nick Patterson	Jordan Hall	Cody Jamieson

Monthly awards

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

Month	Overall	Rookie
January	Bob Watson	Curtis Dickson
February	Garrett Billings	Kyle Rubisch
March	Jeff Shattler	Curtis Dickson
April	Ryan Benesch	Cody Jamieson

Statistics leaders

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

Stat	Player	Team	Total
Goals	Ryan Benesch	Minnesota	46
Assists	Dan Dawson	Boston	59
Points	Ryan Benesch	Minnesota	95
Penalty Minutes	Geoff Snider	Calgary	74
Shots on Goal	John Grant, Jr.	Colorado	203
Loose Balls	Brodie Merrill	Edmonton	187
Save Pct	Matt Vinc	Rochester	.794
GAA	Anthony Cosmo	Boston	9.81

Attendance

Regular Season

Home Team	Home Games	Average Attendance	Total Attendance[10]
Buffalo Bandits	8	17,095	136,765
Colorado Mammoth	8	15,865	126,927
Calgary Roughnecks	8	10,384	83,074
Boston Blazers	8	8,712	69,696
Philadelphia Wings	8	8,661	69,294
Toronto Rock	8	8,513	68,108
Minnesota Swarm	8	8,287	66,302
Edmonton Rush	8	7,151	57,214
Rochester Knighthawks	8	5,331	42,648
Washington Stealth	8	3,226	25,808
League	80	9,322	745,836

Playoffs

Home Team	Home Games	Average Attendance	Total Attendance[11]
Toronto Rock	2	12,358	24,716
Buffalo Bandits	2	11,811	23,622
Calgary Roughnecks	2	10,108	20,217
Minnesota Swarm	1	5,878	5,878
League	7	10,633	74,433

See also

• 2011 in sports