2017 NLL season

The 2017 National Lacrosse League season, the 31st in the history of the NLL began on December 29, 2016,^[1] and ended with the Champion's Cup Finals series on June 10, 2017, as the Georgia Swarm defeated the Saskatchewan Rush to win their franchise's first Champions Cup.

2017 NLL season
League	National Lacrosse League
Sport	Indoor lacrosse
Duration	December 29, 2016 – June 10, 2017
Number of games	18
Number of teams	9
Draft
Top draft pick	Josh Byrne
Picked by	Buffalo Bandits
Regular Season
Top seed	Georgia Swarm
Season MVP	Lyle Thompson (Georgia Swarm)
Top scorer	Lyle Thompson (Georgia Swarm)
Playoffs
Finals champions	Georgia Swarm (1st title)
Runners-up	Saskatchewan Rush
Finals MVP	Lyle Thompson (Swarm)

Teams

Bandits

Swarm

Wolves

Hawks

Rock

Rough
necks

Mammoth

Rush

Stealth

East Division West Division

2017 National Lacrosse League
Division	Team	City	Arena	Capacity
East	Buffalo Bandits	Buffalo, New York	KeyBank Center	19,070
	Georgia Swarm	Duluth, Georgia	Infinite Energy Arena	10,500
	New England Black Wolves	Uncasville, Connecticut	Mohegan Sun Arena	7,074
	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
	Saskatchewan Rush	Saskatoon, Saskatchewan	SaskTel Centre	15,195
	Vancouver Stealth	Langley, British Columbia	Langley Events Centre	5,276

Regular Season Standings

Reference: ^[2]

East Division

P	Team	GP	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	GF	GA	Diff	GF/GP	GA/GP
1	Georgia Swarm – xyz	18	13	5	.722	0.0	7–2	6–3	266	213	+53	14.78	11.83
2	Toronto Rock – x	18	9	9	.500	4.0	4–5	5–4	219	200	+19	12.17	11.11
3	New England Black Wolves – x	18	8	10	.444	5.0	5–4	3–6	220	244	−24	12.22	13.56
4	Rochester Knighthawks	18	7	11	.389	6.0	4–5	3–6	175	209	−34	9.72	11.61
5	Buffalo Bandits	18	6	12	.333	7.0	3–6	3–6	226	251	−25	12.56	13.94

West Division

P	Team	GP	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	GF	GA	Diff	GF/GP	GA/GP
1	Saskatchewan Rush – xy	18	12	6	.667	0.0	8–1	4–5	231	212	+19	12.83	11.78
2	Vancouver Stealth – x	18	9	9	.500	3.0	4–5	5–4	218	221	−3	12.11	12.28
3	Colorado Mammoth – x	18	9	9	.500	3.0	5–4	4–5	202	199	+3	11.22	11.06
4	Calgary Roughnecks	18	8	10	.444	4.0	5–4	3–6	212	220	−8	11.78	12.22

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

Scoring leaders

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes; LB = Loose Balls

Player	Team	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	LB
Lyle Thompson	Georgia Swarm	18	45	71	116	8	126
Mark Matthews	Saskatchewan Rush	18	40	73	113	25	61
Corey Small	Vancouver Stealth	18	46	65	111	2	34
Curtis Dickson	Calgary Roughnecks	18	54	53	107	18	79
Shawn Evans	New England Black Wolves	17	38	65	103	50	90
Callum Crawford	Colorado Mammoth	18	36	62	98	8	74
Rhys Duch	Vancouver Stealth	17	38	56	94	7	70
Tom Schreiber	Toronto Rock	18	33	61	94	0	83
Dane Dobbie	Calgary Roughnecks	18	39	50	89	6	51
Kevin Crowley	New England Black Wolves	18	45	40	85	11	80

Leading goaltenders

Note: GP = Games played; Mins = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses: GA = Goals Allowed; SV% = Save Percentage; GAA = Goals against average

Player	Team	GP	Mins	W	L	GA	SV%	GAA
Mike Poulin	Georgia Swarm	18	922	12	4	181	0.781	11.77
Aaron Bold	Saskatchewan Rush	17	935	11	4	175	0.763	11.22
Dillon Ward	Colorado Mammoth	18	909	9	6	165	0.792	10.89
Nick Rose	Toronto Rock	18	1019	8	8	184	0.774	10.82
Frankie Scigliano	Calgary Roughnecks	17	844	8	6	169	0.772	12.00

Playoffs

Division semifinals

Division finals (3-game series)

Finals (3-game series)

E1

Georgia

2

East Division

E2

Toronto

0

E2

Toronto

18

E3

New England

10

E1

Georgia

2

W1

Saskatchewan

0

W1

Saskatchewan

2

West Division

W3

Colorado

0

W2

Vancouver

12

W3

Colorado

13

*Overtime

Division Semifinals

Eastern Division

(E2) Toronto Rock vs. (E3) New England Black Wolves

May 6, 2017

Toronto Rock

18–10 (5–6, 4–0, 3–1, 6–3)

New England Black Wolves

Air Canada Centre Attendance: 6,260

Game reference
	Nick Rose Brandon Miller	Goalies	Evan Kirk Doug Jamieson
	Beirnes (Hickey, Reinholdt) – 02:27 1–0 Edwards (Rose) – 05:39 2–0 2–1 07:29 – O'Connor (Suddons, Thorimbert) 2–2 07:56 – Crowley (Buchanan) Schreiber (McArdle) – 08:20 3–2 3–3 08:49 – Buchanan (O'Connor, Culp) 3–4 09:27 – Bucktooth (Muir) Schreiber (McArdle, Leblanc) – 11:27 4–4 4–5 12:41 – Crowley (Buchanan, Bucktooth) Edwards (Merrill) – 14:10 5–5 5–6 14:28 – Culp (Buchanan, Coyle) Hickey (Schreiber, Leblanc) (PP) – 19:14 6–6 Merrill – 19:22 7–6 Gamble – 24:13 8–6 Hickey (Kri) (PP) – 27:37 9–6 Schreiber (Beirnes, Magnuson) – 32:23 10–6 10–7 36:11 – Evans (Culp, O'Connor) Linter (Schreiber, McArdle) – 36:43 11–7 Reinholdt (Leblanc, Hickey) – 37:16 12–7 Leblanc (Hickey, Reinholdt) – 47:15 13–7 Schreiber (Reinholdt, Hickey) – 51:24 14–7 14–8 52:22 – Evans (Crowley, Bucktooth) Leblanc (Hickey, Linter) – 52:58 15–8 15–9 53:04 – Thorimbert Merrill (Kri) (ENG) – 53:29 16–9 Gilbert (Gamble) – 54:25 17–9 Beirnes (Schreiber, Hickey) (PP) – 56:54 18–9 18–10 59:53 – Burns (Manney, Jamieson)
	11 min	Penalties	13 min
	60	Shots	46

Western Division

(E2) Vancouver Stealth vs. (E3) Colorado Mammoth

May 6, 2017

Vancouver Stealth

12–13 (1–3, 5–4, 2–3, 4–3)

Colorado Mammoth

Langley Events Centre Attendance: 4,011

Game reference
	Tye Belanger	Goalies	Dillon Ward
	0–1 03:06 – Greer (Noble, Crawford) 0–2 06:22 – Wardle (Adams, Keogh) 0–3 08:50 – McLaughlin (Greer) Small (Schuss) – 10:03 1–3 Small (Schuss, Durtson) – 16:34 2–3 2–4 20:40 – Cupido 2–5 22:12 – Crawford (Noble, Keogh) 2–6 24:51 – Gilles (Ward) Schuss (Duch) (PP) – 26:04 3–6 Durtson (Conway, Schuss) (PP) – 27:01 4–6 Schuss (Harnett, Beers) – 27:44 5–6 Schuss (Duch, Smith) – 28:56 6–6 6–7 29:59 – Cupido (Ward) Salt (Durtson) – 31:51 7–7 7–8 33:15 – Crawford (Self, Greer) McCready (Messenger, Schuss) – 34:17 8–8 8–9 38:40 – McLaughlin (Keogh) 8–10 41:38 – Self (Ward) Small (Schuss, Conway) – 46:15 9–10 9–11 47:27 – Gillies (Gajic) 9–12 52:52 – Greer (Keogh, Self) 9–13 53:09 – Crawford (Wardle, Greer) Small (Salt, Belanger) – 55:24 10–13 Small (Beers) – 57:25 11–13 Small (Schuss, McCready) – 58:49 12–13
	0 min	Penalties	4 min
	52	Shots	45

Division Finals (best of three)

Eastern Division

(E1) Georgia Swarm vs. (E2) Toronto Rock

May 13, 2017

Toronto Rock

8–11 (1–0, 3–2, 1–4, 3–5)

Georgia Swarm

Air Canada Centre Attendance: 7,329

Game reference
	Brandon Miller	Goalies	Mike Poulin
	Litner ( Leblanc, Reinholdt) – 03:45 1–0 Edwards (Gamble, Kri) – 15:14 2–0 Leblanc (McArdle, Chapman) – 18:47 3–0 3–1 21:02 – Jackson (L. Thompson, White) Hickey (Reinholdt, Leblanc) – 21:34 4–1 4–2 24:04 – Hall (Sellars, Tutton) 4–3 34:37 – White 4–4 37:28 – Tutton (Hall, White) 4–5 39:28 – Hall (Jackson, Staats) 4–6 40:28 – Jackson (Matisz, L. Thompson) Beirnes (Reinholdt) (PP) – 44:09 5–6 5–7 47:16 – Staats (White) Lintner (Gamble, Harris) – 48:36 6–7 6–8 52:09 – M. Thompson (Staats, O'Connor) 6–9 55:54 – Hall (Jackson, L. Thompson) 6–10 56:33 – White (ENG) Schreiber (Leblanc, Rogers) – 56:43 7–10 Beirnes (Leblanc, Schreiber) – 58:29 8–10 8–11 59:08 – MacIntosh (ENG)
	12 min	Penalties	4 min
	47	Shots	56

May 20, 2017

Georgia Swarm

13–9 (5–4, 4–2, 1–1, 3–2)

Toronto Rock

Infinite Energy Arena Attendance: 7,992

Game reference
	Mike Poulin	Goalies	Brandon Miller Nick Rose
	Staats (Ranagan, O'Connor) – 00:14 1–0 M. Thompson (Matisz, L. Thompson) – 01:15 2–0 Matisz (Jackson, Powless) – 02:56 3–0 3–1 05:07 – Reinholdt (Hickey, Schreiber) 3–2 06:03 – Merrill (Edwards) L. Thompson (Hall) (SH) – 09:18 4–2 Cole (Staats) – 10:10 5–2 5–3 12:34 – Leblanc (McArdle) 5–4 12:56 – Reinholdt (Schreiber, Merrill) Staats (Jackson) – 20:25 6–4 Hall (Staats, M. Thompson) – 21:08 7–4 7–5 24:51 – Beirnes (Leblanc, Hickey) Jackson (Staats, Hall) – 26:12 8–5 8–6 26:56 – McArdle (Leblanc, Merrill) Jackson (Staats, L. Thompson) – 28:30 9–6 9–7 30:23 – Reinholdt (Leblanc, Lintner) L. Thompson – 42:56 10–7 10–8 49:39 – Reinholdt (Schreiber, Beirnes) Jackson (L. Thompson) (PP) – 50:26 11–8 Powless (Staats, L. Thompson) – 55:11 12–8 12–9 58:41 – Rogers Hall (MacIntosh) (ENG) – 58:49 13–9
	2 min	Penalties	5 min
	49	Shots	51

Swarm wins series 2–0.

Western Division

(W1) Saskatchewan Rush vs. (W3) Colorado Mammoth

May 13, 2017

Colorado Mammoth

9–18 (2–2, 3–3, 3–4, 1–9)

Saskatchewan Rush

Pepsi Center Attendance: 11,012

Game reference
	Dillon Ward Alex Buque	Goalies	Aaron Bold
	McLaughlin (Keogh, Crawford) – 01:41 1–0 Noble (Hope, Ward) (SH) – 03:54 2–0 2–1 07:07 – McIntosh (Jones, Church) 2–2 12:59 – Keenan (McIntosh, Dilks) 2–3 16:30 – McIntosh (Matthews, Church) Noble (McLaughlin) (SH) – 18:15 3–3 Noble (Greer) (PP) – 24:10 4–3 4–4 24:55 – Reinholdt 4–5 26:31 – Church (Matthews) (PP) Ruest (Keogh, Coates) – 28:54 5–5 Wardle (Crawford, Ruest) – 30:25 6–5 6–6 34:40 – Jones (Keenan, Matthews) 6–7 35:51 – Church (Keenan, McIntosh) 6–8 36:18 – McIntosh (Jones, Knight) 6–9 39:37 – Jones (Church, Matthews) (PP) McLaughlin (Crawford, Noble) (PP) – 40:07 7–9 Noble (Crawford, Greer) – 44:37 8–9 8–10 45:26 – Matthews (Church, Dinsdale) 8–11 47:07 – Matthews (Reinholdt) 8–12 50:14 – McIntosh (Church, Jones) (PP) 8–13 51:04 – Jones (Matthews, Church) (PP) 8–14 51:32 – Jones (Knight, Mydske) 8–15 53:58 – Messenger (Bold) 8–16 54:29 – Jones (McIntosh, Knight) Greer (PS) – 55:27 9–16 9–17 56:47 – Jones (Matthews, Cornwall) 9–18 57:51 – Knight (Matthews)
	19 min	Penalties	6 min
	40	Shots	57

May 20, 2017

Saskatchewan Rush

11–10 (2–3, 2–1, 5–4, 2–2)

Colorado Mammoth

SaskTel Centre Attendance: 14,052

Game reference
	Aaron Bold	Goalies	Dillon Ward
	0–1 08:15 – Downing (Stuart) Matthews (Church, Messenger) – 10:27 1–1 Cornwall (Keenan, Knight) – 11:58 2–1 2–2 12:27 – McLaughlin (Greer, Wardle) 2–3 14:32 – Greer (Crawford) 2–4 22:47 – Noble (Crawford, Wardle) McIntosh (Church, Jones) (PP) – 22:47 3–4 Church (Matthews) – 26:43 4–4 McIntosh (Matthews, Church) (PP) – 32:35 5–4 5–5 32:57 – McLaughlin (Noble, Crawford) Dinsdale (Matthews, Jones) – 33:29 6–5 Jones (Reinholdt) – 34:42 7–5 7–6 37:02 – Greer (Keogh, Ruest) 7–7 38:45 – McLaughlin (Crawford, Greer) (PP) 7–8 41:31 – Cupido (Ward) Matthews (Keenan, Dinsdale) – 42:00 8–8 Church (McIntosh, Knight) – 44:54 9–8 Keenan (Matthews) – 45:45 10–8 Messenger – 46:26 11–8 11–9 53:28 – Ruest (Self) 11–10 55:26 – Noble (McLaughlin, Wardle)
	7 min	Penalties	6 min
	48	Shots	42

Rush wins series 2–0.

NLL Finals (best of three)

(E1) Georgia Swarm vs. (W1) Saskatchewan Rush

June 4, 2017

Georgia Swarm

18–14 (3–4, 4–5, 4–2, 7–3)

Saskatchewan Rush

Infinite Energy Arena Attendance: 7,642

Game reference
	Mike Poulin	Goalies	Aaron Bold Tyler Carlson
	Staats (Matisz, Hall) – 02:16 1–0 Matisz (L. Thompson, Powless) – 02:43 2–0 2–1 04:54 – Thompson (Bold) 2–2 07:14 – Knight (Matthews, Dinsdale) Hall (Jackson) – 08:22 3–2 3–3 12:44 – Matthews (Church) (PP) 3–4 14:50 – Matthews (Church) (PP) 3–5 16:38 – Jones (Corbeil, McIntosh) (SH) L. Thompson – 18:09 4–5 4–6 19:23 – Keenan (Messenger) 4–7 Thompson (Sorichetti, Rubisch) Hall (Jackson, Powless) – 21:16 5–7 Powless (Jackson, L. Thompson) – 23:44 6–7 Powless (M. Thompson, Staats) – 24:49 7–7 7–8 27:15 – Church (Knight, Keenan) 7–9 29:57 – Knight (Matthews, Church) 7–10 31:00 – Church (Matthews) 7–11 37:18 – Jones (Matthews, McIntosh) (PP) Hall (Sellars, Noble) – 38:59 8–11 Matisz (Staats, Powless) – 40:27 9–11 Jackson (Hall, Sellars) – 43:31 10–11 Jackson (Hall, L. Thompson) – 44:46 11–11 Hall (L. Thompson, MacIntosh) – 45:17 12–11 Staats (White) – 47:59 13–11 M. Thompson (Staats, White) – 48:38 14–11 14–12 50:14 – Jones (Church) 14–13 51:06 – Matthews (Church) (PP) M. Thompson (White) – 52:50 15–13 Matisz (Jackson) – 53:20 16–13 Hall (Matisz, M. Thompson) – 56:27 17–13 Cole (Sellars) (ENG) – 59:03 18–13 18–14 59:10 – Thompson
	34 min	Penalties	4 min
	54	Shots	50

June 10, 2017

Saskatchewan Rush

14–15 OT (3–5, 3–2, 2–3, 6–4, 0–1)

Georgia Swarm

SaskTel Centre Attendance: 14,264

Game reference
	Aaron Bold Tyler Carlson	Goalies	Mike Poulin
	0–1 00:58 – Staats (M. Thompson) 0–2 01:13 – Powless (O'Connor) 0–3 02:43 – Staats (Jackson, Matisz) Jones (Matthews, Church) (PP) – 04:13 1–3 Church (Knight, Matthews) – 10:35 2–3 2–4 11:26 – L. Thompson (Jackson, Staats) McIntosh (Matthews, Dinsdale) – 12:12 3–4 3–5 14:34 – L. Thompson (Jackson, Powless) (PP) Keenan (Hossack) – 20:51 4–5 Jones (LaFontaine) – 23:23 5–5 5–6 22:48 – Staats (Powless, Jackson) 5–7 26:29 – Staats (Powless, Jackson) (PP) McIntosh (Knight, Jones) – 26:41 6–7 Keenan (Cornwall) – 31:08 7–7 7–8 32:18 – M. Thompson (L. Thompson, Poulin) Church (Keenan, Knight) – 33:04 8–8 8–9 42:18 – Powless (Matisz) 8–10 43:24 – Hall (L. Thompson, Matisz) Church (Matthews) – 45:30 9–10 Hossack (Bold) – 47:29 10–10 McIntosh (Keenan) – 48:12 11–10 Church (Corbeil, Thompson) – 48:36 12–10 12–11 53:17 – Hall (Staats) 12–12 54:27 – L. Thompson (Matisz, Jackson) 12–13 57:16 – Jackson (Matisz, Staats) Thompson (Bold) – 58:26 13–13 Jones (Matthews, Keenan) – 58:48 14–13 14–14 59:48 – White (L. Thompson) (ENG) 14–15 61:17 – M. Thompson (L. Thompson)
	4 min	Penalties	4 min
	62	Shots	53

Swarm wins series 2–0.

Awards

Annual awards

Award	Winner	Other Finalists
Most Valuable Player	Lyle Thompson, Georgia	Corey Small, Vancouver Mark Matthews, Saskatchewan
Goaltender of the Year	Dillon Ward, Colorado[3]	Mike Poulin, Georgia Nick Rose, Toronto
Defensive Player of the Year	Jason Noble, Georgia[4]	Graeme Hossack, Rochester Steve Priolo, Buffalo
Transition Player of the Year	Brodie Merrill, Toronto[5]	Jay Thorimbert, New England Jordan MacIntosh, Georgia
Rookie of the Year	Tom Schreiber, Toronto[6]	Kyle Jackson, Rochester Latrell Harris, Toronto
Sportsmanship Award	Jordan Hall, Georgia[6]	Kyle Buchanan, New England Dan MacRae, Calgary
GM of the Year	John Arlotta, Georgia	Jamie Dawick, Toronto Derek Keenan, Saskatchewan
Les Bartley Award	Ed Comeau, Georgia	Derek Keenan, Saskatchewan Jamie Batley, Vancouver
Executive of the Year Award	Amber Cox, New England	Andy Arlotta, Georgia John Catalano, Rochester
Teammate of the Year Award	Mike Poulin, Georgia[7]	Kyle Buchanan, New England Joel McCready, Vancouver
Tom Borrelli Award	Jake Elliott	Budd Bailey Neil Stevens

All-pro teams

Reference^[8]

First Team

• Lyle Thompson, Georgia Swarm
• Mark Matthews, Saskatchewan Rush
• Corey Small, Vancouver Stealth
• Jason Noble, Georgia Swarm
• Brodie Merrill, Toronto Rock
• Dillon Ward, Colorado Mammoth

Second Team

• Curtis Dickson, Calgary Roughnecks
• Kevin Crowley, New England Black Wolves
• Shayne Jackson, Georgia Swarm
• Graeme Hossack, Rochester Knighthawks
• Jay Thorimbert, New England Black Wolves
• Mike Poulin, Georgia Swarm

All-Rookie Team

• Tom Schreiber, Toronto Rock
• Kyle Jackson, Rochester Knighthawks
• Josh Currier, Rochester Knighthawks
• Latrell Harris, Toronto Rock
• Mike Messenger, Saskatchewan Rush
• Joel Coyle, New England Black Wolves

Stadiums and locations

Buffalo Bandits	Georgia Swarm	New England Black Wolves	Rochester Knighthawks	Toronto Rock
KeyBank Center	Infinite Energy Arena	Mohegan Sun Arena	Blue Cross Arena	Air Canada Centre
Capacity: 19,070	Capacity: 11,355	Capacity: 7,700	Capacity: 11,200	Capacity: 18,819

Calgary Roughnecks	Colorado Mammoth	Saskatchewan Rush	Vancouver Stealth
Scotiabank Saddledome	Pepsi Center	SaskTel Centre	Langley Events Centre
Capacity: 19,289	Capacity: 18,007	Capacity: 15,190	Capacity: 5,276

Attendance

Regular Season

Home Team	Home Games	Average Attendance	Total Attendance[9]
Buffalo Bandits	9	15,148	136,340
Saskatchewan Rush	9	14,921	134,289
Colorado Mammoth	9	14,458	130,128
Calgary Roughnecks	9	11,622	104,599
Toronto Rock	9	9,623	86,613
Rochester Knighthawks	9	6,755	60,798
New England Black Wolves	9	5,402	48,626
Georgia Swarm	9	3,950	35,558
Vancouver Stealth	9	3,206	28,860
League	81	9,454	765,811

Playoffs

Home Team	Home Games	Average Attendance	Total Attendance[10]
Saskatchewan Rush	2	14,158	28,316
Colorado Mammoth	1	11,012	11,012
Georgia Swarm	2	7,012	14,024
Toronto Rock	2	6,794	13,589
Vancouver Stealth	1	4,011	4,011
League	8	8,869	70,952

See also

• 2017 in sports