The 2024 NLL season was the 37th season of play of the National Lacrosse League (NLL). The season began on December 1, 2023, and ended on May 18, 2024, with the Buffalo Bandits sweeping the Albany FireWolves 2–0 in the NLL Finals series to claim their sixth league title.
During the season, on 29 December 2023, Canadian referee Carmen Massel became the first woman to be part of the officiating crew in a game in the NLL. She was the shot clock operator for the San Diego Seals vs. Rochester Knighthawks game in San Diego.
League business
NLL Unboxed On November 16, 2023, the NLL announced "NLL Unboxed", a new initiative to promote lacrosse among youth via branded "lacrosse communities" in strategic markets that do not currently have NLL teams. As part of the initiative, the NLL hosted a regular season game known as the NLL Unboxed Series in Laval, Quebec (a suburb of Unboxed market Montreal, which previously had an NLL team in 2002 in the form of the Montreal Express) featuring the New York Riptide hosting the Toronto Rock at Place Bell.
Team relocation On February 21, 2024, the NLL announced that the New York Riptide would relocate to Ottawa, and will be renamed the Ottawa Black Bears.
Teams 2024 National Lacrosse League Team City Arena Capacity Albany FireWolves Albany, New York MVP Arena 14,236 Buffalo Bandits Buffalo, New York KeyBank Center 19,070 Calgary Roughnecks Calgary, Alberta Scotiabank Saddledome 19,289 Colorado Mammoth Denver, Colorado Ball Arena 18,000 Georgia Swarm Duluth, Georgia Gas South Arena 10,500 Halifax Thunderbirds Halifax, Nova Scotia Scotiabank Centre 10,500 Las Vegas Desert Dogs Paradise, Nevada Michelob Ultra Arena 12,000 New York Riptide Uniondale, New York Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum 13,917 Panther City Lacrosse Club Fort Worth, Texas Dickies Arena 12,200 Philadelphia Wings Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Wells Fargo Center 19,306 Rochester Knighthawks Rochester, New York Blue Cross Arena 10,662 San Diego Seals San Diego, California Pechanga Arena 12,920 Saskatchewan Rush Saskatoon, Saskatchewan SaskTel Centre 15,195 Toronto Rock Toronto, Ontario Scotiabank Arena 18,800 Vancouver Warriors Vancouver, British Columbia Rogers Arena 18,910
Map of teams
Regular season The 2024 season introduced a new regular season format; conferences were abolished, with all teams now playing within the same standings. Each team played each other at least once, and the schedule formula provided the opportunity for four "flex games" to showcase league rivalries and players. The top eight teams advanced to the playoffs.x = clinched playoff berth | z = clinched top overall record
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 LBJosh Byrne Buffalo Bandits 1853821351475Dhane Smith Buffalo Bandits 18331011348119Jeff Teat New York Riptide 1858731316111Connor Fields Rochester Knighthawks 18566412010158Mitchell Jones Philadelphia Wings 1836751110110Wesley Berg San Diego Seals 1841671081896Jesse King Calgary Roughnecks 1832731051685Keegan Bal Vancouver Warriors 184956105266Will Malcom Panther City Lacrosse Club 183768105094Clarke Petterson Halifax Thunderbirds 1840641041091
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 Nick Rose Toronto Rock 181078 15 2 1650.8119.18 Christopher Origlieri San Diego Seals 181059 13 5 1730.7929.79 Doug Jamieson Albany FireWolves 17978 11 5 1650.80010.12 Christian Del Bianco Calgary Roughnecks 181081 8 10 1920.79510.65 Warren Hill Halifax Thunderbirds 181039 9 8 1880.77310.85
Playoffs *Overtime
Quarterfinal
(1) Toronto Rock vs. (8) Rochester Knighthawks
(4) Buffalo Bandits vs. (5) Georgia Swarm
(2) San Diego Seals vs. (8) Panther City Lacrosse Club
(3) Albany FireWolves vs. (6) Halifax Thunderbirds
Semifinal (best of three)
(1) Toronto Rock vs. (4) Buffalo Bandits
Bandits win series 2–0.
(2) San Diego Seals vs. (3) Albany FireWolves
FireWolves win series 2–0.
(3) Albany FireWolves vs. (4) Buffalo Bandits NLL Final (best of three)
Bandits win series 2–0.
Awards Annual awards
AwardWinnerOther Finalists Most Valuable Player Josh Byrne, Buffalo Bandits Dhane Smith, Buffalo BanditsNick Rose, Toronto Rock Goaltender of the Year Nick Rose, Toronto Rock Doug Jamieson, Albany FireWolvesChris Origlieri, San Diego Seals Defensive Player of the Year Ryan Dilks, Vancouver Warriors Mitch de Snoo, Toronto RockBrad Kri, Toronto Rock Transition Player of the Year Jake Withers, Halifax Thunderbirds Ian MacKay, Buffalo BanditsShane Simpson, Calgary Roughnecks Offensive Player of the Year Josh Byrne, Buffalo Bandits Dhane Smith, Buffalo BanditsJeff Teat, New York Riptide Rookie of the Year Alex Simmons, Albany FireWolves Owen Grant, Vancouver WarriorsTye Kurtz, Albany FireWolves Sportsmanship Award Lyle Thompson, Georgia Swarm Keegan Bal, Vancouver WarriorsTom Schreiber, Toronto Rock GM of the Year Glenn Clark, Albany FireWolves Jamie Dawick, Toronto RockCurt Malawsky, Vancouver Warriors Les Bartley Award Glenn Clark, Albany FireWolves Curt Malawsky, Vancouver WarriorsMatt Sawyer, Toronto Rock Executive of the Year Award John Catalano, Halifax Thunderbirds Mike Hancock, Toronto RockOliver Marti, Albany FireWolves Teammate of the Year Award Zach Greer, Las Vegas Desert Dogs not announced Tom Borrelli Award Adam Levi, NLL.com, NLLPA, Inside Lacrosse, "Lacrosse Matrix" podcast Teddy Jenner, TSN, "Off the CrosseBar" podcastGraeme Perrow, NLL Chatter
Stadiums and locations Georgia Swarm Albany FireWolves New York Riptide Philadelphia Wings Gas South Arena MVP Arena Nassau Coliseum Wells Fargo Center Capacity: 11,355 Capacity: 14,236 Capacity: 13,917 Capacity: 19,543 Buffalo Bandits Halifax Thunderbirds Rochester Knighthawks Toronto Rock KeyBank Center Scotiabank Centre Blue Cross Arena First Ontario Centre Capacity: 19,070 Capacity: 10,595 Capacity: 11,200 Capacity: 17,383
Calgary Roughnecks Colorado Mammoth San Diego Seals Saskatchewan Rush WestJet Field at Scotiabank Saddledome Ball Arena Pechanga Arena Co-op Field at SaskTel Centre Capacity: 19,289 Capacity: 18,007 Capacity: 12,920 Capacity: 15,190
Vancouver Warriors Las Vegas Desert Dogs Panther City Lacrosse Club Rogers Arena Michelob Ultra Arena Dickies Arena Capacity: 18,910 Capacity: 12,000 Capacity: 12,200
Attendance
Regular season + Home team Home games Average attendance Total attendance Buffalo Bandits 9 16,974 152,767Calgary Roughnecks 9 11,713 105,417Colorado Mammoth 9 10,380 93,416Halifax Thunderbirds 9 9,165 82,484Vancouver Warriors 9 8,874 79,867Toronto Rock 9 8,636 77,727Philadelphia Wings 9 8,364 75,276Saskatchewan Rush 9 8,085 72,767Las Vegas Desert Dogs 9 6,350 57,154Georgia Swarm 9 6,231 56,079Rochester Knighthawks 9 5,526 48,738New York Riptide 9 4,891 44,021San Diego Seals 9 4,667 42,002Albany FireWolves 9 3,963 35,665Panther City LC 9 2,704 24,332League1357,7681,047,712
Playoffs Home teamHome GamesAverage AttendanceTotal AttendanceBuffalo Bandits 3 17,749 53,247Toronto Rock 2 7,032 14,064San Diego Seals 2 4,903 9,805Albany FireWolves 3 2,930 8,790League 10 8,591 85,906
See also 2024 in sports
References