The 2020 National Lacrosse League season, formally known as the 2019–2020 season, was the 34th in the history of the NLL. The season began on November 29, 2019 and was scheduled to end with the NLL final in late spring of 2020.[2][3] However due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the season was suspended on March 12, 2020.[4] On April 8, the league made a further public statement announcing the cancellation of the remaining games of the 2020 season and that they would be exploring options for playoffs once it was safe to resume play.[5][6]

2020 NLL season
LeagueNational Lacrosse League
SportIndoor lacrosse (box lacrosse)
DurationNovember 29, 2019 — March 12, 2020
Number of games18
Number of teams13
TV partner(s)B/R Live[1] (United States)
Twitter and Facebook (Globally)
Regular season
Top seedNew England Black Wolves
Season MVPShayne Jackson
Top scorerCallum Crawford
Playoffs
NLL seasons

This season was the inaugural season for the expansion Knighthawks[7] and Riptide.[8][9] The former Rochester Knighthawks under owner Curt Styres relocated to Halifax for this season while Pegula Sports and Entertainment took over the Knighthawks moniker with a new expansion team.[10][11][12]

With the addition of two teams, the NLL was realigned into a three division league. The five west division teams remained the same but the six east division and two expansion teams were distributed into a north and a new east division. The top-two teams in each division would qualify for the playoffs plus and additional two wild card teams.[13]

Teams

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  North Division   East Division   West Division
2020 National Lacrosse League
Division Team City Arena Capacity
North Buffalo Bandits Buffalo, New York KeyBank Center 19,070
Halifax Thunderbirds Halifax, Nova Scotia Scotiabank Centre 10,500
Rochester Knighthawks Rochester, New York Blue Cross Arena 10,662
Toronto Rock Toronto, Ontario Scotiabank Arena 18,800
East Georgia Swarm Duluth, Georgia Infinite Energy Arena 10,500
New England Black Wolves Uncasville, Connecticut Mohegan Sun Arena 7,074
New York Riptide Uniondale, New York Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum 13,917
Philadelphia Wings Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Wells Fargo Center 19,306
West Calgary Roughnecks Calgary, Alberta Scotiabank Saddledome 19,289
Colorado Mammoth Denver, Colorado Pepsi Center 18,007
San Diego Seals San Diego, California Pechanga Arena 12,920
Saskatchewan Rush Saskatoon, Saskatchewan SaskTel Centre 15,195
Vancouver Warriors Vancouver, British Columbia Rogers Arena 18,910

Regular season

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Reference: [14]

North Division
PTeamGPWLPCTGBHomeRoadGFGADiffGF/GPGA/GP

1Halifax Thunderbirds1284.6670.06–12–3139126+1311.5810.50
2Toronto Rock1174.6360.54–23–2122106+1611.099.64
3Buffalo Bandits1174.6360.54–23–2130118+1211.8210.73
4Rochester Knighthawks12210.1676.02–30–7115165−509.5813.75
East Division
PTeamGPWLPCTGBHomeRoadGFGADiffGF/GPGA/GP

1New England Black Wolves1183.7270.04–34–0135101+3412.279.18
2Georgia Swarm1275.5831.52–45–1149126+2312.4210.50
3Philadelphia Wings1486.5711.53–35–3151134+1710.799.57
4New York Riptide13112.0778.01–50–7116177−618.9213.62
West Division
PTeamGPWLPCTGBHomeRoadGFGADiffGF/GPGA/GP

1Saskatchewan Rush1073.7000.02–35–011193+1811.109.30
2Colorado Mammoth1376.5381.54–23–4128125+39.859.62
3San Diego Seals1266.5002.03–33–3138131+711.5010.92
4Calgary Roughnecks1055.5002.01–44–1122111+1112.2011.10
5Vancouver Warriors1349.3084.52–42–5117160−439.0012.31

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; GBGames 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

Awards

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Annual awards

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References: Winners[15]

Award Winner Other Finalists
Most Valuable Player Shayne Jackson, Georgia Swarm Callum Crawford, New England Black Wolves
Rob Hellyer, Toronto Rock
Goaltender of the Year Doug Jamieson, New England Black Wolves Zach Higgins, Philadelphia Wings
Dillon Ward, Colorado Mammoth
Defensive Player of the Year Graeme Hossack, Halifax Thunderbirds Robert Hope, Colorado Mammoth
Kyle Rubisch, Saskatchewan Rush
Transition Player of the Year Challen Rogers, Toronto Rock Zach Currier, Calgary Roughnecks
Kiel Matisz, Philadelphia Wings
Rookie of the Year Tyson Gibson, New York Riptide Connor Fields, San Diego Seals
Andrew Kew, New England Black Wolves
Sportsmanship Award Lyle Thompson, Georgia Swarm Kyle Buchanan, San Diego Seals
Curtis Knight, Rochester Knighthawks
GM of the Year Paul Day, Philadelphia Wings Jamie Dawick, Toronto Rock
Rich Lisk, New England Black Wolves
Les Bartley Award Paul Day, Philadelphia Wings Mike Accursi, Halifax Thunderbirds
Glenn Clark, New England Black Wolves
Executive of the Year Award John Catalano, Halifax Thunderbirds Matt Hutchings, Colorado Mammoth
Rich Lisk, New England Black Wolves
Teammate of the Year Award Dan Dawson, Toronto Rock (tie)
Mike Poulin, Georgia Swarm
John Ranagan, New England Black Wolves
Tom Borrelli Award Craig Rybczynski Jake Elliott
Teddy Jenner

Stadiums and locations

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Georgia Swarm New England Black Wolves New York Riptide Philadelphia Wings
Gas South Arena Mohegan Sun Arena Nassau Coliseum Wells Fargo Center
Capacity: 11,355 Capacity: 7,700 Capacity: 13,917 Capacity: 19,543
       
Buffalo Bandits Halifax Thunderbirds Rochester Knighthawks Toronto Rock
KeyBank Center Scotiabank Centre[2] Blue Cross Arena Scotiabank Arena
Capacity: 19,070 Capacity: 10,595 Capacity: 11,200 Capacity: 18,819
       
Calgary Roughnecks Colorado Mammoth San Diego Seals Saskatchewan Rush Vancouver Warriors
Scotiabank Saddledome Ball Arena Pechanga Arena SaskTel Centre Rogers Arena
Capacity: 19,289 Capacity: 18,007 Capacity: 12,920 Capacity: 15,190 Capacity: 18,910
         

Attendance

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Home Team Home Games Average Attendance Total Attendance[16]
Calgary Roughnecks 5 12,677 63,387
Buffalo Bandits 6 12,089 72,537
Saskatchewan Rush 5 12,007 60,039
Colorado Mammoth 6 11,586 69,521
Toronto Rock 6 8,339 50,037
Philadelphia Wings 6 8,054 48,325
Halifax Thunderbirds 7 7,642 53,496
Georgia Swarm 6 7,613 45,681
Vancouver Warriors 6 6,769 40,616
New England Black Wolves 7 5,132 35,928
Rochester Knighthawks 5 5,050 25,252
San Diego Seals 6 4,829 28,977
New York Riptide 6 4,157 24,942
League 77 8,035 618,738

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Hepburn, Tmera (December 12, 2019). "Lacrosse Fans Can Now Watch a 'Game Of The Week' For Free – Here's How". Cord Cutters News.
  2. ^ a b "NLL Announces brands and identities for its two newest teams". NLL.com. February 17, 2019. Retrieved August 24, 2019.
  3. ^ "2019-20 National Lacrosse League Schedule Released". National Lacrosse League. Retrieved December 27, 2019.
  4. ^ "NLL Statement on game play (March 12, 2020)". NLL.com. March 12, 2020. Retrieved July 5, 2020.
  5. ^ "National Lacrosse League cancels remainder of season due to COVID-19". Sportsnet.
  6. ^ "National Lacrosse League announces cancellation of remaining regular season games". NLL.com. April 8, 2020. Retrieved July 5, 2020.
  7. ^ "Knighthawks Unveil New Logo Ahead of Expansion Season". Spectrum News. May 30, 2019. Retrieved December 19, 2019.
  8. ^ "N.Y. National Lacrosse League team named "Riptide"". Long Island Herald. February 18, 2019. Retrieved October 18, 2019.
  9. ^ "Welcome to the NLL Halifax Thunderbirds and New York Riptide". Inside Lacrosse. February 18, 2019. Retrieved October 18, 2019.
  10. ^ "NLL Announces the Rochester Knighthawks are Moving to Halifax for 2019-20 Season". Inside Lacrosse. September 13, 2019. Retrieved October 18, 2019.
  11. ^ Johnson, Melanie (September 13, 2018). "Knighthawks owner leaving, Pegulas taking over franchise". Spectrum News. Retrieved December 19, 2019.
  12. ^ Parsons, Jack (December 6, 2019). "Halifax Thunderbirds to play first regular season game this weekend". Halifax Today. Retrieved December 19, 2019.
  13. ^ Ferger, Michael (9 September 2019). "NLL Announces Division Realignment for 2019/2020 Season". Vancouver Warriors. Retrieved 20 May 2024.
  14. ^ "2020 National Lacrosse League Standings". Pointstreak Stats.
  15. ^ "NLL announces 2019-20 NLL award winners". NLL.com. June 30, 2020. Retrieved July 5, 2020.
  16. ^ "2022 Season". nllstats.com. Retrieved 16 June 2023.