# 2019 NLL season

The 2019 National Lacrosse League season, formally known as the 2018–2019 season, is the 33rd in the history of the NLL. It was originally scheduled to begin on December 1, 2018 and ending with the NLL final in late spring of 2019. This season is the inaugural season for the expansion teams San Diego Seals and Philadelphia Wings. This is also the final season for the Rochester Knighthawks under owner Curt Styres, as the team's operations are being relocated to Halifax for the 2019–20 season while Pegula Sports and Entertainment takes over the Knighthawks moniker with a new expansion team.
The Professional Lacrosse Players Association, who represents the NLL players, opted out of their seven-year collective bargaining agreement after the fifth season (2017–18) seeking a new deal. On November 15, 2018 the league announced that a counter-proposal submitted by the Professional Lacrosse Players Association was rejected. This came after the league suspended their Wednesday November 14 deadline to review the counter-proposal after the PLPA rejected the league's offer; the PLPA advised its members not to attend training camp and thus effectively went on strike. Subsequent to this the league announced that all games to be played in the first two weeks of the season (encompassing December 1 and 8 weekends) were cancelled. On November 24 the NLL and the PLPA came to an agreement on the CBA for 5 years, ending the labor dispute.

## Teams

2019 National Lacrosse League :
| Division | Team | City | Arena | Capacity |
| East | Buffalo Bandits | Buffalo, New York | KeyBank Center | 19,070 |
| East | Georgia Swarm | Duluth, Georgia | Infinite Energy Arena | 10,500 |
| East | New England Black Wolves | Uncasville, Connecticut | Mohegan Sun Arena | 7,074 |
| East | Philadelphia Wings | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | Wells Fargo Center | 19,306 |
| East | Rochester Knighthawks | Rochester, New York | Blue Cross Arena | 10,662 |
| East | Toronto Rock | Toronto, Ontario | Scotiabank Arena | 18,800 |
| West | Calgary Roughnecks | Calgary, Alberta | Scotiabank Saddledome | 19,289 |
| West | Colorado Mammoth | Denver, Colorado | Pepsi Center | 18,007 |
| West | San Diego Seals | San Diego, California | Pechanga Arena | 12,920 |
| West | Saskatchewan Rush | Saskatoon, Saskatchewan | SaskTel Centre | 15,195 |
| West | Vancouver Warriors | Vancouver, British Columbia | Rogers Arena | 18,910 |

## Regular season

Reference:
East Division :
| P | Team | GP | W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | GF | GA | Diff | GF/GP | GA/GP |
| 1 | Buffalo Bandits – xyz | 18 | 14 | 4 | .778 | 0.0 | 7–2 | 7–2 | 244 | 186 | +58 | 13.56 | 10.33 |
| 2 | Georgia Swarm – x | 18 | 12 | 6 | .667 | 2.0 | 7–2 | 5–4 | 230 | 210 | +20 | 12.78 | 11.67 |
| 3 | Toronto Rock – x | 18 | 12 | 6 | .667 | 2.0 | 8–1 | 4–5 | 213 | 207 | +6 | 11.83 | 11.50 |
| 4 | New England Black Wolves – x | 18 | 9 | 9 | .500 | 5.0 | 7–2 | 2–7 | 213 | 223 | −10 | 11.83 | 12.39 |
| 5 | Rochester Knighthawks | 18 | 6 | 12 | .333 | 8.0 | 4–5 | 2–7 | 212 | 226 | −14 | 11.78 | 12.56 |
| 6 | Philadelphia Wings | 18 | 4 | 14 | .222 | 10.0 | 3–6 | 1–8 | 218 | 246 | −28 | 12.11 | 13.67 |
West Division :
| P | Team | GP | W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | GF | GA | Diff | GF/GP | GA/GP |
| 1 | Saskatchewan Rush – xy | 18 | 11 | 7 | .611 | 0.0 | 7–2 | 4–5 | 222 | 202 | +20 | 12.33 | 11.22 |
| 2 | San Diego Seals – x | 18 | 10 | 8 | .556 | 1.0 | 6–3 | 4–5 | 208 | 217 | −9 | 11.56 | 12.06 |
| 3 | Calgary Roughnecks – x | 18 | 10 | 8 | .556 | 1.0 | 5–4 | 5–4 | 212 | 201 | +11 | 11.78 | 11.17 |
| 4 | Colorado Mammoth – x | 18 | 6 | 12 | .333 | 5.0 | 3–6 | 3–6 | 181 | 193 | −12 | 10.06 | 10.72 |
| 5 | Vancouver Warriors | 18 | 5 | 13 | .278 | 6.0 | 3–6 | 2–7 | 179 | 221 | −42 | 9.94 | 12.28 |
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 |
| Dane Dobbie | Calgary Roughnecks | 18 | 47 | 68 | 115 | 12 | 69 |
| Callum Crawford | New England Black Wolves | 16 | 48 | 61 | 109 | 33 | 78 |
| Mark Matthews | Saskatchewan Rush | 18 | 41 | 64 | 105 | 8 | 70 |
| Lyle Thompson | Georgia Swarm | 18 | 43 | 62 | 105 | 6 | 94 |
| Dhane Smith | Buffalo Bandits | 16 | 32 | 70 | 102 | 8 | 72 |
| Randy Staats | Georgia Swarm | 17 | 37 | 59 | 96 | 12 | 45 |
| Shawn Evans | Buffalo Bandits | 17 | 28 | 66 | 94 | 17 | 69 |
| Tom Schreiber | Toronto Rock | 18 | 29 | 65 | 94 | 2 | 61 |
| Stephan Leblanc | New England Black Wolves | 18 | 27 | 66 | 93 | 13 | 58 |
| Dan Dawson | San Diego Seals | 18 | 29 | 59 | 88 | 8 | 49 |

## 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 |
| Matt Vinc | Buffalo Bandits | 18 | 1036 | 14 | 2 | 173 | 0.802 | 10.02 |
| Nick Rose | Toronto Rock | 18 | 1028 | 12 | 6 | 201 | 0.770 | 11.73 |
| Mike Poulin | Georgia Swarm | 17 | 899 | 11 | 4 | 164 | 0.791 | 10.94 |
| Frankie Scigliano | San Diego Seals | 18 | 997 | 10 | 7 | 200 | 0.779 | 12.03 |
| Christian Del Bianco | Calgary Roughnecks | 18 | 1074 | 10 | 8 | 200 | 0.781 | 11.17 |

## Playoffs

| Divisional Semifinal | Divisional Semifinal | Divisional Semifinal | Divisional Final | Divisional Final | Divisional Final | NLL Final (best of 3) | NLL Final (best of 3) | NLL Final (best of 3) | NLL Final (best of 3) | NLL Final (best of 3) | |
| E1 | Buffalo | 13 | | | | | | | | | |
| E4 | New England | 6 | | | | | | | | | |
| E4 | New England | 6 | E1 | Buffalo | 12 | | | | | | |
| Eastern Division | Eastern Division | Eastern Division | E1 | Buffalo | 12 | | | | | | |
| Eastern Division | Eastern Division | Eastern Division | E3 | Toronto | 8 | | | | | | |
| E2 | Georgia | 14 | E3 | Toronto | 8 | | | | | | |
| E3 | Toronto | 16 | | | | | | | | | |
| E3 | Toronto | 16 | | | | E1 | Buffalo | 7 | 13 | — | |
| | | | | | | W3 | Calgary | 10 | 14* | — | |
| W1 | Saskatchewan | 10 | | | | | | | | W3 | Calgary | 10 | 14* | — |
| W4 | Colorado | 11* | | | | | | | | | |
| W4 | Colorado | 11* | W4 | Colorado | 4 | | | | | | |
| Western Division | Western Division | Western Division | W4 | Colorado | 4 | | | | | | |
| Western Division | Western Division | Western Division | W3 | Calgary | 8 | | | | | | |
| W2 | San Diego | 11 | W3 | Calgary | 8 | | | | | | |
| W3 | Calgary | 12 | | | | | | | | | |
*Overtime

### NLL Final (best of three)
#### (E1) Buffalo Bandits vs. (W3) Calgary Roughnecks

Roughnecks win series 2–0.

## Awards
### Annual awards

References: Nominees and Winners
| Award | Winner | Other Finalists |
| Most Valuable Player | Dane Dobbie, Calgary Roughnecks | Lyle Thompson, Georgia Swarm Matt Vinc, Buffalo Bandits |
| Goaltender of the Year | Matt Vinc, Buffalo Bandits | Christian Del Bianco, Calgary Roughnecks Dillon Ward, Colorado Mammoth |
| Defensive Player of the Year | Graeme Hossack, Rochester Knighthawks | Steve Priolo, Buffalo Bandits 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 | Austin Staats, San Diego Seals | Ian MacKay, Buffalo Bandits Matt Rambo, Philadelphia Wings |
| Sportsmanship Award | Lyle Thompson, Georgia Swarm | Dan Dawson, San Diego Seals Tom Schreiber, Toronto Rock |
| GM of the Year | Steve Dietrich, Buffalo Bandits | Mike Board, Calgary Roughnecks Patrick Merrill, San Diego Seals |
| Les Bartley Award | John Tavares/Rich Kilgour, Buffalo Bandits | Curt Malawsky, Calgary Roughnecks Matt Sawyer, Toronto Rock |
| Executive of the Year Award | Terri Giberson, Toronto Rock | Lindsey Masciangelo, Philadelphia Wings Dave Zygaj, Buffalo Bandits |
| Teammate of the Year Award | John Ranagan, Georgia Swarm | Kyle Buchanan, San Diego Seals Chad Cummings, Calgary Roughnecks |
| Tom Borrelli Award | Tyson Geick, Lacrosse Flash | Bob Chavez, IL Indoor Barstool Jordie, Barstool Sports |

## Stadiums and locations

| Buffalo Bandits | Georgia Swarm | New England Black Wolves | Philadelphia Wings | Rochester Knighthawks | Toronto Rock |
| KeyBank Center | Infinite Energy Arena | Mohegan Sun Arena | Wells Fargo Center | Blue Cross Arena | Scotiabank Arena |
| Capacity: 19,070 | Capacity: 11,355 | Capacity: 7,700 | Capacity: 19,543 | Capacity: 11,200 | Capacity: 18,819 |
| Calgary Roughnecks | Colorado Mammoth | San Diego Seals | Saskatchewan Rush | Vancouver Warriors |
| Scotiabank Saddledome | Pepsi Center | Valley View Casino Center | SaskTel Centre | Rogers Arena |
| Capacity: 19,289 | Capacity: 18,007 | Capacity: 12,920 | Capacity: 15,190 | Capacity: 18,910 |

## Attendance
### Regular Season

| Home Team | Home Games | Average Attendance | Total Attendance |
| Saskatchewan Rush | 9 | 13,459 | 121,131 |
| Buffalo Bandits | 9 | 13,046 | 117,415 |
| Colorado Mammoth | 9 | 12,815 | 115,342 |
| Calgary Roughnecks | 9 | 12,593 | 113,345 |
| Philadelphia Wings | 9 | 10,905 | 98,147 |
| Toronto Rock | 9 | 9,476 | 85,289 |
| San Diego Seals | 9 | 7,769 | 69,921 |
| Vancouver Warriors | 9 | 6,833 | 61,501 |
| Georgia Swarm | 9 | 6,698 | 60,287 |
| Rochester Knighthawks | 9 | 6,440 | 57,964 |
| New England Black Wolves | 9 | 5,526 | 49,741 |
| League | 99 | 9,596 | 950,083 |

### Playoffs

| Home Team | Home Games | Average Attendance | Total Attendance |
| Buffalo Bandits | 3 | 13,052 | 39,158 |
| Calgary Roughnecks | 2 | 12,969 | 25,938 |
| Saskatchewan Rush | 1 | 11,658 | 11,658 |
| Georgia Swarm | 1 | 8,862 | 8,862 |
| San Diego Seals | 1 | 5,005 | 5,005 |
| League | 12 | 10,509 | 126,110 |