# 2022 NLL season

The 2022 National Lacrosse League season, formally known as the 2021–2022 season, was the 35th in the history of the NLL. The season began on December 3, 2021, and ended with the NLL final in late spring of 2022. This was the inaugural season for the expansion team Panther City Lacrosse Club, and the Albany FireWolves who relocated from New England. The NLL returned after missing a season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Colorado Mammoth defeated the Buffalo Bandits in a best of three series to win its first championship since 2006.
The 2022 season was the start of a multi-year broadcasting deal with ESPN.

## Teams

2022 National Lacrosse League :
| Division | Team | City | Arena | Capacity |
| East | Albany FireWolves | Albany, New York | MVP Arena | 14,236 |
| East | Buffalo Bandits | Buffalo, New York | KeyBank Center | 19,070 |
| East | Georgia Swarm | Duluth, Georgia | Gas South Arena | 10,500 |
| East | Halifax Thunderbirds | Halifax, Nova Scotia | Scotiabank Centre | 10,500 |
| East | New York Riptide | Uniondale, New York | Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum | 13,917 |
| East | Rochester Knighthawks | Rochester, New York | Blue Cross Arena | 10,662 |
| East | Philadelphia Wings | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | Wells Fargo Center | 19,306 |
| East | Toronto Rock | Toronto, Ontario | Scotiabank Arena | 18,800 |
| West | Calgary Roughnecks | Calgary, Alberta | Scotiabank Saddledome | 19,289 |
| West | Colorado Mammoth | Denver, Colorado | Ball Arena | 18,000 |
| West | Panther City Lacrosse Club | Fort Worth, Texas | Dickies Arena | 12,200 |
| 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 Conference :
| 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 | 247 | 185 | +62 | 13.72 | 10.28 |
| 2 | Toronto Rock – x | 18 | 13 | 5 | .722 | 1.0 | 7–2 | 6–3 | 207 | 166 | +41 | 11.50 | 9.22 |
| 3 | Halifax Thunderbirds – x | 18 | 11 | 7 | .611 | 3.0 | 7–2 | 4–5 | 198 | 195 | +3 | 11.00 | 10.83 |
| 4 | Albany FireWolves – x | 18 | 9 | 9 | .500 | 5.0 | 5–4 | 4–5 | 198 | 195 | +3 | 11.00 | 10.83 |
| 5 | Philadelphia Wings – x | 18 | 9 | 9 | .500 | 5.0 | 4–5 | 5–4 | 185 | 199 | −14 | 10.28 | 11.06 |
| 6 | Georgia Swarm | 18 | 9 | 9 | .500 | 5.0 | 4–5 | 5–4 | 205 | 212 | −7 | 11.39 | 11.78 |
| 7 | New York Riptide | 18 | 6 | 12 | .333 | 8.0 | 3–6 | 3–6 | 214 | 226 | −12 | 11.89 | 12.56 |
| 8 | Rochester Knighthawks | 18 | 4 | 14 | .222 | 10.0 | 2–7 | 2–7 | 184 | 221 | −37 | 10.22 | 12.28 |
West Conference :
| P | Team | GP | W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | GF | GA | Diff | GF/GP | GA/GP |
| 1 | San Diego Seals – xy | 18 | 10 | 8 | .556 | 0.0 | 5–4 | 5–4 | 202 | 183 | +19 | 11.22 | 10.17 |
| 2 | Calgary Roughnecks – x | 18 | 10 | 8 | .556 | 0.0 | 6–3 | 4–5 | 194 | 201 | −7 | 10.78 | 11.17 |
| 3 | Colorado Mammoth – x | 18 | 10 | 8 | .556 | 0.0 | 7–2 | 3–6 | 196 | 198 | −2 | 10.89 | 11.00 |
| 4 | Saskatchewan Rush | 18 | 8 | 10 | .444 | 2.0 | 6–3 | 2–7 | 196 | 194 | +2 | 10.89 | 10.78 |
| 5 | Panther City Lacrosse Club | 18 | 7 | 11 | .389 | 3.0 | 3–6 | 4–5 | 190 | 223 | −33 | 10.56 | 12.39 |
| 6 | Vancouver Warriors | 18 | 6 | 12 | .333 | 4.0 | 3–6 | 3–6 | 199 | 209 | −10 | 11.06 | 11.61 |

## 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 |
| Dhane Smith | Buffalo Bandits | 18 | 41 | 94 | 135 | 10 | 93 |
| Ryan Lee | Colorado Mammoth | 18 | 34 | 85 | 119 | 13 | 68 |
| Joe Resetarits | Albany FireWolves | 18 | 47 | 64 | 111 | 0 | 58 |
| Jeff Teat | New York Riptide | 16 | 37 | 71 | 108 | 2 | 111 |
| Lyle Thompson | Georgia Swarm | 17 | 47 | 55 | 102 | 8 | 107 |
| Keegan Bal | Vancouver Warriors | 17 | 44 | 55 | 99 | 4 | 93 |
| Josh Byrne | Buffalo Bandits | 18 | 37 | 62 | 99 | 12 | 74 |
| Jesse King | Calgary Roughnecks | 18 | 29 | 66 | 95 | 6 | 104 |
| Robert Church | Saskatchewan Rush | 18 | 38 | 56 | 94 | 4 | 74 |
| Mark Matthews | Saskatchewan Rush | 18 | 30 | 62 | 92 | 10 | 59 |

## 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 | 1063 | 14 | 4 | 179 | 0.806 | 10.10 |
| Nick Rose | Toronto Rock | 18 | 1007 | 13 | 3 | 152 | 0.802 | 9.05 |
| Christian Del Bianco | Calgary Roughnecks | 18 | 1070 | 10 | 8 | 197 | 0.771 | 11.04 |
| Dillon Ward | Colorado Mammoth | 18 | 985 | 9 | 7 | 168 | 0.803 | 10.22 |
| Doug Jamieson | Albany FireWolves | 18 | 1062 | 9 | 8 | 183 | 0.786 | 10.34 |

## Playoffs

| Conference Semifinal | Conference Semifinal | Conference Semifinal | Conference Final (best of 3) | Conference Final (best of 3) | Conference Final (best of 3) | NLL Final (best of 3) | NLL Final (best of 3) | NLL Final (best of 3) |
| E1 | Buffalo | 10 | | | | | | |
| E4 | Albany | 5 | | | | | | |
| E4 | Albany | 5 | E1 | Buffalo | 2 | | | |
| Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | E1 | Buffalo | 2 | | | |
| Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | E2 | Toronto | 0 | | | |
| E2 | Toronto | 14* | E2 | Toronto | 0 | | | |
| E3 | Halifax | 13 | | | | | | |
| E3 | Halifax | 13 | | | | E1 | Buffalo | 1 |
| | | | | | | W3 | Colorado | 2 |
| W1 | San Diego | 9 | | | | | | | W3 | Colorado | 2 |
| WC | Philadelphia | 8 | | | | | | |
| WC | Philadelphia | 8 | W1 | San Diego | 1 | | | |
| Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | W1 | San Diego | 1 | | | |
| Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | W3 | Colorado | 2 | | | |
| W2 | Calgary | 12 | W3 | Colorado | 2 | | | |
| W3 | Colorado | 16 | | | | | | |
*Overtime

### Conference Final (best of three)
#### Eastern Conference
#### (E1) Buffalo Bandits vs. (E2) Toronto Rock

Bandits win series 2–0.

#### (W1) San Diego Seals vs. (W3) Colorado Mammoth

Mammoth wins series 2–1.

### NLL Final (best of three)
#### (E1) Buffalo Bandits vs. (W3) Colorado Mammoth

Mammoth wins series 2–1.

## Awards
### Annual awards

| Award | Winner | Other Finalists |
| Most Valuable Player | Dhane Smith, Buffalo Bandits | Joe Resetarits, Albany FireWolves Matt Vinc, Buffalo Bandits |
| Goaltender of the Year | Matt Vinc, Buffalo Bandits | Nick Rose, Toronto Rock Dillon Ward, Colorado Mammoth |
| Defensive Player of the Year | Mitch de Snoo, Toronto Rock | Steve Priolo, Buffalo Bandits Kyle Rubisch, Saskatchewan Rush |
| Transition Player of the Year | Zach Currier, Calgary Roughnecks | Reid Bowering, Vancouver Warriors Challen Rogers, Toronto Rock |
| Rookie of the Year | Jeff Teat, New York Riptide | Reid Bowering, Vancouver Warriors Patrick Dodds, Panther City Lacrosse Club |
| Sportsmanship Award | Lyle Thompson, Georgia Swarm | Keegan Bal, Vancouver Warriors Dan Dawson, Toronto Rock |
| GM of the Year | Steve Dietrich, Buffalo Bandits | Jamie Dawick, Toronto Rock Bob Hamley, Panther City Lacrosse Club |
| Les Bartley Award | Tracey Kelusky, Panther City Lacrosse Club | Matt Sawyer, Toronto Rock John Tavares, Buffalo Bandits |
| Executive of the Year Award | Jamie Dawick, Toronto Rock | Greg Bibb, Panther City Lacrosse Club Rich Lisk, New York Riptide |
| Teammate of the Year Award | Jeremy Thompson, Panther City Lacrosse Club | Zach Currier, Calgary Roughnecks Jeff Shattler, Saskatchewan Rush |
| Tom Borrelli Award | Pat Gregoire, Halifax Thunderbirds | Jake Elliott, Vancouver Warriors Tyson Geick, Halifax Thunderbirds / Lacrosse Flash |

## 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 | Vancouver Warriors |
| Scotiabank Saddledome | Ball Arena | Pechanga Arena | Co-op Field at 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 |
| Buffalo Bandits | 9 | 9,921 | 89,293 |
| Calgary Roughnecks | 9 | 9,282 | 83,539 |
| Saskatchewan Rush | 9 | 8,947 | 80,523 |
| Colorado Mammoth | 9 | 8,218 | 73,963 |
| Georgia Swarm | 9 | 8,098 | 72,889 |
| Toronto Rock | 6 | 8,071 | 48,424 |
| Vancouver Warriors | 9 | 6,920 | 62,277 |
| Philadelphia Wings | 9 | 6,586 | 59,276 |
| San Diego Seals | 9 | 5,778 | 52,000 |
| Albany FireWolves | 9 | 5,524 | 49,713 |
| Halifax Thunderbirds | 7 | 5,439 | 38,070 |
| Panther City LC | 9 | 4,995 | 44,951 |
| New York Riptide | 9 | 4,267 | 38,400 |
| Rochester Knighthawks | 9 | 4,153 | 37,376 |
| League | 121 | 6,865 | 830,694 |
* ↑ Only games open to the public are included
* ↑ For three games, the Thunderbirds reported attendance totals rounded to the even thousand

### Playoffs

| Home Team | Home Games | Average Attendance | Total Attendance |
| Buffalo Bandits | 4 | 14,031 | 56,127 |
| Colorado Mammoth | 2 | 10,314 | 20,627 |
| Toronto Rock | 2 | 7,617 | 15,233 |
| San Diego Seals | 3 | 6,719 | 20,157 |
| Calgary Roughnecks | 1 | 6,000 | 6,000 |
| League | 12 | 9,845 | 118,144 |