# 2009 Minnesota Swarm season

The Minnesota Swarm are a lacrosse team based in Minnesota playing in the National Lacrosse League (NLL). The 2009 season was the 5th in franchise history.
The Swarm played their first four seasons in the East division, but because of the addition of the Boston Blazers and the demise of the Arizona Sting, they were moved to the West division for the 2009 season.

## Regular season
### Conference standings

Reference:
East Division :
| P | Team | GP | W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | GF | GA | Diff | GF/GP | GA/GP |
| 1 | New York Titans – xy | 16 | 10 | 6 | .625 | 0.0 | 5–3 | 5–3 | 190 | 180 | +10 | 11.88 | 11.25 |
| 2 | Buffalo Bandits – x | 16 | 10 | 6 | .625 | 0.0 | 5–3 | 5–3 | 223 | 170 | +53 | 13.94 | 10.62 |
| 3 | Boston Blazers – x | 16 | 10 | 6 | .625 | 0.0 | 4–4 | 6–2 | 181 | 168 | +13 | 11.31 | 10.50 |
| 4 | Rochester Knighthawks – x | 16 | 7 | 9 | .438 | 3.0 | 6–2 | 1–7 | 169 | 197 | −28 | 10.56 | 12.31 |
| 5 | Philadelphia Wings | 16 | 7 | 9 | .438 | 3.0 | 4–4 | 3–5 | 188 | 193 | −5 | 11.75 | 12.06 |
| 6 | Toronto Rock | 16 | 6 | 10 | .375 | 4.0 | 3–5 | 3–5 | 194 | 218 | −24 | 12.12 | 13.62 |
West Division :
| P | Team | GP | W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | GF | GA | Diff | GF/GP | GA/GP |
| 1 | Calgary Roughnecks – xyz | 16 | 12 | 4 | .750 | 0.0 | 5–3 | 7–1 | 206 | 167 | +39 | 12.88 | 10.44 |
| 2 | Portland LumberJax – x | 16 | 9 | 7 | .562 | 3.0 | 4–4 | 5–3 | 181 | 177 | +4 | 11.31 | 11.06 |
| 3 | San Jose Stealth – x | 16 | 7 | 9 | .438 | 5.0 | 5–3 | 2–6 | 200 | 185 | +15 | 12.50 | 11.56 |
| 4 | Colorado Mammoth – x | 16 | 7 | 9 | .438 | 5.0 | 4–4 | 3–5 | 172 | 184 | −12 | 10.75 | 11.50 |
| 5 | Minnesota Swarm | 16 | 6 | 10 | .375 | 6.0 | 2–6 | 4–4 | 174 | 198 | −24 | 10.88 | 12.38 |
| 6 | Edmonton Rush | 16 | 5 | 11 | .312 | 7.0 | 4–4 | 1–7 | 159 | 200 | −41 | 9.94 | 12.50 |
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

### Game log

Reference:
| Game | Date | Opponent | Location | Score | Attendance | Record |
| 1 | January 3, 2009 | @ Portland LumberJax | Rose Garden | W 11–7 | 7,121 | 1–0 |
| 2 | January 10, 2009 | San Jose Stealth | Xcel Energy Center | W 10–7 | 13,094 | 2–0 |
| 3 | January 24, 2009 | Buffalo Bandits | Xcel Energy Center | L 9–10 | 11,458 | 2–1 |
| 4 | February 6, 2009 | @ Calgary Roughnecks | Pengrowth Saddledome | L 8–13 | 10,090 | 2–2 |
| 5 | February 7, 2009 | Colorado Mammoth | Xcel Energy Center | L 8–13 | 11,174 | 2–3 |
| 6 | February 20, 2009 | Boston Blazers | Xcel Energy Center | L 12–16 | 12,106 | 2–4 |
| 7 | February 21, 2009 | @ Philadelphia Wings (1987–2014) | Wachovia Center | L 12–13 | 10,559 | 2–5 |
| 8 | February 27, 2009 | @ Toronto Rock | Air Canada Centre | W 13–10 | 13,324 | 3–5 |
| 9 | February 28, 2009 | @ Buffalo Bandits | HSBC Arena | W 16–15 | 18,690 | 4–5 |
| 10 | March 14, 2009 | @ Philadelphia Wings (1987–2014) | Wachovia Center | W 13–12 | 10,160 | 5–5 |
| 11 | March 22, 2009 | @ Colorado Mammoth | Pepsi Center | L 11–13 | 15,594 | 5–6 |
| 12 | March 28, 2009 | Calgary Roughnecks | Xcel Energy Center | L 10–13 | 12,364 | 5–7 |
| 13 | April 3, 2009 | @ San Jose Stealth | HP Pavilion at San Jose | L 8–18 | 5,618 | 5–8 |
| 14 | April 4, 2009 | Edmonton Rush | Xcel Energy Center | W 9–7 | 12,476 | 6–8 |
| 15 | April 11, 2009 | Portland LumberJax | Xcel Energy Center | L 14–19 | 12,574 | 6–9 |
| 16 | April 18, 2009 | New York Titans | Xcel Energy Center | L 10–12 | 13,219 | 6–10 |

## Player stats

Reference:

### Runners (Top 10)

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; LB = Loose balls; PIM = Penalty minutes
| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | LB | PIM |
| Sean Pollock | 15 | 26 | 39 | 65 | 74 | 14 |
| Ryan Ward | 15 | 20 | 36 | 56 | 58 | 4 |
| Kevin Buchanan | 11 | 22 | 23 | 45 | 58 | 2 |
| Dan Marohl | 13 | 20 | 25 | 45 | 35 | 2 |
| Aaron Wilson | 10 | 22 | 21 | 43 | 46 | 6 |
| Kevin Ross | 16 | 20 | 23 | 43 | 47 | 8 |
| Chad Culp | 15 | 12 | 23 | 35 | 87 | 7 |
| Andrew Watt | 13 | 6 | 11 | 17 | 68 | 10 |
| Kevin Fines | 12 | 6 | 5 | 11 | 65 | 8 |
| Totals | | 281 | 455 | 262 | 1180 | 32 |

### Goaltenders

Note: GP = Games played; MIN = Minutes; W = Wins; L = Losses; GA = Goals against; Sv% = Save percentage; GAA = Goals against average
| Player | GP | MIN | W | L | GA | Sv% | GAA |
| Kevin Croswell | 16 | 519:13 | 3 | 4 | 97 | .773 | 11.21 |
| Nick Patterson | 16 | 440:36 | 3 | 6 | 100 | .713 | 13.62 |
| Totals | | | 6 | 10 | 198 | .746 | 12.38 |

## Transactions
### Players not returning

* Andrew Biers - traded
* Chris Courtney - traded
* Chris McKay - traded

### Trades

| November 19, 2008 | To Minnesota Swarm fourth round pick, 2010 entry draft | To Rochester KnighthawksChris Courtney |
| September 7, 2008 | To Minnesota Swarm8th overall pick, 2008 entry draft | To Edmonton Rush Andrew Biers 10th overall pick, 2008 entry draft |
| July 1, 2008 | To Minnesota Swarmsecond round pick, 2008 entry draft | To Edmonton Rush Chris McKay |

### Entry draft

The 2008 NLL Entry Draft took place on September 7, 2008. The Swarm selected the following players:
| Round | Overall | Player | College/Club |
| 1 | 8 | Andrew Watt | Robert Morris College |
| 1 | 11 | Kevin Buchanan | Ohio State University |
| 1 | 13 | Joe Cinosky | University of Maryland |
| 2 | 24 | Tom Michaelsen | St John's University |
| 4 | 38 | Ricky Pages | Ohio State University |
| 4 | 40 | Justin Haworth | Limestone College |
| 6 | 73 | Bruce Bickford | Drexel University |