# 2016 NLL season

The 2016 National Lacrosse League season, the 30th in the history of the NLL, began on January 1, 2016, and ended with the Champion's Cup Finals series on June 4, 2016. The Saskatchewan Rush won their 2nd straight title; their first while located in Saskatchewan.

## Milestones and events
### Pre-season

* May 29, 2015: The Minnesota Swarm announce that they would move to the Arena at Gwinnett Center in Duluth, Georgia as the Georgia Swarm.
* July 20, 2015: The Edmonton Rush announce that they would move to the SaskTel Centre in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan as the Saskatchewan Rush.
* September 2, 2015: Buffalo Bandits forward John Tavares announced his retirement after 24 seasons. Tavares is the career leader in goals, assists, points, and games played. He will remain with the Bandits organization as an assistant coach.

## Teams

2016 National Lacrosse League :
| Division | Team | City | Arena | Capacity |
| East | Buffalo Bandits | Buffalo, New York | First Niagara 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 | Rochester Knighthawks | Rochester, New York | Blue Cross Arena | 10,662 |
| East | Toronto Rock | Toronto, Ontario | Air Canada Centre | 18,800 |
| West | Calgary Roughnecks | Calgary, Alberta | Scotiabank Saddledome | 19,289 |
| West | Colorado Mammoth | Denver, Colorado | Pepsi Center | 18,007 |
| West | Saskatchewan Rush | Saskatoon, Saskatchewan | SaskTel Centre | 15,195 |
| West | Vancouver Stealth | Langley, British Columbia | Langley Events Centre | 5,276 |

## Standings

Reference:
East Division :
| P | Team | GP | W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | GF | GA | Diff | GF/GP | GA/GP |
| 1 | Buffalo Bandits – xyz | 18 | 13 | 5 | .722 | 0.0 | 8–1 | 5–4 | 251 | 214 | +37 | 13.94 | 11.89 |
| 2 | New England Black Wolves – x | 18 | 10 | 8 | .556 | 3.0 | 6–3 | 4–5 | 229 | 212 | +17 | 12.72 | 11.78 |
| 3 | Georgia Swarm – x | 18 | 8 | 10 | .444 | 5.0 | 4–5 | 4–5 | 238 | 240 | −2 | 13.22 | 13.33 |
| 4 | Rochester Knighthawks | 18 | 7 | 11 | .389 | 6.0 | 3–6 | 4–5 | 200 | 215 | −15 | 11.11 | 11.94 |
| 5 | Toronto Rock | 18 | 5 | 13 | .278 | 8.0 | 4–5 | 1–8 | 190 | 224 | −34 | 10.56 | 12.44 |
West Division :
| P | Team | GP | W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | GF | GA | Diff | GF/GP | GA/GP |
| 1 | Saskatchewan Rush – xy | 18 | 13 | 5 | .722 | 0.0 | 7–2 | 6–3 | 233 | 190 | +43 | 12.94 | 10.56 |
| 2 | Colorado Mammoth – x | 18 | 12 | 6 | .667 | 1.0 | 8–1 | 4–5 | 203 | 202 | +1 | 11.28 | 11.22 |
| 3 | Calgary Roughnecks – x | 18 | 8 | 10 | .444 | 5.0 | 5–4 | 3–6 | 216 | 216 | −-0 | 12.00 | 12.00 |
| 4 | Vancouver Stealth | 18 | 5 | 13 | .278 | 8.0 | 4–5 | 1–8 | 198 | 245 | −47 | 11.00 | 13.61 |
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

## Playoffs

| Division semifinals | Division semifinals | Division semifinals | Division finals (3-game series) | Division finals (3-game series) | Division finals (3-game series) | Finals (3-game series) | Finals (3-game series) | Finals (3-game series) |
| | | | E1 | Buffalo | 2 | | | |
| East Division | East Division | East Division | E1 | Buffalo | 2 | | | |
| East Division | East Division | East Division | E2 | New England | 0 | | | |
| E2 | New England | 14* | E2 | New England | 0 | | | |
| E3 | Georgia | 13 | | | | | | |
| E3 | Georgia | 13 | | | | W1 | Saskatchewan | 2 |
| | | | | | | E1 | Buffalo | 0 |
| | | | W1 | Saskatchewan | 2 | | | |
| West Division | West Division | West Division | W1 | Saskatchewan | 2 | | | |
| West Division | West Division | West Division | W3 | Calgary | 0 | | | |
| W2 | Colorado | 10 | W3 | Calgary | 0 | | | |
| W3 | Calgary | 11* | | | | | | |
*Overtime

## Awards
### Annual awards

| Award | Winner | Other Finalists |
| Most Valuable Player | Dhane Smith, Buffalo | Shawn Evans, New England Mark Matthews, Saskatchewan |
| Goaltender of the Year | Evan Kirk, New England | Nick Rose, Toronto Dillon Ward, Colorado |
| Defensive Player of the Year | Ryan Dilks, Saskatchewan | Chris Corbeil, Saskatchewan Steve Priolo, Buffalo |
| Transition Player of the Year | Brad Self, Rochester | Jordan MacIntosh, Georgia Jeremy Thompson, Saskatchewan |
| Rookie of the Year | Randy Staats, Georgia | Wesley Berg, Calgary Jesse King, Georgia |
| Sportsmanship Award | Ben McIntosh, Saskatchewan | Karsen Leung, Calgary Kiel Matisz, Georgia |
| GM of the Year | Steve Dietrich, Buffalo | John Arlotta, Georgia Rich Lisk, New England |
| Les Bartley Award | Glenn Clark, New England | Troy Cordingley, Buffalo Derek Keenan, Saskatchewan |
| Executive of the Year Award | Lee Genier, Saskatchewan | Mike French, New England Scott Loffler, Buffalo |
| Teammate of the Year Award | Mike Poulin, Calgary | Joel McCready, Vancouver Andrew Watt, Buffalo |
| Air Canada Wingman of the Year Award | Callum Crawford, Colorado | Rob Hellyer, Toronto Dhane Smith |
| Tom Borrelli Award | Teddy Jenner, ILIndoor.com | |

### Monthly awards

Awards are presented monthly for the best overall player and best rookie.
| Month | Overall | Rookie |
| January | Dhane Smith- Buffalo Bandits | Randy Staats- Georgia Swarm |
| February | Dhane Smith- Buffalo Bandits | Jesse King- Georgia Swarm |
| March | Dhane Smith- Buffalo Bandits | Wesley Berg- Calgary Roughnecks |
| April | Rob Hellyer- Toronto Rock | Randy Staats- Georgia Swarm |

## Stadiums and locations

| Buffalo Bandits | Georgia Swarm | New England Black Wolves | Rochester Knighthawks | Toronto Rock |
| KeyBank Center | Infinite Energy Arena | Mohegan Sun Arena | Blue Cross Arena | Air Canada Centre |
| Capacity: 19,070 | Capacity: 11,355 | Capacity: 7,700 | Capacity: 11,200 | Capacity: 18,819 |
| Calgary Roughnecks | Colorado Mammoth | Saskatchewan Rush | Vancouver Stealth |
| Scotiabank Saddledome | Pepsi Center | SaskTel Centre | Langley Events Centre |
| Capacity: 19,289 | Capacity: 18,007 | Capacity: 15,190 | Capacity: 5,276 |

## Attendance
### Regular Season

| Home Team | Home Games | Average Attendance | Total Attendance |
| Buffalo Bandits | 9 | 15,833 | 142,505 |
| Colorado Mammoth | 9 | 13,832 | 124,489 |
| Saskatchewan Rush | 9 | 11,737 | 105,637 |
| Calgary Roughnecks | 9 | 11,471 | 103,246 |
| Toronto Rock | 9 | 9,159 | 82,432 |
| Rochester Knighthawks | 9 | 8,164 | 73,483 |
| Georgia Swarm | 9 | 4,667 | 42,010 |
| Vancouver Stealth | 9 | 3,758 | 33,828 |
| New England Black Wolves | 9 | 3,751 | 33,761 |
| League | 81 | 9,152 | 741,391 |

### Playoffs

| Home Team | Home Games | Average Attendance | Total Attendance |
| Saskatchewan Rush | 2 | 15,187 | 30,374 |
| Buffalo Bandits | 2 | 13,473 | 26,947 |
| Colorado Mammoth | 1 | 13,116 | 13,116 |
| Calgary Roughnecks | 1 | 13,116 | 13,116 |
| New England Black Wolves | 2 | 3,481 | 6,963 |
| League | 8 | 11,201 | 89,611 |