# 2009 Boston Blazers season

The Boston Blazers are a lacrosse team based in Boston playing in the National Lacrosse League (NLL). The 2009 season was their first season in the NLL.
The Blazers began their inaugural season by losing back-to-back games to the division rival (and eventual East division champion) New York Titans. But the Blazers surprised everybody by winning seven of their next eight games, on their way to a 10-6 record, tied with New York and Buffalo for best in the East. The Titans won the East on tie-breakers, but the Blazers finished a respectable third and made the playoffs in their first season.
In the Eastern division semi-final, the Blazers were defeated by the defending champion Buffalo Bandits 11-8.

## 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 | OT | Attendance | Record |
| 1 | January 10, 2009 | @ New York Titans | Prudential Center | L 14–19 | | 3,208 | 0–1 |
| 2 | January 17, 2009 | New York Titans | TD Banknorth Garden | L 9–13 | | 9,313 | 0–2 |
| 3 | January 23, 2009 | @ Philadelphia Wings (1987–2014) | Wachovia Center | W 13–11 | | 9,462 | 1–2 |
| 4 | January 24, 2009 | Philadelphia Wings (1987–2014) | TD Banknorth Garden | W 11–7 | | 4,423 | 2–2 |
| 5 | January 31, 2009 | Portland LumberJax | TD Banknorth Garden | L 8–9 | OT | 5,029 | 2–3 |
| 6 | February 7, 2009 | New York Titans | TD Banknorth Garden | W 9–8 | | 5,713 | 3–3 |
| 7 | February 13, 2009 | @ Philadelphia Wings (1987–2014) | Wachovia Center | W 8–4 | | 9,006 | 4–3 |
| 8 | February 20, 2009 | @ Minnesota Swarm | Xcel Energy Center | W 16–12 | | 12,106 | 5–3 |
| 9 | February 22, 2009 | @ Calgary Roughnecks | Pengrowth Saddledome | W 11–10 | | 10,045 | 6–3 |
| 10 | February 28, 2009 | San Jose Stealth | TD Banknorth Garden | W 16–10 | | 6,833 | 7–3 |
| 11 | March 14, 2009 | Toronto Rock | TD Banknorth Garden | L 8–9 | OT | 6,485 | 7–4 |
| 12 | March 28, 2009 | @ Rochester Knighthawks | Blue Cross Arena | L 10–11 | | 7,329 | 7–5 |
| 13 | April 3, 2009 | @ Toronto Rock | Air Canada Centre | W 14–13 | | 12,884 | 8–5 |
| 14 | April 4, 2009 | Buffalo Bandits | TD Banknorth Garden | L 11–15 | | 7,073 | 8–6 |
| 15 | April 11, 2009 | Rochester Knighthawks | TD Banknorth Garden | W 10–5 | | 8,097 | 9–6 |
| 16 | April 18, 2009 | @ Buffalo Bandits | HSBC Arena | W 13–12 | OT | 18,527 | 10–6 |

## Playoffs
### Game log

Reference:
| Game | Date | Opponent | Location | Score | OT | Attendance | Record |
| Division Semifinal | May 2, 2009 | @ Buffalo Bandits | HSBC Arena | L 8–11 | | 13,343 | 0–1 |

## 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 |
| Dan Dawson | 16 | 30 | 74 | 104 | 54 | 8 |
| Daryl Veltman | 15 | 34 | 43 | 77 | 92 | 2 |
| Brenden Thenhaus | 16 | 27 | 26 | 53 | 67 | 6 |
| Matt Lyons | 16 | 21 | 31 | 52 | 62 | 2 |
| Gary Bining | 15 | 20 | 24 | 44 | 49 | 4 |
| Sean Morris | 6 | 8 | 16 | 24 | 17 | 0 |
| Jason Bloom | 16 | 13 | 10 | 23 | 60 | 5 |
| Greg Downing | 14 | 4 | 13 | 17 | 95 | 10 |
| Nick Cotter | 12 | 8 | 8 | 16 | 32 | 21 |
| Totals | | 301 | 482 | 285 | 1117 | 39 |

### 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 |
| Anthony Cosmo | 16 | 840:02 | 9 | 5 | 142 | .781 | 10.14 |
| Mike Poulin | 16 | 122:12 | 1 | 1 | 25 | .734 | 12.27 |
| Totals | | | 10 | 6 | 168 | .774 | 10.50 |

## Transactions
### Trades

| September 18, 2008 | To Boston Blazers Anthony Kelly | To New York TitansKurtis Wagar |
| September 15, 2008 | To Boston Blazers Jason Bloom 5th round pick, 2008 entry draft | To Colorado MammothJohn Gallant |
| August 28, 2008 | To Boston Blazers Paul Dawson | To San Jose StealthPeter Veltman |
| July 29, 2008 | To Boston Blazers Jack Reid | To Rochester KnighthawksKyle Laverty |
| July 29, 2008 | To Boston Blazers Travis Gillespie third round pick, 2009 entry draft | To Calgary RoughnecksDevan Wray |
| July 29, 2008 | To Boston Blazers Sean Morris Steve Panarelli second round pick, 2010 entry draft | To San Jose StealthTravis Gillespie Tom Johnson third round pick, 2009 entry draft |
| July 24, 2008 | To Boston Blazers Brendan Thenhaus Kurtis Wagar | To Edmonton RushCam Bergman |

### Entry draft

The 2008 NLL Entry Draft took place on September 7, 2008. The Blazers selected the following players:
| Round | Overall | Player | College/Club |
| 1 | 1 | Daryl Veltman | Hobart College |
| 2 | 14 | Nick Cotter | Dowling College |
| 3 | 26 | Jon Harnett | Adrian College |
| 4 | 37 | Dilan Graham | Bellarmine University |
| 4 | 44 | Reed MacPhail | Victoria, BC |
| 5 | 52 | Chad Henry | Adelphi University |
| 5 | 56 | Paul Manesis | UMass |
| 6 | 63 | Danny Brennan | Syracuse University |