# 2020 Halifax Thunderbirds season

The Halifax Thunderbirds are a lacrosse team based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, that plays in the National Lacrosse League (NLL). the 2020 NLL season was their first season the NLL. They were formerly the Rochester Knighthawks but moved to Halifax, as Rochester gained an expansion franchise. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the season was suspended on March 12, 2020. On April 8, the league made a further public statement announcing the cancellation of the remaining games of the 2020 season and that they would be exploring options for playoffs once it was safe to resume play.
On June 4, the league confirmed that the playoffs would also be cancelled due to the pandemic.

## Regular season
### Final standings

Reference:
North Division :
| P | Team | GP | W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | GF | GA | Diff | GF/GP | GA/GP |
| 1 | Halifax Thunderbirds | 12 | 8 | 4 | .667 | 0.0 | 6–1 | 2–3 | 139 | 126 | +13 | 11.58 | 10.50 |
| 2 | Toronto Rock | 11 | 7 | 4 | .636 | 0.5 | 4–2 | 3–2 | 122 | 106 | +16 | 11.09 | 9.64 |
| 3 | Buffalo Bandits | 11 | 7 | 4 | .636 | 0.5 | 4–2 | 3–2 | 130 | 118 | +12 | 11.82 | 10.73 |
| 4 | Rochester Knighthawks | 12 | 2 | 10 | .167 | 6.0 | 2–3 | 0–7 | 115 | 165 | −50 | 9.58 | 13.75 |
East Division :
| P | Team | GP | W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | GF | GA | Diff | GF/GP | GA/GP |
| 1 | New England Black Wolves | 11 | 8 | 3 | .727 | 0.0 | 4–3 | 4–0 | 135 | 101 | +34 | 12.27 | 9.18 |
| 2 | Georgia Swarm | 12 | 7 | 5 | .583 | 1.5 | 2–4 | 5–1 | 149 | 126 | +23 | 12.42 | 10.50 |
| 3 | Philadelphia Wings | 14 | 8 | 6 | .571 | 1.5 | 3–3 | 5–3 | 151 | 134 | +17 | 10.79 | 9.57 |
| 4 | New York Riptide | 13 | 1 | 12 | .077 | 8.0 | 1–5 | 0–7 | 116 | 177 | −61 | 8.92 | 13.62 |
West Division :
| P | Team | GP | W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | GF | GA | Diff | GF/GP | GA/GP |
| 1 | Saskatchewan Rush | 10 | 7 | 3 | .700 | 0.0 | 2–3 | 5–0 | 111 | 93 | +18 | 11.10 | 9.30 |
| 2 | Colorado Mammoth | 13 | 7 | 6 | .538 | 1.5 | 4–2 | 3–4 | 128 | 125 | +3 | 9.85 | 9.62 |
| 3 | San Diego Seals | 12 | 6 | 6 | .500 | 2.0 | 3–3 | 3–3 | 138 | 131 | +7 | 11.50 | 10.92 |
| 4 | Calgary Roughnecks | 10 | 5 | 5 | .500 | 2.0 | 1–4 | 4–1 | 122 | 111 | +11 | 12.20 | 11.10 |
| 5 | Vancouver Warriors | 13 | 4 | 9 | .308 | 4.5 | 2–4 | 2–5 | 117 | 160 | −43 | 9.00 | 12.31 |
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

| Game | Date | Opponent | Location | Score | OT | Attendance | Record |
| 1 | December 7, 2019 | New York Riptide | Scotiabank Centre | W 12–4 | | 6,847 | 1–0 |
| 2 | December 21, 2019 | Rochester Knighthawks | Scotiabank Centre | W 14–12 | | 5,278 | 2–0 |
| 3 | December 28, 2019 | @ Buffalo Bandits | KeyBank Center | W 15–10 | | 13,576 | 3–0 |
| 4 | January 11, 2020 | Colorado Mammoth | Scotiabank Centre | W 12–9 | | 7,623 | 4–0 |
| 5 | January 18, 2020 | San Diego Seals | Scotiabank Centre | W 8–5 | | 7,219 | 5–0 |
| 6 | January 25, 2020 | @ Calgary Roughnecks | Scotiabank Saddledome | W 15–12 | | 15,362 | 6–0 |
| 7 | January 31, 2020 | @ Toronto Rock | Air Canada Centre | L 9–12 | | 10,946 | 6–1 |
| 8 | February 15, 2020 | Saskatchewan Rush | Scotiabank Centre | L 15–16 | OT | 8,833 | 6–2 |
| 9 | February 21, 2020 | Toronto Rock | Scotiabank Centre | W 9–8 | | 9,337 | 7–2 |
| 10 | February 29, 2020 | @ Buffalo Bandits | KeyBank Center | L 9–13 | | 12,813 | 7–3 |
| 11 | March 1, 2020 | @ New England Black Wolves | Mohegan Sun Arena | L 10–16 | | 5,502 | 7–4 |
| 12 | March 8, 2020 | Buffalo Bandits | Scotiabank Centre | W 11–9 | | 8,359 | 8–4 |

## Cancelled games

| Game | Date | Opponent | Location |
| 13 | March 14, 2020 | @ Rochester Knighthawks | Blue Cross Arena |
| 14 | March 28, 2020 | @ Rochester Knighthawks | Blue Cross Arena |
| 15 | April 3, 2020 | @ Vancouver Warriors | Rogers Arena |
| 16 | April 18, 2020 | Philadelphia Wings | Scotiabank Centre |
| 17 | April 19, 2020 | @ Georgia Swarm | Infinite Energy Arena |
| 18 | April 25, 2020 | Toronto Rock | Scotiabank Centre |

## Roster

Goaltenders
* 35 Peter Dubenski
* 76 Warren Hill
Defenseman
* 4 Graeme Hossack
* 18 Jake Withers
* 19 Nonkon Thompson
* 25 James Barclay
* 34 Cory Becker
* 37 Scott Campbell
* 45 Luc Magnan
* 68 Trevor Smyth
Forwards
* 7 Eric Fannell
* 16 Mike Burke
* 17 Ryan Benesch
* 21 Chris Boushy
* 24 Clarke Petterson
* 28 Stephen Keogh
* 33 Austin Shanks
* 47 Kyle Jackson
* 88 Cody Jamieson
Transition
* 6 Brad Gillies
* 44 Colton Armstrong
Practice
* 00 Johnny Jimerson
* 12 Chet Koneczny
* 13 Brandon Robinson
* 81 Clay Scanlan
Injured
* 20 Luke Van Schepen
Head Coach
* Mike Accursi
Assistant Coaches
* Chad Culp
* Jason Johnson
* Roger Chrysler
* Billy Dee Smith
Athletic Performance Coach
* Dan Noble
Equipment Manager
* Dave Sowden

### Entry Draft

The 2019 NLL Entry Draft took place on September 17, 2019. The Thunderbirds made the following selections:
| Round | Overall | Player | College/Club |
| 1 | 5 | Clarke Petterson | Cornell University (NCAA D1) |
| 1 | 14 | Trevor Smyth | Rochester Institute of Technology (NCAA D1) |
| 2 | 30 | Clay Scanlan | Six Nations Arrows (OJALL) |
| 3 | 38 | Nonkon Thompson | Akwesasne Indians (OJBLL) |
| 5 | 68 | Matt Dziama | Virginia University (NCAA D1) |
| 6 | 81 | Brad Fannell | St. Catharines Athletics (OJALL) |