# 2012 Minnesota Swarm season

The 2012 Minnesota Swarm season was the eighth season of the Minnesota Swarm, a lacrosse team based in Saint Paul, Minnesota playing in the National Lacrosse League.
After a 3–3 start, the Swarm fired coach Mike Lines, naming Associate General Manager Joe Sullivan as the new head coach. No reason was given for the move.

## Regular season
### Conference standings

Reference:
East Division :
| P | Team | GP | W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | GF | GA | Diff | GF/GP | GA/GP |
| 1 | Toronto Rock – xy | 16 | 9 | 7 | .562 | 0.0 | 3–5 | 6–2 | 198 | 196 | +2 | 12.38 | 12.25 |
| 2 | Rochester Knighthawks – x | 16 | 7 | 9 | .438 | 2.0 | 5–3 | 2–6 | 191 | 197 | −6 | 11.94 | 12.31 |
| 3 | Philadelphia Wings – x | 16 | 7 | 9 | .438 | 2.0 | 3–5 | 4–4 | 176 | 207 | −31 | 11.00 | 12.94 |
| 4 | Buffalo Bandits – x | 16 | 7 | 9 | .438 | 2.0 | 4–4 | 3–5 | 198 | 204 | −6 | 12.38 | 12.75 |
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 | 216 | 170 | +46 | 13.50 | 10.62 |
| 2 | Colorado Mammoth – x | 16 | 11 | 5 | .688 | 1.0 | 5–3 | 6–2 | 217 | 201 | +16 | 13.56 | 12.56 |
| 3 | Minnesota Swarm – x | 16 | 9 | 7 | .562 | 3.0 | 6–2 | 3–5 | 202 | 190 | +12 | 12.62 | 11.88 |
| 4 | Edmonton Rush – x | 16 | 6 | 10 | .375 | 6.0 | 4–4 | 2–6 | 167 | 175 | −8 | 10.44 | 10.94 |
| 5 | Washington Stealth | 16 | 4 | 12 | .250 | 8.0 | 2–6 | 2–6 | 179 | 204 | −25 | 11.19 | 12.75 |
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 14, 2012 | @ Colorado Mammoth | Pepsi Center | L 14–20 | | 14,106 | 0–1 |
| 2 | January 28, 2012 | Buffalo Bandits | Xcel Energy Center | W 19–11 | | 8,232 | 1–1 |
| 3 | February 4, 2012 | @ Rochester Knighthawks | Blue Cross Arena | L 14–16 | | 5,267 | 1–2 |
| 4 | February 10, 2012 | Edmonton Rush | Xcel Energy Center | W 10–9 | OT | 7,012 | 2–2 |
| 5 | February 12, 2012 | Rochester Knighthawks | Xcel Energy Center | W 9–6 | | 7,087 | 3–2 |
| 6 | February 18, 2012 | Colorado Mammoth | Xcel Energy Center | L 7–12 | | 9,030 | 3–3 |
| 7 | February 24, 2012 | @ Washington Stealth | Comcast Arena at Everett | W 15–7 | | 3,755 | 4–3 |
| 8 | March 3, 2012 | @ Calgary Roughnecks | Scotiabank Saddledome | W 15–11 | | 7,638 | 5–3 |
| 9 | March 17, 2012 | @ Buffalo Bandits | First Niagara Center | L 10–13 | | 15,003 | 5–4 |
| 10 | March 25, 2012 | @ Washington Stealth | Comcast Arena at Everett | L 13–20 | | 3,618 | 5–5 |
| 11 | March 30, 2012 | Calgary Roughnecks | Xcel Energy Center | L 10–15 | | 8,510 | 5–6 |
| 12 | March 31, 2012 | @ Edmonton Rush | Rexall Place | L 8–9 | OT | 6,011 | 5–7 |
| 13 | April 6, 2012 | @ Philadelphia Wings (1987–2014) | Wells Fargo Center | W 13–9 | | 8,070 | 6–7 |
| 14 | April 14, 2012 | Washington Stealth | Xcel Energy Center | W 14–9 | | 8,239 | 7–7 |
| 15 | April 21, 2012 | Philadelphia Wings (1987–2014) | Xcel Energy Center | W 15–10 | | 9,357 | 8–7 |
| 16 | April 28, 2012 | Colorado Mammoth | Xcel Energy Center | W 16–13 | | 11,297 | 9–7 |

## Playoffs
### Game log

Reference:
| Game | Date | Opponent | Location | Score | OT | Attendance | Record |
| Division Semifinal | May 5, 2012 | @ Colorado Mammoth | Pepsi Center | W 14–10 | | 14,152 | 1–0 |
| Division Final | May 12, 2012 | Edmonton Rush | Xcel Energy Center | L 3–15 | | 6,491 | 1–1 |

## Transactions
### Trades

| July 13, 2011 | To Minnesota Swarm1st round pick in 2011 Entry Draft 4th round pick in 2011 Entry Draft 2nd round pick in 2012 Entry Draft | To Edmonton RushAaron Wilson Ryan Cousins Kevin Croswell 2nd round pick in 2011 Entry Draft |
| September 6, 2011 | To Minnesota Swarm1st round pick in Boston Blazers dispersal draft (Anthony Cosmo) | To Colorado MammothJon Sullivan Rory Smith Sean Pollock |
| September 9, 2011 | To Minnesota Swarm1st round pick in Boston Blazers dispersal draft (Greg Downing) 2nd round pick in 2011 Entry Draft 1st round pick in 2012 Entry Draft Jeff Gilbert | To Toronto RockJosh Sanderson Nick Inch |
| October 25, 2011 | To Minnesota Swarm4th round pick in 2013 entry draft | To Buffalo BanditsMat Giles |
| February 16, 2012 | To Minnesota Swarm1st round pick in 2013 entry draft 1st round pick in 2014 entry draft | To Buffalo BanditsAnthony Cosmo |
| March 20, 2012 | To Minnesota Swarm3rd round pick in 2013 entry draft | To Colorado MammothJamie Shewchuk |

### Dispersal Draft

The Swarm chose the following players in the Boston Blazers dispersal draft:
| Round | Overall | Player |
| 1 | 3 | Anthony Cosmo |
| 1 | 4 | Josh Sanderson |
| 2 | 13 | Mitch Belisle |
| 3 | 22 | Jason Duboe |
| 4 | 30 | Tyler Collins |

### Entry draft

The 2011 NLL Entry Draft took place on September 21, 2011. The Swarm selected the following players:
| Round | Overall | Player | College/Club |
| 1 | 4 | Jordan MacIntosh | Rochester Institute of Technology |
| 1 | 6 | Evan Kirk | Hobart College |
| 2 | 12 | Corbyn Tao | Robert Morris University |
| 3 | 19 | Jay Card | Hofstra University |
| 3 | 27 | David Earl | Notre Dame University |
| 4 | 29 | Brian Karalunas | Villanova University |
| 4 | 31 | Patrick Smith | Robert Morris |
| 5 | 39 | Jeremy Boltus | Army |
| 6 | 48 | Todd Baxter | Denver University |