The 2004

National Lacrosse League The National Lacrosse League (NLL) is a professional box lacrosse league in North America. The league comprises 14 teams8 in the United States and 6 in Canada. The NLL is headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. ...

season is the 18th season in the NLL that began on December 26, 2003, with the

Arizona Sting The Arizona Sting was a professional American box lacrosse team and a member of the National Lacrosse League from 2004 to 2007. They played at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio, from 2001 to 2003 as the Columbus Landsharks, and in 2003 moved to ...

hosting the

Vancouver Ravens The Vancouver Ravens were the original Vancouver National Lacrosse League (NLL) franchise from 2002 to 2004. The team played their home games at General Motors Place, now Rogers Arena, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. At the conclusion of ...

. That game was the Sting's first-ever game and the first event held in the new Glendale Arena (now Gila River Arena) in

Glendale, Arizona Glendale () is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States. Located about nine miles northwest of the state capital Phoenix, Glendale is known for State Farm Stadium, which is the home of the Arizona Cardinals football team. The city al ...

. The season concluded with the championship game on May 7, 2004. Over 19,000 fans, the second largest crowd ever at an NLL game, packed the Pengrowth Saddledome (now

Scotiabank Saddledome Scotiabank Saddledome is a multi-use indoor arena in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Located in Stampede Park in the southeast end of downtown Calgary, the Saddledome was built in 1983 to replace the Stampede Corral as the home of the Calgary Flames ...

) to watch the

Calgary Roughnecks The Calgary Roughnecks are a Canadian professional box lacrosse team based in Calgary, Alberta, that competes in the National Lacrosse League (NLL). The team plays its home games at Scotiabank Saddledome. The team name is derived from the roughne ...

defeat the

Buffalo Bandits The Buffalo Bandits are an American professional box lacrosse team based in Buffalo, New York, that competes in the National Lacrosse League (NLL). The team plays its home games at KeyBank Center. The Bandits played in the Major Indoor Lacrosse L ...

14–11. This game was the first NLL championship game since

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

that did not feature the

Toronto Rock The Toronto Rock are a Canadian professional box lacrosse team based in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area that competes in the National Lacrosse League (NLL). The team was the first Canadian franchise in the NLL. The Rock play their home ga ...

. The

collective bargaining agreement A collective agreement, collective labour agreement (CLA) or collective bargaining agreement (CBA) is a written contract negotiated through collective bargaining for employees by one or more trade unions with the management of a company (or with an ...

(CBA) between the league and the

Professional Lacrosse Players' Association The National Lacrosse League (NLL) is a professional box lacrosse league in North America. The league comprises 14 teams8 in the United States and 6 in Canada. The NLL is headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The NLL ranks third in avera ...

expired before the 2004 season, and the lack of a new agreement caused a 12-day players strike in December 2003. On December 17, the NLL and PLPA announced that the previous CBA had been extended by one year, guaranteeing that the 2004 season would be played without strikes or lockouts.

Team movement

2004 was a season of turmoil for the NLL – two franchises disappeared while three others moved cross-country, causing a division realignment. Gone was the three-division format that had been used in the preceding two seasons; the league was now split into East and West divisions. The Ottawa Rebel and

New York Saints The New York Saints are a former member of the National Lacrosse League. They played at the Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, New York, from 1989 MILL season, 1989 to 2003 NLL season, 2003. They became an inactive team after the 2003 NLL season, 2002� ...

franchises both folded, and the following teams moved: * the Columbus Landsharks moved to Glendale, Arizona, becoming the

* the

New Jersey Storm The New Jersey Storm were a member of the National Lacrosse League, based in East Rutherford, New Jersey. They played from 2002 NLL season, 2002 to 2003 NLL season, 2003 playing at the then Continental Airlines Arena. The team was an expansion t ...

moved to Anaheim, California, becoming the Anaheim Storm * the

Albany Attack The Albany Attack was the name of a franchise which played in the National Lacrosse League (NLL) from the 2000 NLL season, 2000 season through the 2003 NLL season, 2003 season. The Attack played in the former Pepsi Arena in Albany, New York (now k ...

moved to San Jose, California, becoming the San Jose Stealth These three joined Colorado, Calgary, and Vancouver in the West division, while perennial rivals Toronto, Buffalo, Rochester, and Philadelphia were left to fight over three playoff spots in the East.

Teams

Milestones

*January 9: The Anaheim Storm play their first ever home game, losing to the

19–18 in the first triple overtime game in NLL history. Mark Shepherd scored the teams first regulation goal. This is a record not likely to ever be broken – before the 2005 season, the NLL changed overtime periods to 15 minutes from five. Since then, no games have even seen ''double'' overtime.

Final standings

Regular season

Playoffs

All Star Game

The 2004

All-Star Game An all-star game is an exhibition game that showcases the best players (the "stars") of a sports league. The exhibition is between two teams organized solely for the event, usually representing the league's teams based on region or division, bu ...

was held at

Pepsi Center Ball Arena (formerly known as the Pepsi Center) is a multi-purpose indoor arena located in Denver, Colorado, United States. It is situated at Speer Boulevard, a main thoroughfare in downtown Denver, and is served by two nearby exits off Int ...

Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

on February 22, 2004. The East division defeated the West 19–15, and Buffalo's Mark Steenhuis was named game MVP.

All-Star teams

Awards

Weekly awards

The NLL gives out awards weekly for the best overall player, best offensive player, best defensive player, and best rookie.

Monthly awards

Awards are also given out monthly for the best overall player and best rookie.

Statistics leaders

Bold numbers indicate new single-season records. ''Italics'' indicate tied single-season records.

Team movement

Teams

Milestones

Final standings

Regular season

Playoffs

All Star Game

All-Star teams

Awards

Weekly awards

Monthly awards

Statistics leaders

Attendance

Regular season

Playoffs

See also

References

External links